One of my born-again, Bush-approving cousins sent me a newspaper letter to the editor by a guy out in Oregon who says he has a job, gets paid, pays his taxes, "and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit." He doesn't say what his job is, but:
In order for me to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, which I have no problem with.
What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check, because I have to pass one to go earn it for them?
My cousin asked,
Pretty good idea, don’t you think???
I replied:
You mean, because the guy works in a nuclear reactor or somewhere and has to undergo random drug tests, everyone who receives the benefit of taxes should also undergo them? Well, YOU receive the benefit of taxes. Do you think YOU should undergo random drug tests? <smile>
She replied:
The point is not for "all who receive the benefit of taxes," just for the welfare/drug addict bunch who could get a job but won't.
Have a Happy New Year.
I replied:
Ah, right, they are a worthless lot.
But I think that maybe I should have said that we all need someone who we're not and are a lot better than. That may be the common demoninator of all class warfare, even the "warfare" of most of We the People's wanting the superwealthy to pay more in taxes. After all, do they think they're better than Us just because they have a million times more money than we do?
I suppose they would have to test everyone, your cousin included, to see who is and who isn't on drugs.
ReplyDeleteI think you touched a nerve with your cousin, Moristotle. Cool. I can see the, albeit skewed, logic of the original letter writer and your cousin, but I think you exposed its flaws quite nicely. I've been aware of this whole idea of a welfare class that would rather stay stoned than work since I was a kid in the sixties. It's just a code word for "lazy [nasty n-word]s" that is used by whites, regardless of the class of the whites. It originated pre-1860 when slaves were actually better off than most "poor white trash," and the poor whites were the target of the derision and disdain of the slaves. Wealthy whites used this existing antagonism to stir up the poor whites to do their nasty work during Reconstruction, and the practice continues to this day. It's morphed a bit, but it's still the same thing. Prejudice. Too bad your cousin doesn't understand it, and how he/she is being manipulated. Ain't it interesting how the wealthy keep the lower classes agitated with each other so they don't pay attention to how the wealthy classes are robbing us all blind?
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, Moristotle. It's arrogant of the upper classes to automatically label everyone on welfare as lazy and drug addicted.
ReplyDeleteThere's a whole privacy issue here, too. If a private employer requires a urine check, an employee can either submit to it or find another job. I don't think that the government can or should require a urine test from citizens without due process.
Thanks for the interesting post!
Thank YOU, Diane, for your interesting comment. I should clarify, though, that my cousin is "middle class," just like most of us who blog here. I think that her apparent attitude toward that "worthless lot of welfare slackers" is part and parcel of a certain kind of Republicanism (as in the political party). This cousin has sent me many items of email ridiculing "liberals" (and extolling the virtues of believing in "our Savior Jesus Christ").
ReplyDeleteWhat?!
ReplyDeleteA new profile picture?
The difference is night and day.
Who are you, really. Did you bump off Moristotle?
The two photos (believe it or not) were taken within a few weeks of one another. The new one was taken at the 36th International Technical Communication Conference, May 14-17, 1989, in Chicago, the month before "Youie summer" began—and during which my original profile photo (me in the Stetson) was taken. In retrospect, I could see signs in Chicago that something like "Youie" was coming.
ReplyDelete