Not at all. I don’t have a martyr complex, quite the opposite, I’m one of the people who would be dragged down.
I just have a simple, natural urge not to get involved in discussions with people who are not looking to an honest debate (which could have happened on this site 10 years ago), but to browbeat anyone who disagrees with them.
Let’s look at it, shall we? In the context of this thread:
First, we have Dio and his crowd. Dio has a habit of repeating things over and over as if that will make them true. Facts, statistics, examples…none of that makes a dent on him, he says it, thus it is true. Arguing with them is pointless. In addition, Dio tends to avoid the discussion, instead bringing up unrelated people as if that bolsters his position. Look at his first post in this thread, instead of addressing what Obama said to Joe The Plumber, he digs up the carcass of Ronald Reagan, grabs Sarah Palin and then goes on to John McCain. Who cares? Reagan’s dead, Palin is back in the great white north and McCan failed in his bid for the presidency. I’m trying to talk about what Obama says, all three of those people are immaterial. But they are perfect shibboleths to obscure what is going on.
Second, we have people like Lobohan. Lobohan is desperate to have me watch a clip that I have seen a hundred times before. The version of the clip that he linked is cut, and Obama saying at the very end “and I think when you spread the wealth around, than it’s good for everybody” is intentionally potted down, almost to silence. It’s pointless to argue with people like that. What was said was said, but they want to pretend that what was said does not mean what it clearly does, and even if it does, than you clearly misheard it.
Third, we have people like Really Not All That Bright. RNATB has grasped the technique of reducing things to the absurd. He says: “Sure, WD, Obama is a socialist - but so is everyone else. When you want to stop providing any government services, let us know. Until then, you’re a democratic socialist too.” He’s actually put his foot on the real issue here. The question is not whether society should accept some socialistic principles, it’s how much socialistic principles should it accept? Police, fire, transportation…all of these are things that a modern society should accept as a matter of course. Going beyond that, however…ahh, that’s where things get sticky. Reducing the question to “you believe that society and government should provide some basic services, you’re a socialist!” is stupid, counterproductive and insane.
I’m not a martyr, I just tend to look at things with an historical perspective. Japan found itself in a situation similar to what we have here today 20 years ago, and they responded by trying to legislate the free market. They sill haven’t recovered. We’re shoveling trillions of dollars out in a desperate attempt to “stimulate” the economy, and it’s not working. We got to this point by having the government pass laws that encouraged, sometimes forced, the financial sector to make loans to people that were in no way, shape or form able to repay them. Why is it that we as a country feel the need to chow down on the very poison that made us sick in the first place?
I’m sorry, but I don’t see the “martyr” bit applicable at all.
All that having been said, my essential beef with the OP stands: Joe The Plumber is a story because you make it a story. And then you blame someone else for that. And that’s just sad.