Jesus was right -- the poor will always be with us.

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But that's no reason to pander to the bastards.  I don't spend a lot of time reading Wired, or any other internet press for that matter, but it seems to me that this article is right on target.

There was a time in this country when we understood this without having to be told, because it was part of our national psyche.  It was part and parcel of American Exceptionalism.  And that time has been in my lifetime and my remembrance.  Personally I'm sick and tired of hearing about the poor and how it's my responsibility to lower my standard of living so they can feel better about themselves (because lowering my standard sure isn't going to raise theirs).  A long time ago, PJ O'Rourke observed that you can't cure poverty by giving people money.  This is the same thing in different clothing.

Nobody wants the least common denominator.  I'm not going back to 56K dialup -- or worse, 300 baud, which is where I started with my VIC-20.  It is a moral imperative to strive for bigger, better and faster.  If we don't, we lose that part of us that makes us truly human.

Kind of along those lines, I saw an article in the WSJ yesterday talking about two professors at Northwestern University who spar back and forth about whether or not humanity has already invented all of the "important stuff".  http://online.wsj.com/articles/economists-duel-over-idea-that-technology-will-save-the-world-1402886301 (subscriber-only content, unfortunately.)  I generally pride myself on my curmudgeonliness, but the "curmudgeon" of the two who thinks we'll never invent anything important again would probably take issue with the attitude evinced in the Wired article.  I say he's full of beans.  I haven't seen a working fusion reactor yet, or a working hyperdrive.  As long as we can imagine greater things, we can certainly hold out hope for their invention.  And as long as we can imagine a better life for everyone, the last thing we want to do is stop innovating stuff that the poor can't necessarily afford.

And while we're at it -- Mayor Ballard, get all those fucking panhandlers off the roadway medians.  They're a traffic hazard and should be treated as such.  And there ain't none of them going without a meal or a roof over their head.

(BTW this was via Tam, who got it from this guy.)

1 Comment

Amen brother

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