re: How long will it take for libs to claim Cliven Bundy is a RW racist ?

quote:

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to somehow eek out a way so the "negro/cotton picking/better off as slaves" comments were NOT racist after all

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I'm pretty sure everyone here agrees that that part of the statement was racist. I think what some are arguing is that the overall gyst of the statement, that poor blacks on welfare are no more free now than when they were slaves, is a legitimate thought exercise worth exploring. It is a popular opinion on this board that the welfare state uses entitlement programs unintentionally to trap populations in a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty. Between the benefits one can receive via welfare, housing assistance, food stamps, tax credits, disabilities insurance, unemployment insurance, ect life being poor is not easy, but it's relatively comfortable. However, any attempts to better one's situation via getting a job and working hard to get promoted means that those benefits are cut off nearly completely. The safety net becomes a hammock as many citizens can make much more money receiving these benefits than they could get by working full time jobs (for which they lack the skills). It's simply easier to not work, they're rewarded and subsidized for the behaviors that keep them impoverished so they continue to behave in that fashion.

That is a legitimate argument with some merit buried inside of that racist statement. This is a clear "forest for the trees" moment, where people are so focused on the racism that they miss the larger point that is at least worthy of some discussion.