Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believing that poverty, hunger, illness, abuse, and disability are the result of lifestyle choices means never having to acknowledge that those things could happen to anyone (including them) and absolves them of responsibility to do anything about it.

And prosperity gospel. If they do well, in addition to their hard work and best decision-making skills (because everyone who has bad luck is lazy and ducks at life), they’re also just blessed by God.

So, what about the X% where that is the case. You aren't absolved of explaining those cases.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's same attitude aligning with gun rights. Some simply equate independence as the opportunity to be able to have whatever they want whenever they want. It stems from the Constitution as well which is cultural. This is also the same attitude of why we Americans don't believe in vacations - like it makes us weak lol. The whole puritan work till you drop, work is always great, work builds character and makes you a better person lunacy. All of this is connected with the idea that no help should ever be requested or given. It's completely ridiculous.

I know these parents whose kid is a friend of my DS and as working parents we all try to help each other out with rides to fun things separate from carpooling. Just a mom trying to help out another. Nope! They feel that their kid should just not partake in fun if they can't get him there. Even if another parent offers a ride as a favor - as in no help for us ever! We can only do what we can ourselves in life or we are bad people! Its just so silly.

It’s all connected. The bootstrap mentality, the disdain for collective action, the hatred of socialism, the distrust of science, the aversion to welfare, the veneration of hyperindividualism and Ayn Rand and lone heroes. It all stems from a deep distrust of strangers.

I say “strangers” because MAGA trusts its own community and family members, but it ends there. The Catholic church’s concept of “ordo amoris”, promoted heavily by JD Vance, aligns with this. The first obligation is to family, then neighbors, then community, then the nation, and only after that the world/planet. That type of thinking quickly becomes a zero sum game.

Your bit about the Catholic Church is a gross misrepresentation. One of the major tenets and teachings of catholicism is service to the poor and almsgiving. With all of the charity that the Church gives throughout the world every day, you can’t seriously believe this. What you are describing is probably more respresentative of one of the Protestant religions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's same attitude aligning with gun rights. Some simply equate independence as the opportunity to be able to have whatever they want whenever they want. It stems from the Constitution as well which is cultural. This is also the same attitude of why we Americans don't believe in vacations - like it makes us weak lol. The whole puritan work till you drop, work is always great, work builds character and makes you a better person lunacy. All of this is connected with the idea that no help should ever be requested or given. It's completely ridiculous.

I know these parents whose kid is a friend of my DS and as working parents we all try to help each other out with rides to fun things separate from carpooling. Just a mom trying to help out another. Nope! They feel that their kid should just not partake in fun if they can't get him there. Even if another parent offers a ride as a favor - as in no help for us ever! We can only do what we can ourselves in life or we are bad people! Its just so silly.

It’s all connected. The bootstrap mentality, the disdain for collective action, the hatred of socialism, the distrust of science, the aversion to welfare, the veneration of hyperindividualism and Ayn Rand and lone heroes. It all stems from a deep distrust of strangers.

I say “strangers” because MAGA trusts its own community and family members, but it ends there. The Catholic church’s concept of “ordo amoris”, promoted heavily by JD Vance, aligns with this. The first obligation is to family, then neighbors, then community, then the nation, and only after that the world/planet. That type of thinking quickly becomes a zero sum game.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believing that poverty, hunger, illness, abuse, and disability are the result of lifestyle choices means never having to acknowledge that those things could happen to anyone (including them) and absolves them of responsibility to do anything about it.

And prosperity gospel. If they do well, in addition to their hard work and best decision-making skills (because everyone who has bad luck is lazy and ducks at life), they’re also just blessed by God.

Anonymous wrote:Believing that poverty, hunger, illness, abuse, and disability are the result of lifestyle choices means never having to acknowledge that those things could happen to anyone (including them) and absolves them of responsibility to do anything about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I say “strangers” because MAGA trusts its own community and family members, but it ends there. The Catholic church’s concept of “ordo amoris”, promoted heavily by JD Vance, aligns with this. The first obligation is to family, then neighbors, then community, then the nation, and only after that the world/planet. That type of thinking quickly becomes a zero sum game.

Sounds great, honestly.

Some of us are able to care for our families and the planet at the same time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I say “strangers” because MAGA trusts its own community and family members, but it ends there. The Catholic church’s concept of “ordo amoris”, promoted heavily by JD Vance, aligns with this. The first obligation is to family, then neighbors, then community, then the nation, and only after that the world/planet. That type of thinking quickly becomes a zero sum game.

Sounds great, honestly.

Anonymous wrote:

I say “strangers” because MAGA trusts its own community and family members, but it ends there. The Catholic church’s concept of “ordo amoris”, promoted heavily by JD Vance, aligns with this. The first obligation is to family, then neighbors, then community, then the nation, and only after that the world/planet. That type of thinking quickly becomes a zero sum game.

Anonymous wrote:It's same attitude aligning with gun rights. Some simply equate independence as the opportunity to be able to have whatever they want whenever they want. It stems from the Constitution as well which is cultural. This is also the same attitude of why we Americans don't believe in vacations - like it makes us weak lol. The whole puritan work till you drop, work is always great, work builds character and makes you a better person lunacy. All of this is connected with the idea that no help should ever be requested or given. It's completely ridiculous.

I know these parents whose kid is a friend of my DS and as working parents we all try to help each other out with rides to fun things separate from carpooling. Just a mom trying to help out another. Nope! They feel that their kid should just not partake in fun if they can't get him there. Even if another parent offers a ride as a favor - as in no help for us ever! We can only do what we can ourselves in life or we are bad people! Its just so silly.

Anonymous wrote:They don't all have that mentality. Your premise is false.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do republicans have this attitude? They completely lack any empathy or sympathy for people who have different circumstances than themselves. They cannot fathom that some people have been systematically oppressed both individually and at an institutional/macro level and the “bootstrap” method doesn’t work for everybody.

I am pretty sure republicans could see a starving child and eat a sandwich in front of them and tell them they should have figured out how to get the sandwich themselves by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and being a better person.

It’s easy to lecture others about pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps when the system gives you an impressive array of material advantages that the bootstrapper couldn’t even dream of enjoying.

Republicans crowing that others should bootstrap themselves are almost invariably individuals who got lucky, exploited others, or inherited it. Few, if any, could rebuild from the ground floor if they had to start over with nothing.