The Modern Super Villain
or
The Will To Poverty
Apprentice Thomas
April 4, 2013
1
Historically, terrible truths are placed into the mouths of children, women or fools. The evil wealthy villain, more often than not, will say to the effect that poor people choose to live in that manner. Today, these truths are frequently spoken by television and movie villains. Immediately, the viewer feels this is statement is callous and unfeeling, believeing that no one wants to live less than optimally. However, we can not know if the statement is true base only on feelings, therefore, we will explore the validity of this extraordinary statement by our greedy, rich capitalist villain. Our villain must be greedy (for he has more than he needs) , but our villain may not always be a capitalist, although in modern films we assume he is a capitalist, unless otherwise indicated.
The vast majority of Europe, until recently, lived in poverty. Did they choose to live in this manner? Third world countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia are also poverty stricken. Do they choose to live this way? Millions of Americans also live in poverty. Do they also choose to live this way?
How did Europeans become prosperous in the last two centuries? No one would seriously consider that the wealth has been redistributed from the rich to the poor. This idea can not be entertained since the rich still exist, but the standard of living of the masses has improved. Clearly, the wealth is not being redistributed from the rich to everyone else, so we can state that the majority of Europeans now choose not to live in poverty. We will assume that Europeans, until recently, chose to live at or near starvation conditions. They now choose to live under modern economic conditions. With this conclusion, we can state that third world countries, as a whole, choose to live in poverty and this conclusion must be held to be true for certain Americans.
Unless we give predestination a nod and state that Divine Providence has assigned some people to wealth and others to poverty, we are left with no choice, but choice. As uncomfortable as this sounds to modern ears, we must conclude that when one no longer accepts the statue quo of ignorance, one gets an education, when one no longer wants to live in a poor or bad neighborhood, one moves. The chorus of objections resound with “All of this requires money”. However, this statment cannot be true.
If these accomplishments require money, and not the choice to improve one’s existence, then the industrial revolution would not have occurred, as the wealthy would not have financed the vast improvement of the poor either out of the goodness of their heart or the fear of hell fire. For some reason we are under the delusion that the only way to improve one’s life is the panacea of money. I don’t know when this misconception started. With public libraries in every county in this country, there is no excuse for ignorance. People choose not to improve their knowledge are the same people who choose to live in poverty.
The learned reader will see Nietzsche's “Will to power” in my argument of choice. How do bad neighborhoods exist? Clearly, the majority choose not clean and organize their yards and engage in crime. It does not take money to clean and organize or commit crimes (vandalism is an inexpensive crime compared to more capital intensive crimes such as armed robbery), it is a choice-the majority in bad neighborhoods choose to live that way and no individual or government or organization can make men better than what they are. This should be considered a law of humanity. Once third world people choose not to live in the manner that they do now, they will live in a first world country. Conversely, when the majority of Americans choose to live like third world countries, we will become a third world country.
The evidence for the factual nature of this unpleasant truth is found in the number of Lottery winners who ever declare bankruptcy and return to their former lifestyle.
The intrigued Gentle Reader can do their own research.
The vast majority of Europe, until recently, lived in poverty. Did they choose to live in this manner? Third world countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia are also poverty stricken. Do they choose to live this way? Millions of Americans also live in poverty. Do they also choose to live this way?
How did Europeans become prosperous in the last two centuries? No one would seriously consider that the wealth has been redistributed from the rich to the poor. This idea can not be entertained since the rich still exist, but the standard of living of the masses has improved. Clearly, the wealth is not being redistributed from the rich to everyone else, so we can state that the majority of Europeans now choose not to live in poverty. We will assume that Europeans, until recently, chose to live at or near starvation conditions. They now choose to live under modern economic conditions. With this conclusion, we can state that third world countries, as a whole, choose to live in poverty and this conclusion must be held to be true for certain Americans.
Unless we give predestination a nod and state that Divine Providence has assigned some people to wealth and others to poverty, we are left with no choice, but choice. As uncomfortable as this sounds to modern ears, we must conclude that when one no longer accepts the statue quo of ignorance, one gets an education, when one no longer wants to live in a poor or bad neighborhood, one moves. The chorus of objections resound with “All of this requires money”. However, this statment cannot be true.
If these accomplishments require money, and not the choice to improve one’s existence, then the industrial revolution would not have occurred, as the wealthy would not have financed the vast improvement of the poor either out of the goodness of their heart or the fear of hell fire. For some reason we are under the delusion that the only way to improve one’s life is the panacea of money. I don’t know when this misconception started. With public libraries in every county in this country, there is no excuse for ignorance. People choose not to improve their knowledge are the same people who choose to live in poverty.
The learned reader will see Nietzsche's “Will to power” in my argument of choice. How do bad neighborhoods exist? Clearly, the majority choose not clean and organize their yards and engage in crime. It does not take money to clean and organize or commit crimes (vandalism is an inexpensive crime compared to more capital intensive crimes such as armed robbery), it is a choice-the majority in bad neighborhoods choose to live that way and no individual or government or organization can make men better than what they are. This should be considered a law of humanity. Once third world people choose not to live in the manner that they do now, they will live in a first world country. Conversely, when the majority of Americans choose to live like third world countries, we will become a third world country.
The evidence for the factual nature of this unpleasant truth is found in the number of Lottery winners who ever declare bankruptcy and return to their former lifestyle.
The intrigued Gentle Reader can do their own research.