Ignorance and regional America...

Thanks for the note. While I do not generally feel "superior" to others, I most certainly do feel superior to the people around me in the state I'm living in now - mainly because they are so ignorant of the world around them, almost to the point of ridiculousness. However, that's why I'm here - to help those poor souls see the light that I bring in my senior position in WV state government.

I'm not really that bad of a guy - it just frustrates me to constantly face a negative attitude and a "God wants me to suffer" outlook on life that these people exhibit. It does NOT have to be that way, and the current governor of the state of WV (Joe Manchin) and many others (I count myself in their ranks) are out to change the state, and its attitude towards success.

WV is a blue state with a red heart. Perfect place for me to be, actually....

 

Re: Ignorant are republicans...

Not ALL republicans are ignorant. Far from it. The core elite of the party is highly educated and knows exactly what they are doing in terms of robbing the poor and giving to the rich. It is the dumb ones who follow along with their pickup trucks, chewing tobacco and love of all things explosive/guns that bother me. What do they possibly have to gain, except serve as running dogs to the ultra-rich who control every aspect of the republican party?

 

I do agree that there are many educational issues that need to be addressed. Our educational system for our children is really suffering. Here in Hawaii I have had to get letters of geographical exception, research schools, and find one that had good test scores, teacher/parent involvement, and a safe environment for my children, and get accepted into their program (not an easy feat, the schools here are pretty bad). It is amazing that I have to research the crime that has been commited on campus, especially in light of the fact that my son is going into the second grade, and if memory serves me, Hawaii is one of your "blue" states.


William

 

BillDayson:

Well said Bill. I think this obsessive compulsive labeling of people is counterproductive. It may work for TV news pollsters and politicos but this constant reminder of what we are or aren't is in part what shackles people to their conditions. Are any of us really that different from the next person? Not counting Swift Eagle of course!

 

I gotta chime in here and say with all due respect to Carl, if we're going to engage in a discussion of ignorance, his ignorance of economics, religion and culture is a great and towering monument to naivety and closed-mindedness.

And Carl, it's "know-nothing" (as in the mid-19th century and thankfully now defunct political party), not "no nothing". I find that statement above by Carl, in the context in which it was written, the most unintentionally ironic I've yet read.

 

And if we cannot understand regional and/or sectional differences within our own borders and the cultures responsible for those differences, how in the world (pun intended) can we ever begin to understand the mind, thinking, and cultures of those without our borders, i.e. the Muslim world?

 

I don't suppose we can understand what would cause a man to think that G-d would reward him with a bevy of nubile sex slaves in exchange for blowing innocent people and himself to smithereens.

But I don't think we have to understand it, we just have to stop it.

 

I have been to Las Cruces - wasn't that impressed. Perhaps it was too hot for this Bay Area native. El Paso - almost like being in a third world county. I feel sorry for the soliders who are stationed there.

I like trinkets and art - lol. Rio Rancho wasn't really that bad, but it is a definite one horse town (Intel). Didn't Philips Semi close their plant in Albuquerque?

 

To ascertain that because someone has lived their entire life in one town, regardless of whether they are educated, could not possibly understand the strategic and global implications of the war on terror seems pretty far fetched and short sighted to me.
As little fauss stated, we do not necessarily need to understand every aspect of extremists, we just need to stop their killing of innocent people in the name of their ideolology.

Given your view on this, I would assume that if you have never been to the Middle East you possibly could not understand their thinking. Hmmm, have you been there? I have. Many would be ignorant using your standards; the majority that I have met has never been to America, or even out of their own country. So, I would assume that this means they are an ignorant people? What about their literacy rates, are they higher than America's, if not they must be ignorant correct?

Generalizations and stereotypes do nothing to further awareness of other cultures, races, local customs, religious beliefs, and values of any group you are speaking of. We do not need to understand and associate with extremist’s views, or are we looking for some form of Stockholm syndrome with the Islamic extremists who believe that we, as a society, need to be destroyed.

William

 

Hopelessly Naive....

Carl, you are the typical idealogue in politics. So blinded by your ideaology you cannot see the truth in front of your face. Last I checked, the Democrat party was just as controlled by the rich as the Republican. Just different rich people with money from different places. Often times not even different rich people. Enron for example gave on both sides of the aisle, and a whole lot of pardons were bought from the last president.

The difference is that the Dem's believe a tax break is giving something to people for nothing and to the Republicans it is a real tax break to the person who paid the taxes. 45% of Americans pay no income tax at all many actually getting a refund on taxes they never paid. Democrats just want to give them more tax refunds on taxes they never paid. Remember, Al Gore said out of his own mouth during his inaugural speech that the rich are those making $70,000 a year. Not a lot of money for a family to make ends meet and send kids to college since it is about that same amount where student aid almost dries up. The Republicans are at least honest about what they call a tax break. Those who pay the most taxes are going to get the biggest break. Honesty left the Democratic party years ago and our current Dem governor is a shining example of that.

West Virginia is a prime example of democrat socialism run amock and that is why their economy is in the pits. The last three governors tried to do something about it and things do seem to be turning around. Of course, like all good politico's of both parties I am sure your current governor will take credit for the things that were done prior to his taking office that are only now showing positive effects. Personally, if I was a WV taxpayer I would be severely PO's that my taxes were paying the salary of a person that had such disdain for the people of West Virginia. That's kind of like the dog that bites the hand that feeds it....

 

Here is an example of Carl's ignorant, uneducated, rednecked, gun totin' populace.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163189,00.html

 

Re: Hopelessly Naive....

One does not get a refund on taxes never paid. One's tax deuctions and tax credits can only ever at most reduce one's income tax liability for the year to zero.

 

Re: Hopelessly Naive....

Al Gore may have said that. If he did, he was wrong. There is a difference between richness and affluence. If you are rich, you have so much money that your money works for you and you no longer have to work. If you are affluent, you make a lot of money, but you still work for your money. In other words, an affluent person needs to continue having a job (either by keeping his current job or by getting a new job that pays substantially as well as the old one) while the rich person no longer has to work (except for occasionally meeting with his investment advisors and business managers).

On the other hand, if you really think that $70,000/year is broke, I'd think a lot of people might like to trade up to that style of brokeness.

 

Re: Re: Ignorance and regional America...

If a Republican lives in a blue state, does that make him not an ignorant uneducated Neanderthal buffoon?

On the other hand, would a Democrat who has the foolhardiness to be living in a red state be an ignorant uneducated Neanderthal buffoon?

 

Re: Re: Hopelessly Naive....

Very true. I do know plenty of large corporations are not paying taxes in my state, even though they already take advantage of several forms of corporate welfare.



Abner

 

I believe he was referring to the fact that people can pay no taxes and still receive a refund check, from various credits, usually EIC and the Child Tax Credit.

William

 

That shows your ignorance of the tax code...

One does in fact get money from the EIC even if they do not pay income tax. They can get it all at once or monthly. Here is a nice little blurb on the EIC from a government web site:

"Workers who qualify for the EIC and file a federal tax return can get back some or all of the federal income tax that was taken out of their pay during the year. They may also get extra cash back from the IRS. Even workers whose earnings are too small to have paid taxes can get the EIC. What's more, the EIC reduces any additional taxes workers may owe."

You liberals need to get informed of how things work. A severe problem with all of you who get your knowledge from liberal blogs or ignorant Hollywood figures. Then you want to run around pontificating about things you know zero about.

For those who think $70K is a lot of money for a family of four think again. At that amount your tax burden is pretty high so you effectively make a lot less. If you live in an expensive area your cost of living is through the roof. You may not have health insurance so you cannot afford to get ill or injured since studies show it isn't the "poor" who live without insurance as they have medicaid. When the kids go to college you qualify for zero aid. That is when we stopped getting it. I paid for all of mine and both of my daughters with zero aid. Fact is in Illinois it isn't the poor who have a hard time affording college it is the lower middle class.

 

Ah Abner, you again....

Corporate welfare, a term right out of the liberal handbook. Of course, you have no idea what it is. I find it truly funny that in Europe when a government tries to cut "corporate welfare" it is the workers who are the first to protest. Why? Because they know that anything that takes money from corporate coffers or reduces the competitiveness of the company could cost them their jobs. Here, the liberals just bleep about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer with no clue how things work in the real world. For a board of people intent on bettering their education there is an astounding lack of it from some people.

Here is a salient fact for you people:

"Most people work for private enterprise in this country. If a tax break makes a company in the United States more competitive it helps keep those jobs here and employing American workers. If not, that job may move to China (or elsewhere) or the company just close period. Either way it is another unemployed American."

Give me a break....

 

I've always wondered where we women who have been around the block fit into this paradise?!!

When it comes to self defense, defense of home and hearth, I don't see any need to understand the machinations of the criminally insane.

As for this thread -- it is the most offensive topic I have seen in quite some time. I'm a moderate and a registered democrat; but its this ignorant, self-important drivel from "high-minded" democrats that is driving people away and that's a shame. Until they can speak to the issues and sensibilities of the common citizen, common citizens will seek out respect and representation elsewhere. Until they embrace democracy, they are doomed to insignificance.