Neat Quote
At least I like it. From Lisa's blog:
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves. .....
Some, including Lisa, have attributed the quote to Abraham Lincoln, but a quick search showed others are attributing it to William J. H. Boetcker.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:55 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I don't actually know who wrote the article I posted. It was sent through many emails, and I was lucky to have it forwarded to mine. It says its from Abraham Lincoln but I'm not sure.
The reason I checked is that it didn't seem to me that I'd never seen anything Lincoln wrote that went anywhere along that line of thought.
Actually, every one of those aphorisms is false. It's just a statement of belief by conservatives and without reality.
You CAN help the poor by destroying the rich and the economic system that produces rich people at the expense of workers. You can strengthen the weak by making the strong who suppress them weaker. You can bring about prosperity by encouraging people to purchase--this is how recessions and depressions end. You can improve the wage earner's lot by reducing the employer's percentage of the profit which as we know is astronomical in some cases. You can improve the brotherhood of humankind by eliminating classism, which is an economic caste system. You can encourage character and courage by giving special breaks to ethic groups which have long suffered discrimination and inability to compete equally with other communities--it's called Affirmative Action and it works. And you can help people if you care to but those who don't care, find rationalizations to be stingy and unfair to the disadvantaged in society.
Nice quote, but there is often, if not always an exception to the rule. Some that come to mind:
-Freeing the slaves destroyed some of rich in the south, but helped the poorest of the poor.
-If I am strong and put my arm around another, that person is strengthen, but my pace will be weakened.
-The last great burst of prosperity of the U.S.A. was based on discouraging thrift. I think it was Bush,Sr who decried those able consumers who were not shopping. Before that there was a whole industry with the sole purpose of selling us more, and convincing us we needed it.
-Sometimes helping people for a short time, teaching them what they could do for themselves allows them the dignity to do what they should.
And, yes, there are times when a person can not do all that they would, if they could. In which case permanently helping a little allows them to live with dignity doing what they can.
The essence of the quote will most likely be found here.....regardless who arranged the prose.
http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
Can't pass up a chance to plug Bastiat!
Surely it's a comfort to the wealthy to know that Fred stands ready to defend them.
Actually, if you accept the truth that "you reap what you sow" or that "what goes around comes around" then you are ultimately responsible for yourself and all matters related to yourself.
While it is true the rich wage war upon the poor, just look at the looting of America, the poor are what they are because they got to believing the lie -- then blame someone else, the rich, for being poor.
If you want to be "rich," then start living "rich." You'd be surprised what happens.
Joe Blow, as usual, is Right.
Just click your Ruby Slippers three times and say "I wish I was rich, I wish I was rich, I wish I was rich."
It works every time!
Hey! I didn't say anything about "wishing." Let's stay on subject, okay?
http://quotationsbook.com/quote/add_to_site/46709/
per google
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