DamnYankees: Sounds like a good idea to help poor people suffering through what sounds like a painful way to live. I'm confused as to the problem here.

The problem is that poor people are being given something without having to work for it. That makes them lazy, sloppy, and dependent.

WTF did I just read.... in my effort to go out and avoid running errands, I actually read that piece of shiat. That will teach me to slack off.

Lane83: This guy's argument boils down to this thesis: if we make being poor suck really, really hard, then the poor will work really, really hard not to be poor.

I don't even know what to say to someone that believes that. It's ignorant. Ignorant of history, sociology, economics, philosophy. It... it's just stupid. There is no other word for it. It's stupid.

Well, technically, revolutions ARE really, really hard work.

dababler: WTF did I just read.... in my effort to go out and avoid running errands, I actually read that piece of shiat. That will teach me to slack off.

er I'm sorry for my grammar but that article was so stupid, I .... I just don't know what to do. :/

So it's another troll bait article then huh.

Lane83:
This guy's argument boils down to this thesis:

...that spending several million dollars on a set of very long escalators that will sit outside, in a very rainy region, in a city not known for great maintenance, is a bad idea? That this grand gesture "for the poor people" will probably only last a year or so before they're basically just a set of very expensive and uncomfortable metal stairs that will be less useful than, for example, a good water system?

Subby: escalators =/= elevators

Naturally. I mean what aren't democrats responsible for?

Lane83: This guy's argument boils down to this thesis: if we make being poor suck really, really hard, then the poor will work really, really hard not to be poor.

I don't even know what to say to someone that believes that. It's ignorant. Ignorant of history, sociology, economics, philosophy. It... it's just stupid. There is no other word for it. It's stupid.

There you ivory tower elitist academics go dismissing the common sense knowledge of the everyman. Like you sociology, philosophy, or economics overrides the knowledge a man gets from working hard to put food on a table.

My mind is full of fark.



Having a suitcase on those flimsy wheels is like trying to 'heel' a bad dog. 'Come on, Samsonite! Come on, Sammy! You wanna go on the escalator? You wanna go on the escalator?!'

// DNRTFA, but it's not like I need to
// instead, I thought of GV's joke, and it happied me

cirby: ...that spending several million dollars on a set of very long escalators that will sit outside, in a very rainy region, in a city not known for great maintenance, is a bad idea? That this grand gesture "for the poor people" will probably only last a year or so before they're basically just a set of very expensive and uncomfortable metal stairs that will be less useful than, for example, a good water system?

Thank god this will never get twisted so as to reflect negatively on Democrats in the U.S.A.

"I've been on food stamps and welfare. Did anybody help me out? No!"

If you can believe that being gay is a choice, then it's probably pretty easy to believe that being poor is also just a choice. So while these people are truly reprehensible, ignorant, backwards, and just plain assholes, they are at least consistent.

And these days consistency is more important to conservatives than any actual virtues.

cirby: Lane83:
This guy's argument boils down to this thesis:

...that spending several million dollars on a set of very long escalators that will sit outside, in a very rainy region, in a city not known for great maintenance, is a bad idea? That this grand gesture "for the poor people" will probably only last a year or so before they're basically just a set of very expensive and uncomfortable metal stairs that will be less useful than, for example, a good water system?

A good water system would encourage the poor to stay poor and now work hard enough to get out of the slums.

Here's the article part of the article, with all the asinine commentary removed:

The 12,000 desperately poor people of Medellín's Comuna 13, a shantytown set high atop a steep hill, had spent generations climbing up and down some 530 mountainside stairs to reach their homes. It has always been a 35-minute walk, each way, a challenge for even the healthiest among them. But it is no longer.

The city of Medellín built the people of Comuna 13 six sets of escalators. One column up, one down, both outdoors, both designed to carry the poorest of Medellín's poor back home at a cost of some USD 6.7 million.

The escalators are uncovered and the region is rainy, but plans to enclose them are underway.

There are then about 20 paragraphs of "Liberals drive like *THIS* and Conservatives drive like *THIS*!"

American Thinker is in desperate need of an editor. The guy made his "point" in the first 3 paragraphs after he finished describing the situation, then proceeded to rail on it without adding any more clarity.

For the record, here's an article (new window) on the actual project that isn't full of vitriolic bullshiat.

The plan is to turn these suckers on for 3 hours a day. And to cover them. Soon. It provides a safer, faster, less strenuous and more easy to police path for honest citizens of these shanty towns to take home from whatever poor paying job they hold in town. Is it a good use of Columbia's taxpayer dollars? No idea. But it's better than using those dollars to oppress their people, so there's that.

cirby: Lane83:
This guy's argument boils down to this thesis:

...that spending several million dollars on a set of very long escalators that will sit outside, in a very rainy region, in a city not known for great maintenance, is a bad idea? That this grand gesture "for the poor people" will probably only last a year or so before they're basically just a set of very expensive and uncomfortable metal stairs that will be less useful than, for example, a good water system?

If you think that's all this article is about, you didn't even read its title.

The living wage and all these freebies just alleviates a little of the suffering of the poor, they're merely uncomfortable instead of being in abject misery. Therefor we should eliminate things like minimum wages and health care and pay them pennies. Then they'll bootstrap themselves up by working harder, or even better they'll die in agony. This sounds legit. American Thinker has cured poverty!

All government spedning is justified except on the military. To question otherwise means that you are racist.

dababler: WTF did I just read.... in my effort to go out and avoid running errands, I actually read that piece of shiat. That will teach me to slack off.

You sound poor.

beta_plus: All government spedning is justified wasteful except on the military. To question otherwise means that you are racist drinking the kool-aid.

FTFContemporaryConservativeWisdom

Lane83: Generally, yes, being lazy does not lead to financial stability

Prove this with math. You can't.

Outdoor uncovered escalators are a bad idea? Wow, somebody better tell Rockefeller Center or the city of Barcelona!

They're also building a gondola system. The fools! Don't they realize what that can lead to?

Farker Soze: The living wage and all these freebies just alleviates a little of the suffering of the poor, they're merely uncomfortable instead of being in abject misery. Therefor we should eliminate things like minimum wages and health care and pay them pennies. Then they'll bootstrap themselves up by working harder, or even better they'll die in agony. This sounds legit. American Thinker has cured poverty!

What I don't understand about all of these people that want to take away all of these things that actually help poor people climb out of poverty is what do they think will happen when a person has absolutely no hope of ever pulling themselves out of poverty with education or by bettering themselves? I'll tell you what will happen, they will break out their criminal bootstraps and the have nots will start taking stuff from the haves.

Lane83: PonceAlyosha: Lane83: Generally, yes, being lazy does not lead to financial stability

Prove this with math. You can't.

Is laziness quantifiable? What's the SI base unit of laziness?

1 Obameter = 2.7 handouts per hour

Happy Hours: hillbillypharmacist: vernonFL: [www.xianet.net image 313x479]
Helped poor people in Medellin

Love that tie.

Didn't he? I mean sure he blew up judges and an airplane and had a menagerie and when they finally killed him the flow of cocaine onto America's streets stopped but other than that I thought he did throw a few bucks or pesos to the peasants.

Actually during his reign as the kingpin he did more for the poor people of Medellin than the government did. He built housing projects for communities of people that were living in garbage dumps that they converted into shanty towns. Brought running water and electricity to towns and housing projects that didn't have it before. Built soccer fields and sponsored soccer leagues for the poor youths.

Yeah he was an evil ruthless killer, but he did take care of the poor. That is probably why they supported him so much and were willing to help him hide.

Lane83: This guy's argument boils down to this thesis: if we make being poor suck really, really hard, then the poor will work really, really hard not to be poor.

I don't even know what to say to someone that believes that. It's ignorant. Ignorant of history, sociology, economics, philosophy. It... it's just stupid. There is no other word for it. It's stupid.

Wow, you really have no ability to discern what you're reading if that's what you think was said.

He said 6.7million USD is poorly spent on escalators. I agree with that.

A gondola system or near anything else would have been cheaper and more effective.

Hell, pay a guy with a cart and a high gear ratios bike 50 bucks a day to drive up and down it and pocket the savings.

Mrbogey: Wow, you really have no ability to discern what you're reading if that's what you think was said.

You really shouldn't lecture anyone about reading comprehension if you believe the article was just about an escalator system.

FTA: This is exactly what we've done in America with the poor. We've softened the blow of poverty to such an extent that the will to pull oneself up from its clutches is lessened.

The poster nailed it.

Well they needed the escalators because hauling all that cocaine up the mountainside was insanely difficult work. No one should have to break their back just to deliver my blow.

Fart_Machine: You really shouldn't lecture anyone about reading comprehension if you believe the article was just about an escalator system.

FTA: This is exactly what we've done in America with the poor. We've softened the blow of poverty to such an extent that the will to pull oneself up from its clutches is lessened.

The poster nailed it.

That was one sentence of the entire article. The bulk of which was about how it's a waste of money in terms of helping the poor.

Mrbogey: Fart_Machine: You really shouldn't lecture anyone about reading comprehension if you believe the article was just about an escalator system.

FTA: This is exactly what we've done in America with the poor. We've softened the blow of poverty to such an extent that the will to pull oneself up from its clutches is lessened.

The poster nailed it.

That was one sentence of the entire article.

That's what the summary of the article is about. Hint: It's not about an escalator.

bmongar: Lane83: This guy's argument boils down to this thesis: if we make being poor suck really, really hard, then the poor will work really, really hard not to be poor.

I don't even know what to say to someone that believes that. It's ignorant. Ignorant of history, sociology, economics, philosophy. It... it's just stupid. There is no other word for it. It's stupid.

There you ivory tower elitist academics go dismissing the common sense knowledge of the everyman. Like you sociology, philosophy, or economics overrides the knowledge a man gets from working hard to put food on a table.

Wait, I thought you conservatards said that working for the gubmint wasn't a real "job". Now it is?

Gyrfalcon: Fart_Machine: Mrbogey: Wow, you really have no ability to discern what you're reading if that's what you think was said.

You really shouldn't lecture anyone about reading comprehension if you believe the article was just about an escalator system.

FTA: This is exactly what we've done in America with the poor. We've softened the blow of poverty to such an extent that the will to pull oneself up from its clutches is lessened.

The poster nailed it.

Then why did he waste so much time raving about how outdoor escalators would "short out" in the rain? And how expensive it would be to fix them so it wouldn't? And on and on and on?

Why didn't he spend that time talking about his real point instead of realizing that we now have things like insulated wires and circuit breakers that prevent such tragic occurrences as electrical equipment shorting out in the rain? Or that Medellin, despite being in Colombia, is actually a city much like that in America and not some kind of mud-hut shantytown?

Because the author has the IQ of a dried pear?