And, yes, I DO take it personally: The infected, encrusted boil of social darwinism on Mark Steyn's ass

i've been following the latest National Distraction From Everything That's Really Important, namely the vicious firestorm set off by 1) the dems using a 12 year-old boy endorsing schip as the centerpiece for their recent sunday radio address, and 2) the crazed attack on the credibility of the boy and his family by the quasi-religious/ideological cult that seems to make up what's left of bush's supporters (see here, here, here, and here, among many others)... like most of these endless distractions, i prefer not to post on them and wasn't going to put up anything on this one either until i read this from mark steyn...

A more basic point is made very robustly by Kathy Shaidle: Advanced western democracies have delivered the most prosperous societies in human history. There simply are no longer genuinely "poor" people in sufficient numbers. As Miss Shaidle points out, if you're poor today, it's almost always for behavioral reasons - behavior which the state chooses not to discourage but to reward. Nonetheless, progressive types persist in deluding themselves that there are vast masses of the "needy" out there that only the government can rescue.

and there you have it, the ugly little nugget of the social darwinian creed:

IF YOU'RE POOR,
IT'S YOUR OWN GODDAM FAULT!

are some people poor through their own doing...? absolutely... but, i can tell you this... there are a lot more decent, hardworking, long-suffering poor who are forced to remain that way for systemic reasons than there are people who "behaved" themselves into poverty... we have a system that is geared to reward those who already "have", those who have connections with those who already "have", and those who are willing to go to any lengths to "get", integrity and principles be damned... and, according to the rules of this game - rules written by the "haves" of course - money is how you keep score...

in the deluded minds of the social darwinians, if you "have", it is because you worked hard and deserve it... are there "haves" who have worked hard and deserve it...? absolutely... but i can tell you this... there are a tremendous number of "haves" who are there through absolutely no effort of their own... there are a large number of "haves" who have gotten there through massive exploitation of the "have-nots"... and there are a large number of "haves" who have gotten there because the system as it's presently structured gives them enormous leverage and, frequently, direct assistance...

the assertion that there "are no longer genuinely 'poor' people in sufficient numbers" tells me that mr. steyn lives in a bubble of his own creation... one of the sad things about the u.s. (and most of the first world, as opposed to a number of other countries) is that we keep the poor out of sight because they're an affront to the image of our country as the land of opportunity... but they're there, all right, you just have to go poking around in the places most folks like mr. steyn never go...

now, let's take a peek at the point that mr. steyn says that ms. shaidle makes so "robustly"...

I don't care about the poor. They're no more real than Bigfoot. Those we and these lefty Christians call "poor" are "poor" because they've made a series of stupid choices; spend all their (actually, my) money on lottery tickets, beer, tattoos and manicures; are suffering from undiagnosed but easily treated mental illnesses; had too many kids too young; smoked behind the gym while I spent recess in the library, etc etc etc.

I grew up with them. They were jerks and losers. (Believe me, innocent Lefty Christians: you haven't met real "racists" and "sexists" and "homephobes" [sic] until you've spent time with the "poor.")

Jesus said "the poor will always be with you" and all the crooked exegesis on earth can't make that line read "you are ordered by Me to eliminate poverty forever using dubious economic theories and your own stubborn yet puny human will power."

Jesus told us to love the poor because he realized it was so damn hard to do. And the poor in His day were REALLY poor. They had no choices, no upward mobility, no capitalism, no education. The Western poor haven't been in that situation for a long time. This isn't Dickensian England.

ms. shaidle, a canadian, publishes a weblog entitled, "Five Feet of Fury", which carries this endorsement by mr. steyn...