On 2010-11-02, rangerssuck wrote:
On Nov 1, 9:50?pm, Ignoramus31297 ignoramus31...@NOSPAM.
31297.invalid wrote:
On 2010-11-02, Gunner Asch wrote:

"Confiscating wealth from those who have earned it, inherited it,
?or got lucky is never going to help 'the poor.' Poverty isn't
?caused by some people having more money than others, just as obesity
isn't caused by McDonald's serving super-sized orders of French fries
Poverty, like obesity, is caused by the life choices that dictate
results." - John Tucci,

It is also often caused by medical or mental problems. In the United
States, absent the above two problems, it is very easy not to be in
poverty. All one needs is to keep his act together.

i

In another thread, Don Foreman stated that, when he was a kid, his
family was poor. Are you prepared to tell him that this was due to his
father not keeping his act together? Seriously?

Very possibly it was the case, how would I know?

Iggy, for a smart guy, you sometimes come out with some pretty off-the-
wall statements.

Let's go back to what started it, which was a quote in Gunner's
signature which said that "poverty is caused by life choices".

Much brouhaha ensued, with both Gunner essentially disagreeing with
his own signature, and Mike Terrell saying essentially the same thing,
except not quite openly.

My own opinion, which did not really change from this discussion, is
that the sentence is a typical mindless Republican simplification of
reality, but it is not completely senseless. Absent mental or physical
illness, one can stay out of poverty very easily by keeping their act
together, such as earning $8-10 per hour and working 10 hours a day,
showing up at work on time every day and actually studying at
school. But people can get sick and so, poverty is not always the
fault of the person. Usually it is, however.

Ergo, Gunner makes life choices, such as not wanting a 9-5 job, and so
he is in poverty. He is not forced into poverty, this is just the way
he wants to live, which is of course a free choice that I respect.

i