Kerry Lutz interviewed me today and he hit on a very important psychological and philosophical facet of life many Americans are facing today, specifically, should you collect government assistance.
I have caught much flak for this, especially in the review of my book. Matter of fact, if you were to take away all the reviews that lambast me for my suggestion you collect as much government money as possible, Enjoy the Decline would have a near-perfect 5 star rating. However, this addresses the crux of the situation.
Should you collect government assistance?
The only argument I can portend is that if you can, then hell yes.
The issue is no longer one of morality or independence, but practicality and mortality. The idea of an "independent" person is laughably long gone. How many women's studies professors are there that claim to be "independent women" but still suck from the government tit via their state-subsidized professorships? How many "bankers and finance professionals" are there that only owe their careers to a bail out or FDIC over-regulation that mandates their job? How many government employees have you heard COMPLAIN that they really don't do anything on the job?
This stupid, idiotic, idealistic nostalgia of the 1950's is long gone. Nobody in America has the desire nor loyalty to adhere to some kind of over-arching purpose, or country, and are therefore completely and totally in it for themselves (consciously or not). So stop being naive, stop being idealistic and just take the check when you can.
You must realize that the idiots that populate this society have voted in such societal rules. And that they, in voting in such rules, have absolved yourself of any kind of responsibility you have to this nation or its people. So stop being the sucker and start being the advtantager, because in the end all you will have managed to do
"working hard"
"being a good American"
yada yada yada
is be the host for faux "American" parasites.
Enjoy the decline!
27 comments:
From the podcast: "I know for myself, I've never relied upon the government to do anything for me economically, with the exception of some social security survivor benefits for my children
I like Kerry Lutz, but he is essentially making the argument here that he can be "a little bit pregnant" and still retain his chastity.
No.
You either take state benefits, or you do not. There is no "never relied upon the government... with the exception of...."
And if you are going to be "a little bit pregnant," you might as well bear the child to term.
OK, so you're catching hell for your assertion that Americans should accept as much public assistance as they can get. For your audience - me included - tell us about the public assistance you're seeking and accepting.
Although I find this too clever by half, I'm curious. And yup, I think seeking public assistance is a disgrace.
So, genx, geny, and millennlals,STFU about baby boomers and Social Security and Medicare, OK?
My friend who was unemployed for almost 4 years, who thankfully just found a job, was depressed and had to go on medication because he felt guilty for not having a job. He felt guilty for having to get on food stamps and other govt assistance. I told him don't sweat it. That's what its for. For people who need it. He paid into it with his taxes for 30 years. It wasn't his fault the economy tanked. He eventually came to accept it, got rid of the meds, became his old self again, and found a new job.
Millions of undocumented... I mean future American registered Democrats... are riding on our backs every day we go to work. Why be a sucker and keep paying into it? Let those 1%'ers who say they aren't being taxed enough pay for it all.
Getting a .gov check is a guerrilla act that helps to put an end to an evil system by taking the US past the point of no return. It is heroic, not shameful. Enjoy the Decline!
Hey Captian, did you by any chance change your e-mail, becuase I've been trying to contact you from your email captiancapitalism@yahoo.com and I've recived no response. I was the pheonixriding person you responded to. I just want some advice on things, specfeially how to get out of school early. Help would amazing!
Hey Cap, I've been wondering if you changed your e-mail becuase I've trying to contact you vi captiancaptalism@yahoo.com and I've got no response from you. I was the pheonixriding guy you responded to. Help would be amazing!
Have to disagree with this. Refusing to take disability or welfare is not about having respect for the State - it's about having respect for yourself and other decent people who pay taxes.
Our government IS corrupt, and politicians are using free money giveaways to buy votes left and right, but once you receive government handouts, YOU are affected every bit as much as the State, or the taxpayer. YOU become corrupted, lazy, and dependent.
The best thing to do, if possible, is to make only enough to survive but not to pay income tax. This can be done, especially if you are childless. Take advantage of write-offs and things like the Earned Income Credit to make sure you don't pay any income tax. If you can, engage in the underground economy where transactions are done off the books so you don't pay as much in sales tax either. Barter where possible.
Taking government money is where the weakness and rottenness in your soul begins. Resist that temptation.
Right on Cap'n! For all the yukking Danny did about the asshole Baby Boomers, Obama has shown us the way. Will be sucking on Social Security and Medicare until the Millenials come up dry. That will show them.
" Nobody in America has the desire nor loyalty to adhere to some kind of over-arching purpose, or country, and are therefore completely and totally in it for themselves (consciously or not)."
Nihilism does not become you. Nor is it novel nor, most importantly, true.
D
I didn't think I would ever recommend it but I just told my son to take the government SNAP if he was eligible. He is going to school and staying in an apartment without much cash from a part time job. I figure if I am paying taxes at least he can get something from it. Its all going to crash anyways, might as well help it along (enjoying the decline). Go Hawks...
Perhaps you could sell it as acting out of mercy?
The sooner that society returns to sanity the better for everyone. Well, not 'progressives' / liberals / socialists. Still, never mind.
The sooner men opt-out and let it collapse, the sooner we get to build something better
What about bankruptcy? As much moral stigma is attached to bankruptcy as to welfare, for most people. Yet it can come in very handy. Shouldn't it be regarded as just another financial tactic made available by the democracy?
Phoenix,
It's CAPTcapitalism not CAPTAINcapitalism
Cpt.
This is a tough one. Sucking off the Gov is as wrong as the Gov even allowing it. However, everyone sucking it dry at the same time will collapse the system faster so that it can be rebuilt the correct way. I love this country, but hate those assholes in Gov for being the self-centered jack-offs that they are!! IMO their behavior is nothing short of treason and deserves the applicable penalty.
Spot on, Captain!!!
Next to the brain dead and spiritually bankrupt left, I am also annoyed by the jerks who thinks the economy and jobs are like they were in the 1950's.
When someone asks if I am a republican or democrat, I say "That's like asking me if I rather be shot to death or stabbed to death.
For the multiple inquiries made about what assistance I'm seeking,
everything I can get, but I have yet to actually start applying.
The application processes themselves are arduous and time-consuming. Matter of fact, I make more money writing a decent post or working on my house than I would applying for government assistance. It may actually come to the point I never apply because it's not worth the time.
However, none of this changes my insistence with Barack Obama elected and government spending accounting for 40% GDP there is no longer any moral argument against collecting a government check.
For those who truly need it I think welfare is an "ok" program.
My parents left the Mugabe regime behind and came to Australia during a tough job market. They were not allowed to take any money from Zimbabwe, because Mugabe is a thieving Communist. So they were forced to go on welfare for 3 months, until my old man found a job.
Welfare is a great idea but it is abused way too much.
I would rather a liberty minded conservative/libertarian take my tax money in the form of welfare than have it go and support another single mothers who can't look past their next wild night out with the girls.
I find it amusing that many arguments here can be summed up as "but everybody's doing it"!
I regret having bought your book. In particular, the point that spoiled it for me was your recommendation that the low profile protest parasite you recommend everybody become, also take advantage of private charities.
This is, of course, not stealing from the government organized thieves as a revolutionary act to bring down a tyranny, but looting from private individuals who contribute their labor willingly for the purpose of helping others.
This single aspect of your "plan" sets you off as an immoral individual which invalidates your entire premise. If the country is brought down by the general strike you are advocating, the result will not be a free country. Freedom requires high moral standards to assure that one man's freedom is not infringed by others. Your solution will only replace one tyranny by another one, just less moral and even more hellish.
i've stopped hosting.
Gentlemen, have you ever read George Orwell's book "Animal Farm"? It was required reading when I was in school, if you've missed out you may read it for free at http://www.george-orwell.org/Animal_Farm/0.html . Consider the character of Boxer, the draft horse. His response to every and all challenges at the farm was "I will work harder". Boxer was an individual of prodigious strength and work ethic. He uncomplainingly performed hard work day in and day out, with no thought to himself. He carried the heavy stones used to build the farm's windmill without complaint. When the windmill was sabotaged, Boxer vowed to work harder and worked around the clock until it was rebuilt, even at the cost of his health. Broken, used up, Boxer could finally carry on no more. He had spent his life, his health, and his strength for the good of the farm. And when the pigs that ran the farm saw he was no longer useful, they shipped him off to the knackers to be made into glue and dog meat.
Don't be Boxer.
If this government is to fall, this country to become insolvent, the proud experiment in liberty and democracy to dissolve into a desperate fight against the tyranny of a broke police state, let it happen now, on my watch, when I can fight it, not in the future to ruin the world for my children and descendants. The longer we let the cancer lay untreated, the less sure the cure and the greater the suffering when it's finally excised. A real man confronts problems head on, and drawing state aid is one small way to help bring the cyst to a head. Draw what benefits you may, and invest them in food, guns, and overseas ventures.
In Animal Farm, the dogs were the storm troopers. After reading that book, I never quite looked at dogs the same way ever again. They're way too comfortable with Man and too aggressive to the underling animals.
They remind me of Democratic - and some Republican - Congressmen.
When I retire, I sure as hell will be drawing social security and Medicare (if Obamacare doesn't destroy it).
And it wouldn't take much from my already shaky health to qualify for disability, but I'm not going there until necessary.
My wife after losing her job and not being able to find another drew unemployment until she maxed out the benefits and still hasn't found a job.
Yeah, I care about the future of the USA, but my working my ass off doesn't seem to be accomplishing much except enabling the spending drunks in Washington.
CC, I don't get it with all this "enjoy the decline" rhetoric like you think you're the first to do it. People have been doing it for decades, even hundreds of years already. Its not like you're the first dude to realize a DUDE can also collect government welfare in some form. I know dozens who have been doing it for more than a dozen years already. And ENJOYING it.
And we don't have to worry. All the H1B-visa-and-green-card-holders East and South Asians are going to be paying taxes and supporting us well into the future.
I mean, its been their money that has been keeping our universities going for over 2 decades now anyway, not ours.
You are acting like abusing welfare was what they intended but you are being the person that makes these systems bad in the first place.
It's like protesting that salad is bad for you, then punching everyone who purchased salad and saying it is proof that salad is dangerous because you get your face punched.
You are acting like abusing welfare was what they intended but you are being the person that makes these systems bad in the first place.
It's like protesting that salad is bad for you, then punching everyone who purchased salad and saying it is proof that salad is dangerous because you get your face punched.
upon realising that he enables the comments on this I commend his integrity in putting up disagreeing comments, though I still disagree with the article
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