Blame the poor?

Somehow the practice of blaming the poor has become rampant (although a slight increase in the tax on the wealthy and conservatives cry "class warfare"). The other day the newest Republican candidate to be polling well, Herman Cain, echoed this sentiment and received adulation. Here are the remarks, and they're worth the 53 seconds of your time it takes to watch.

Cheers are coming from Americans who, like me, don't have any idea what real poverty truly means.

This segment perfectly encapsulates why Cain shouldn't be a serious contender, namely that in his less-than-a-minute sound bite he makes a number of hypocritical assumptions. 

First, as I've mentioned before, blaming the poor for demanding basic human rights is ridiculous. Many people fall into a state of "not having" (not having savings, not having money, not having health insurance, etc.) due to circumstances completely out of their control. Asking people to blame themselves for their bad luck and circumstances that exhibit prejudice against the unemployed is like asking George W Bush to admit he came to power largely due to the family he was born in.


Secondly, Cain says people should blame themselves because (something like this) they should be blaming the White House instead of Wall Street. Funny, because many disgruntled protestors are already blaming Obama, and the left wing is increasingly abandoning him as we speak. (On the global day of protest I attended a speaker said flat-out that we can't rely on Democrats - not just Obama but the entire Democratic party - to make sure the poor get the rights and services they deserve.) Cain lists a few of the administration's failings, as if failed economic policies the economic bailout are all the fault of non-rich people without jobs. Is he saying the Wall Street protestors should blame themselves or should they direct their anger towards Washington? I'm confused. First, "Blame the poor," then "Blame yourself," then, "Blame Washington," then "Blame the unemployed?" And people complain that Occupy Wall Street has a confusing message. All I know for sure is not to blame stock traders and rich businessmen - like Cain. Sounds like, "Blame everyone but me!" to me. Fitting for the candidate who takes economic policy advice from SimCity.

Now, Cain thinks poor people should blame themselves for their state of "not having," and what they should be doing to change this state of "not having" is to blame Washington, as many are already doing. It's not hard to tell that his true message is that he intends to do absolutely nothing for the non-rich should he become president.

Please don't vote for him.

Before I sign off I have a slightly longer video to share with you, a trailer for a documentary about the degradation of women in social media and the systematic humiliation of powerful women in the public sphere. Basically, media controlled sexism. It's amazing and heart-breaking. Watch it here: https://fbcdn-video-a.akamaihd.net/cfs-ak-ash4/349008/529/2349117563337_30441.mp4?oh=7ecb6d97833359b3ecfc9469feac8306&oe=4EA22100&__gda__=1319248128_ac8c32e870bf2d0e7f2804271b26ca66