Where do you stand, On different social things Options

[Hartmann]

I am guessing that given the more left leaning of this board, the answers are fairly obvious but I was wondering where people stood on the ideas of self-reliance, government intervention, and work.

My firm belief is that people as a whole must be self-reliant, that government should stay out unless it is needed, and hard work is necessary to succeed.

Where do you stand?

I listen to my brothers talk about what they want to do and I'm amazed at their goals. Nothing to do with hard work or being self-reliant but more along the lines of American Idol and "famous". It is one thing to dream of being a baseball player when you're young but I get this impression that we are becoming more and more focused on the easy route rather than the tough but rewarding one.

[Inferia]

I listen to my brothers talk about what they want to do and I'm amazed at their goals. Nothing to do with hard work or being self-reliant but more along the lines of American Idol and "famous". It is one thing to dream of being a baseball player when you're young but I get this impression that we are becoming more and more focused on the easy route rather than the tough but rewarding one.

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

Anyway, I don't think the left believes in giving people a free pass at life. Many of the liberal agendas lie within societal unbalance, or creating a more balance society in a seemingly unbalanced society. This many interprets as relying on the government or taking the easy route probably by both people who may benefit from their policies or the people who may suffer as a result. Personally, I believe that people must be self-reliant and hard work is necessary to succeed as well. Though this doesn't mean that people shouldn't get a legs up for being born or raised in unfortunate situations.

I've been watching this show recently on the Food Network, called the Chef Jeff Project. Chef Jeff is an ex-con turned successful chef through his hard work. The show revolves around 10 or so people in their mid-20s who are trying to turn their life around. At one point they talked about how these people grew up in an environment who didn't have any support for getting out of that environment. To some degree they were like the people at the homeless shelter, some have lost so much hope for even an ounce of possibility that they too can make it if they work hard enough. As an immigrant, I somewhat understand that, being young and told that you will never be like "one of them". After awhile, these messages are so apart of you that it's hard to shake. I can only imagine that some people have it even worse. One of the things that come about with Obama's elected as president is that it gave a new generation of young people hope and belief in that they too can do it.

[Hartmann]

I've been watching this show recently on the Food Network, called the Chef Jeff Project. Chef Jeff is an ex-con turned successful chef through his hard work. The show revolves around 10 or so people in their mid-20s who are trying to turn their life around. At one point they talked about how these people grew up in an environment who didn't have any support for getting out of that environment. To some degree they were like the people at the homeless shelter, some have lost so much hope for even an ounce of possibility that they too can make it if they work hard enough. As an immigrant, I somewhat understand that, being young and told that you will never be like "one of them". After awhile, these messages are so apart of you that it's hard to shake. I can only imagine that some people have it even worse. One of the things that come about with Obama's elected as president is that it gave a new generation of young people hope and belief in that they too can do it.

I didn't mean to make it sound like a leftist ideal that people not work hard. However, it is in the left's agenda to give more government aid to a lot of people who do not work hard.

Obama bringing "hope" is something I do not understand. He's a man who, when you read his story, did not really have it nearly as rough as some people have experienced. I do not think we will see a cultural shift, if we should, then why did we not see one after MLK Jr? or Malcolm X?

I spend a lot of time in lower income areas here in Houston and when I get the chance, other parts of the world and I don't see these messages of never being "one of them". In fact, I see quite the opposite, people who are actually very driven to do well, but there are always those who don't want to work and want someone else to do it for them.