Natural Disaster Victims

[paullud]

In another post I made a comment that the attitude of the people after they fall victim to a devastating event makes a difference to me as to how I feel I should help them which some members twisted into me hating poor people which has nothing to do with it. If you see someone at the truck stop that is having problems and tell the guy hey your low on oil and he says he doesn't have money for oil. You inform this guy that he can walk several blocks down the road and get free oil but he doesn't bother because he thinks it will be fine. As you leave and get back on the interstate you see that guy sitting there with a blown motor and he tells you that you have to help him fix his motor, wouldn't you be offended? This is how I view Hurricane Katrina victims for the most part, not all but a lot. The statement I made is below.

The attitude of the victims makes the biggest difference. I refused to send money to Katrina charities because of their attitude of sitting back begging for others to save them and to top it off they stole 3/4 of a billion dollars from taxpayers with fraudulent claims. I would enjoy helping the people of Joplin, or the people of Cedar Rapids and Nashville after their disasters. When you are willing to help yourself the best that you can and fall back on emergency assistance from the government only when you need it you are going to be better off.

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[butterfly610]

I see your point. I wouldn't take that as hating poor people. You are willing to help those who are willing to help themselves. I think what most people get offended by is if you word it like you are unwilling to help ANY Katrina victims...grouping all of them into a stereotype of what SOME even ALOT of them did. Not all of them were cheating the system. I myself have an Aunt and Uncle who lost most everything they had in Katrina, but they got back on their feet legitimately. I still think the same as you though....it's almost hard to help someone who lies and cheats. I am compassionate though, and find it hard to say no sometimes, lol.

 

[greg334]

Well see here is the thing, many do believe that the 'victims' were minority poor in New Orleans but in reality the entire city benefited as a victim state from the 'chocolate city' mayor down. The demands of those to right a "wrong" which never was, was first and foremost an issue for many of us who wanted to see the city rebuilt as a city, not as a monument to one or another mayor.

My complaint isn't with the person who regardless of race is still sitting in some other place with no choice but to look at either an empty lot or a home that has yet to be fixed.

IT is with the people of the city at large who have taken advantage of the situation and made it a point to have the federal government pay for things that we should not have paid for. There is still millions sitting there that should be returned.

The first thing that people were complaining about in N.O. government was tourism, not how to feed and house people but what is going to be done to get the tourist trade up and running. They ended up building parks and rebuild buildings so businesses opened to capture that tourist buck. The other thing that happen was new housing for musicians and artists, which makes me wonder what priorities they have as a city. With people fighting to get a permit to rip down their house so they can rebuild, it was odd to see how fast the city processed permits for the new housing.

Katrina was a national embarrassment because not what we did do that took the time but what we didn't do - hold people accountable at the local level.

 

[layoutshooter]

"Katrina was a national embarrassment because not what we did do that took the time but what we didn't do - hold people accountable at the local level."



The more we have "Top down government" the more this is going to go on. The more government does for people the less they do for themselves as well.

 

[paullud]

I think that help should be coming from local government instead of the state or federal branch that just blindly hand out money. I believe a local city should be in charge of giving out assistance since they would be able to watch it on a smaller scale and know who needs the help or better yet how to help those people better themselves. I fully believe in helping others when in time of need or crisis, my mom was one of those people. She kicked my dad out of the house after he threw my brother across the living room (he had hit her before but it was the first and last time he touched one of us) and he went in and cleaned out the bank accounts to try and force her to allow him to come back. She had the choice of getting food stamps for a few months to get back on her feet or allow an abusive alcoholic back into the house with her and her 3 sons.

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[cheri1122]

The mindset that vilifies people who don't have much [money, education, resources], for doing exactly the same things as those who have way above average money, education, and resources, [but are excused] reminds me of the account I'm reading now, on the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
How can you overlook the many corporations that defraud the taxpayers every blessed day?
How can you demand a higher standard of behavior from the poor and uneducated than, say, the executives of GM, AIG, the many banks that failed, then demanded the government bail them out?
The KKK never saw their own hypocrisy either, when they tarred and feathered poor folks for doing exactly what the upperclass folks were doing with impunity.

 

[paullud]

The mindset that vilifies people who don't have much [money, education, resources], for doing exactly the same things as those who have way above average money, education, and resources, [but are excused] reminds me of the account I'm reading now, on the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
How can you overlook the many corporations that defraud the taxpayers every blessed day?
How can you demand a higher standard of behavior from the poor and uneducated than, say, the executives of GM, AIG, the many banks that failed, then demanded the government bail them out?
The KKK never saw their own hypocrisy either, when they tarred and feathered poor folks for doing exactly what the upperclass folks were doing with impunity.

You were one of the people that went after me trying to put words in my mouth. I do not expect them to be better or hold them to a higher level. Also I will give you a million dollars, no I will give you a billion dollars if you can find where I said I think we should bailout big business. I believe GM should have filed Chapter 13 and done it on there own or sold out to the highest bidder. My previous remarks were directed towards Hurricane Katrina victims just due to the topic that was being discussed. My political beliefs are that the government needs to stay out of business and I also believe they should keep out of people's lives because they end up creating groups of people that cannot think or act for themselves. I think you and Turtle jumped to a conclusion that I have it in for poor people and that just is not true, I am poor, my wife and I were living paycheck to paycheck which hopefully changes now with the new endeavour. My friend that passed away was a nice guy but he was a drug dealing, drug addicted, alcoholic, and excon, he provided nothing to society. I liked the guy a lot but his life had a negative impact on society, UNTIL after 20 years of this lifestyle he decided his life and family were more important and went to rehab. Unfortunately there was to much damage done to his body and he died a few years later but he was able to make a positive impact on society and show his son and daughter what a real man can do for his family. It bothers me to hear people say they can't do it or they don't know any other way, that is a racist statement or an attack on the poor depending on the group you are directing it toward. I expect as much from them as I do from myself or the CEO of GM and that is to live a good life. I don't care if it is done as a CEO, a burger flipper, or a driver we can all make a positive impact on this planet before we go. My offer stands to give you a little more info on my life so you can get a little better idea of where I am coming from and it may make it easier to understand my views, you or anybody can just send a PM.

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[greg334]

Paullud, don't be offended by this... but it is a really sore spot with me;

"and show his son and daughter what a real man can do for his family"

Real men don't trap themselves into using drugs, they ovoid the temptation to use in the first place and make examples of themselves.

I know many who have face horrid things in their lives many would never be able to understand let alone take and they never turned to drugs or alcohol to lessen their suffering and never will.

As for the poor, let's be frank about this - our poor don't know what poor is. They are not like the poor of other countries but more like their middle class or in many cases the rich in those societies. When our poor have barely enough to eat, have no tv or radio, live in a actual shack then we can claim them as poor.

 

[paullud]

Paullud, don't be offended by this... but it is a really sore spot with me;

"and show his son and daughter what a real man can do for his family"

Real men don't trap themselves into using drugs, they ovoid the temptation to use in the first place and make examples of themselves.

None taken, I just think that while we can sink to the lowest levels of society we can also take the bull by the horns and finish on top. It takes a strong guy to never let himself fall to those levels but it also takes a strong guy to dig himself out of a deep pit he dug for himself. The other thing is this guy started drinking when he was 11or 12 and was an alcoholic at 14, he grew up in the ghetto and didn't have a family raising him.

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