Why do capitalists blame poor people for being poor but then they want the government to bail them out when their banks go bankrupt?

[Anonymous]

Capitalists want to cut government help and welfare for poor white people and poor people of color in need but they want the us government to bail out their banks when capitalists run out of spending other peoples hard earned money to fund their stock market gambling.

[GreatBigCircles]

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

But more seriously... It actually has to do, at least in the western world, the protestatnt reformation. One of the theological ideas that, which was particularly embraced in England and through them the US, is that pious and moral people are naturally going to end up wealthy, and that sinners and people of poor moral fiber will end up poor.

a lot of people then justified their lack of charity by rationalizing 'If they're poor, they must be of poor moral fiber'. You can even see it in some text books that are uh... revisionist to say the least, where they talk about how protestantism pushed the industrial revolution, as 'protestant work ethic'.

In reality it was an elitist outlook that attached wealth to morality, and its carried on ever since. Even now people will assume the poor are lazy, or selfish, or cowards, or whatever else.

[BlackJeep]

You'd be shocked how many capitalists have been poor. 10 years ago I filed for bankruptcy and 2 years ago I bought a house free and clear, no mortgage. If you work your ass off you can make a lot of money. I dropped out of college so if I can do it, anyone can do it. There are too many opportunities in this country and no reason to be poor if you don't want to be.

[dynamicyandere]

I agree, as someone who was living in poverty and worked my way up to a better life.

There is so much opportunity here, relative to other countries. If someone is resourceful and hardworking, they can always move up in life if they want it badly enough.

In MOST cases, I’d argue that poverty in United States is caused by either a lack of resourcefulness or a lack of grit.

Especially in the age of the internet, where knowledge on how to make money or advance in a career is readily available at our fingertips.

[jennifer_bloom]

I knew a guy who had schizophrenia and he got a PhD from the University of Toronto. I know a girl who had a brain tumour and she got a pharmacy degree from the University of Toronto. I know a guy who has cystic fibrosis and he became a lawyer even though he qualified for disability. I know a guy whose blind and he got a B+ in STEM at the University of Toronto. I know a guy who is autistic and he went to a high school for gifted students. I know somebody who had a bleeding dog bite the day they took their university entrance exam and they did not get medical treatment until their exam was over but they got into a top school. There is no excuse for laziness. My dads invest banking friend would spend over 10 hours a day climbing stairs when he wasn’t doing his banking job and he was around 60 years old. My other banking connection worked 14 hour days 6 days a week.

[Anonymous]

If you do something about your situation, instead of going to the government with your hand out, chances are you won't remain dirt poor. You may not get rich, but you'll get by. So yeah, in most cases being poor is a choice. Not saying these people are saying "I want to be poor", more like choosing to not try to better their situation, instead of looking for someone else to do it for them.

As far as bailouts for banks, that shouldn't happen.

[jshm2]

Because that is what capitalism is. You're gambling with other people money.

[Anonymous]

It justifies their paying low wages and funneling taxpayer money up