Originally Posted by
Alpha
I'll keep this brief. We've all repeated our arguments enough for three months.
It isn't harder at all, when that is the way one has been raised. It's harder for a person to succeed at university when they went to a low-decile school. NB, I didn't say public. Some of the best secondary schools in my country are public. The rest are part-public. For one who has gone to a high decile school, it is easier, as they have been taught better. They sit the same exams, and attend the same classes, but it isn't a level playing field. The kids of my boss, who attend the wealthiest and most well-resourced school i my region, are incredibly likely to go further than the children of the staff on minimum wage.
Also, it isn't harder at all. I work in a supermarket, but in the office. Part-clerical and part accounts, I work with wages, takings, banking, merchandisers, irate customers. I'm not on minimum wage. I got lucky though; I'm friends with one of the managers, who recommended me for the job. My job probably requires a bit more skill than working on checkout (which I do, for extra hours in the holidays), and I am paid more as a result. But the jobs of senior management? LOL. My (shared) office is next to the owner. He works 4-5 hour days, if that, and has the TV switched onto the cricket all day. He gets a nice chair, and, for all I know, could be spending all day downloading porn. His job isn't actually harder, it just includes personal risk. Decisions will directly impact his profits, not someone else's. I hope he considers the impact his decisions will have on real people and real families, but they are the most vulnerable. If profit begins to slip, those on minimum wage will be the first to go. In my mind, I can't see how this man (the owner) is anymore deserving than the Indian lady downstairs, whose labour is the reason this man gets to enjoy such a fanciful lifestyle.
I'm not talking about free PS3s FFS! I'm saying that people deserve some sort of guarantee that they won't starve, because the capitalist system is completely capable of producing that outcome. People are not toys.
No. I support majoritarianism, but only to an extent. People still have inalienable rights, even if a majority disagrees. I'm sure we agree thus far. It's just that I have a further notion of what should be within our rights. I'd say that I support greater freedom, but I'm sure you wouldn't ever listen.
Everyone has a responsibility for everyone. Like a team. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.
You scratch my back, while doing something else with your other hand, I scratch your back, while doing something else with my other hand. Pretty easy.
Because that child did not choose to be born. It did not choose to starve. It did not choose to be unhealthy because it's parents are poor. It deserves a fair shot at life. Everyone does. That's fair.
I understand your argument. I just don't agree with it, and derive some sense of pleasure from trying to convince you otherwise. I'm sure you're the same.
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