Prepare to Be Offended
I read an article about a New York zoo that was "laying off" some of its animals. Due to the poor economy, they had decided to remove some of the exhibits and ship a few of the less popular animals to other zoos around the country. Charitable contributions, attendance and government funding are all down so they are having a tough time making ends meet. The story was rather depressing, but the some of the comments were absolutely appalling. Let me tell you why.
One common suggestion was to feed the "laid off" animals to the other animals. That, in my view, is a perfect example of how poor many people are in problem solving. When it comes to any issue facing animals, some folks always suggest "killing" them. But they didn't stop there. Many people suggest killing the deer (one type of animal that was being laid off) and "feeding the homeless". Then they said the zoo should get a government bail-out.
You know what, I'm sick of the "homeless". I'm sure you're going to tell me that I should be ashamed of myself, but I'm not. I not really sick of the homeless, per se, I'm sick of the idea that we have to fix them up. We have homeless shelters, but they don't like to stay there. They have relatives, but they don't stay with them for a million good reasons. They buy cigarettes, beer and wine. How about we give them nicotine patches instead of hand outs and let them spend their cigarette money on food? McDonald's has a dollar menu, they can eat what most Americans eat for the price of a pack of cigarettes. Besides,you know there would be a thousand attorneys clamoring to start a class action suit against anybody that tried to feed the homeless a Thompson's Gazelle butt steak.
The "feed the homeless" line is pretty lame. It ranks up there with the old "clean your plate...there are starving children in China that would love to have that food" line that our parents used on us. It's nothing but a feeble attempt at a guilt trip. It didn't work when I was a kid and it's not going to work now. We're not supposed to spend money on the space program according to the same bunch of people. We should be feeding the homeless. Baloney. We shouldn't buy fighter jets or develop new weapon systems that protect our country, we should feed the homeless. Give me a break. We hear a lot of it from movie stars. I want to know why they aren't living in modest homes and using their millions to take care of all the pitiful homeless people. Or at the very least feeding and housing a few of the less fortunate in their spare bedrooms and guest houses. Probably because, for the most part, they are a bunch of hypocrites. You can feed the homeless all day long and they'll still be homeless. What you need to do is give them a home...near you. Then you could bitch about them driving down your property values.
The "feed the homeless" folks come off like they are just giving and giving. Spending all their free time delivering meals and working in the soup kitchen. I'll go out on a limb and say that most of the ones that post that crap on the internet are liars that are trying to put the rest of us on a guilt trip because it makes them feel powerful. I say, "Show me your receipt where you gave a decent contribution to a charity that feeds the homeless and I'll heed your advice."
Okay, now that that's off my chest let me tell you the way I really feel. I've never walked away from a beggar without offering them some type of help. I did lie to a very large stripper that pinned me down one time and asked if I had any money, but that's a completely different situation. I can't imagine a more awful life than to be homeless. But the cure for homelessness isn't food or government hand-outs. The cure is stopping the greed that we have so much of these days. Getting rid of the idea that the American Dream is living above your means and being bailed out so you can continue doing it. Rewarding people for doing good things and bettering themselves. Being satisfied with what we have and not stepping on other's backs to get what we want. Stop belittling everybody that is different that us. And lay off the animals, okay? Just because we were "given dominion" over them doesn't mean that they don't serve a purpose and you can kill them to get them out of the way. We always claim to be the superior species, but our stupidity will be the end of us.
One common suggestion was to feed the "laid off" animals to the other animals. That, in my view, is a perfect example of how poor many people are in problem solving. When it comes to any issue facing animals, some folks always suggest "killing" them. But they didn't stop there. Many people suggest killing the deer (one type of animal that was being laid off) and "feeding the homeless". Then they said the zoo should get a government bail-out.
You know what, I'm sick of the "homeless". I'm sure you're going to tell me that I should be ashamed of myself, but I'm not. I not really sick of the homeless, per se, I'm sick of the idea that we have to fix them up. We have homeless shelters, but they don't like to stay there. They have relatives, but they don't stay with them for a million good reasons. They buy cigarettes, beer and wine. How about we give them nicotine patches instead of hand outs and let them spend their cigarette money on food? McDonald's has a dollar menu, they can eat what most Americans eat for the price of a pack of cigarettes. Besides,you know there would be a thousand attorneys clamoring to start a class action suit against anybody that tried to feed the homeless a Thompson's Gazelle butt steak.
The "feed the homeless" line is pretty lame. It ranks up there with the old "clean your plate...there are starving children in China that would love to have that food" line that our parents used on us. It's nothing but a feeble attempt at a guilt trip. It didn't work when I was a kid and it's not going to work now. We're not supposed to spend money on the space program according to the same bunch of people. We should be feeding the homeless. Baloney. We shouldn't buy fighter jets or develop new weapon systems that protect our country, we should feed the homeless. Give me a break. We hear a lot of it from movie stars. I want to know why they aren't living in modest homes and using their millions to take care of all the pitiful homeless people. Or at the very least feeding and housing a few of the less fortunate in their spare bedrooms and guest houses. Probably because, for the most part, they are a bunch of hypocrites. You can feed the homeless all day long and they'll still be homeless. What you need to do is give them a home...near you. Then you could bitch about them driving down your property values.
The "feed the homeless" folks come off like they are just giving and giving. Spending all their free time delivering meals and working in the soup kitchen. I'll go out on a limb and say that most of the ones that post that crap on the internet are liars that are trying to put the rest of us on a guilt trip because it makes them feel powerful. I say, "Show me your receipt where you gave a decent contribution to a charity that feeds the homeless and I'll heed your advice."
Okay, now that that's off my chest let me tell you the way I really feel. I've never walked away from a beggar without offering them some type of help. I did lie to a very large stripper that pinned me down one time and asked if I had any money, but that's a completely different situation. I can't imagine a more awful life than to be homeless. But the cure for homelessness isn't food or government hand-outs. The cure is stopping the greed that we have so much of these days. Getting rid of the idea that the American Dream is living above your means and being bailed out so you can continue doing it. Rewarding people for doing good things and bettering themselves. Being satisfied with what we have and not stepping on other's backs to get what we want. Stop belittling everybody that is different that us. And lay off the animals, okay? Just because we were "given dominion" over them doesn't mean that they don't serve a purpose and you can kill them to get them out of the way. We always claim to be the superior species, but our stupidity will be the end of us.
Posted by TBF at 4/26/2009 9:46 PM 
Categories: Miscellaneous Rant
Tags: zoo Homeless dominion beggar China laid off Starving
Categories: Miscellaneous Rant
Tags: zoo Homeless dominion beggar China laid off Starving
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