Not an especially charming picture...... -- FawnDoo's Cavalcade of Whimsy

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Date Posted: 16:40:18 02/07/04 Sat
Author: FawnDoo
Subject: Not an especially charming picture......
In reply to: Perceptor II 's message, "Hard America vs Soft America" on 18:09:42 01/23/04 Fri

"Things change dramatically once they are out of school. Workers are expected to do their jobs and do them well. The United States economy is very capitalist, and as such it does tolerate incompetence very well. Those that can't do their job don't have to worry about it for very long. Even if you do it adequately, you're going to be getting a lot of feedback about your weaknesses and inadequacies. People learn very quickly that all the self-esteem in the world doesn't put food on the table. Instead of a stigma for being a "goody-two-shoes" or a "nerd", the stigma goes on those who are a "drain on society"."

Forgive me, but isn't American society supposed to be about high-minded ideals of equality for all? :-) The attitude of stigmatising people who are seen to be a "drain on society" is an incredibly Victorian viewpoint......ever heard of Malthus? ;-) The logical extension of that view is the old Victorian attitude of society drawing a line between the deserving and the undeserving (or the Haves and the Have nots) - the deserving receive help and advice and those seen as undeserving receive the charming advice to die, and thus deplete the surplus population. Personally speaking I would like to think that we live in a world sufficiently evolved not to view social problems as individual ones and that we are sufficiently compassionate not to stigmatise people who may not have chosen to be in the position they are in.

Drain on society, indeed......we've all been down on our luck. To quote from a slightly less academic source "life is a series of peaks and troughs......you don't know you're at a peak until you start to climb down." All I can hope is that if I ever hit rock bottom society isn't happy to stigmatise me and leave me behind.

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Replies:

It's not Victorian -- Perceptor II, 20:41:36 02/10/04 Tue