Haves vs. Have Nots

My friend MK sent me the following e-mail forward (from her step-dad):

Subject: Words to Remember
~~~~~~~You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
---Abraham Lincoln

The sender is ALSO convinced global warming is a hoax. I HAD to respond:



short response on global warming: There is NO SUCH THING as a peer-reviewed scientific journal that states global warming is a hoax. There are however, hundreds (if not thousands at this point) of peer-reviewed journals to indicate that it IS scientifically proven that humans are causing the overall temperature of the earth to increase (which causes melting of polar ice, extinction of animals, severe weather patterns including floods/draught/hurricanes/etc...).

If global warming is a hoax, and we take action to stop "warming" nothing happens. No one is hurt. No harm no foul.

If global warming is REAL, and we do NOTHING, we could lose the planet as we know it (Manhattan and Florida under water, etc....)

short response on rich v. poor: When Abe Lincoln said that, people could still basically live off the land. People had incomes, not generational inherited wealth. Being poor wasn't what it is today. Technology has changed it. Health care was a non-issue (people died around 40 yrs old) people could grow their own food and build their own house.....

The divide between the rich and the poor has NEVER been greater! 1% of the people own 50% of the wealth. Additionally, NOT helping people who need help generally means that they will die. DIE! Who would make a decision to not help another person stay alive? And if somehow the shit hit the fan, and Gil had NO money (for whatever reason) the same programs would help him out too.

http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/wealth_distribution1999.html

http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/stratification/income&wealth.htm

http://www.levy.org/pubs/wp_502.pdf

http://robertdfeinman.com/society/wealth_distribution.html

http://www.lcurve.org/ slightly older info, the gap has widened....




on both issues: Since we are ALL IN IT TOGETHER and making the world a better place benefits ALL OF US, how could anyone be against that?