10-02-2013, 05:34 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-02-2013, 09:27 AM by FireIceTalon.)
@ Deebye Ok, fair enough. Thanks for clarifying.
Although, it isnt technically possible for poor people to "sponge" the system since they are by default at a disadvantageous position in society compared to the upper class. The poor milking the system was a myth created by advocates of the Protestant Work Ethic that bought into the whole sham of the American Dream; that those who are poor are cause of their own fault. Having to depend on government for your livelihood is in many ways almost as dehumanizing and miserable as being forced to sell your labor power to the owners of capital (when and if they want it your labor power) to survive, and the two in many ways of course, are interrelated. Hardly glamorous really. That's part of the reason I consider the 'welfare state' to be an insufficient answer to the inherent problems of capitalism. I for instance, depend on Pell Grants to help me fund my education - without them it would be virtually almost impossible for me to go to college. I'm sure there are people out there that would call me a "sponger" or some other disparaging term, as if I like having to depend on the state to better myself so I can do what I can to make it in this grim, capitalistic world. My mom lives off social security and what she has left in her IRA account, and a couple credit cards that are almost maxed. After working hard as an escrow officer for a stressful 27 years, her hope (and mine, for her) was to retire comfortably and be able to relax in the twilight years of her life at age 63, but that isn't going to happen. Instead, she is extremely stressed financially with little security, probably going to have to go back to work until her dying day (if she even can - her age, health, and lack of experience in something other than escrow are likely to tell against her), and her health has declined sharply in recent times (and she, like me, is w/o health insurance) due to all the stress which she has endured....and I have become very resentful, bitter, and downright angry as a result. Although it isn't the only reason, it is certainly a huge contribution as to why my political views became so radicalized. My disillusionment with capitalism started in around 2009, after the financial crisis hit, but my shift leftwards to where I am now didn't come all at once, rather gradually. Between these circumstances, and discovering the works of Marx and Engels by pure chance, is how I gained my 'class consciousness'. From where I stand, the world is a cold, unforgiving, backwards and barbaric place - it is a struggle just to even have a "stress free" day at this point. I can only imagine how it is for working families who are worse off than me or my family is.
So when I go on my Marxist rants, it isn't just for the hell of it, to look "cool" or try to look better than others by holding radical views (it might look that way, but that isn't my intent). I have very, very legitimate, serious, and deep seeded personal reasons to despise capitalism, and everything about it. Not saying you ever questioned this, but I needed to mention this since I think many here are under the impression that I am just some crazy, mindless communist wack job who is tooting his horn loudly for no particular reason. That isn't the case, I just keep personal contempt out of my posts (or at least attempt to) because it isnt relevant to providing a objective critique of capitalist social relations. But it was probably time to put all that on the table now, and in fact well overdue. As one can see, there is little reason for me to have any sort of rosy view of the world. I'm not looking for sympathy, just telling it as how I see it.
Although, it isnt technically possible for poor people to "sponge" the system since they are by default at a disadvantageous position in society compared to the upper class. The poor milking the system was a myth created by advocates of the Protestant Work Ethic that bought into the whole sham of the American Dream; that those who are poor are cause of their own fault. Having to depend on government for your livelihood is in many ways almost as dehumanizing and miserable as being forced to sell your labor power to the owners of capital (when and if they want it your labor power) to survive, and the two in many ways of course, are interrelated. Hardly glamorous really. That's part of the reason I consider the 'welfare state' to be an insufficient answer to the inherent problems of capitalism. I for instance, depend on Pell Grants to help me fund my education - without them it would be virtually almost impossible for me to go to college. I'm sure there are people out there that would call me a "sponger" or some other disparaging term, as if I like having to depend on the state to better myself so I can do what I can to make it in this grim, capitalistic world. My mom lives off social security and what she has left in her IRA account, and a couple credit cards that are almost maxed. After working hard as an escrow officer for a stressful 27 years, her hope (and mine, for her) was to retire comfortably and be able to relax in the twilight years of her life at age 63, but that isn't going to happen. Instead, she is extremely stressed financially with little security, probably going to have to go back to work until her dying day (if she even can - her age, health, and lack of experience in something other than escrow are likely to tell against her), and her health has declined sharply in recent times (and she, like me, is w/o health insurance) due to all the stress which she has endured....and I have become very resentful, bitter, and downright angry as a result. Although it isn't the only reason, it is certainly a huge contribution as to why my political views became so radicalized. My disillusionment with capitalism started in around 2009, after the financial crisis hit, but my shift leftwards to where I am now didn't come all at once, rather gradually. Between these circumstances, and discovering the works of Marx and Engels by pure chance, is how I gained my 'class consciousness'. From where I stand, the world is a cold, unforgiving, backwards and barbaric place - it is a struggle just to even have a "stress free" day at this point. I can only imagine how it is for working families who are worse off than me or my family is.
So when I go on my Marxist rants, it isn't just for the hell of it, to look "cool" or try to look better than others by holding radical views (it might look that way, but that isn't my intent). I have very, very legitimate, serious, and deep seeded personal reasons to despise capitalism, and everything about it. Not saying you ever questioned this, but I needed to mention this since I think many here are under the impression that I am just some crazy, mindless communist wack job who is tooting his horn loudly for no particular reason. That isn't the case, I just keep personal contempt out of my posts (or at least attempt to) because it isnt relevant to providing a objective critique of capitalist social relations. But it was probably time to put all that on the table now, and in fact well overdue. As one can see, there is little reason for me to have any sort of rosy view of the world. I'm not looking for sympathy, just telling it as how I see it.
https://www.youtube.com/user/FireIceTalon
"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)
"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)