What causes so many Americans to blame society for their erroneous life choices

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   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   What causes so many Americans to blame society for their erroneous life choices instead of accepting
   
   responsibility for their particular choices?
   
   

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   Electro-Denizenposted 10 years ago

   There's nothing wrong with pointing out that the way a particular society works isn't particularly fair.
   
   Free competition, everyone can have a slice of the pie, everyone must pay for their own care (even if they can't afford it, ever), everyone can succeed, everyone can live the dream...
   
   Statistically this is rubbish. It's not just true that everyone can 'succeed'. It's not about a bad life choice, it's about the fact, that in a competitive society and in an aggressive sense, there are gonna be winners and losers. The American Dream in that sense, is based on a false premise.
   
   And of course, the winners don't want to support the losers - well, not often anyway, apart from the real Christians.
   
   Is this the undercurrent of this question? Worth noting though, that social welfare in the UK is the basis for an extraordinary amount of gov't debt.
   
   Who knows what the right answer is.... I don't.

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      Billie Kelpinposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      E,I wholeheartedly agree with ur first 3 paragraphs! Those believing that everyone has an equal chance r living in a dream world. People don't understand privilege of color,privilege of parents,privilege of health. They don't get it b/c they have it

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      Electro-Denizenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Too true - there's so much presumption going on, when you're born on the right side of town, as it were. As if people who have less opportunities, or kids who come from  unloving households, are there because of their own failure to act.

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      dashingscorpioposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Each of us defines "success" in our own terms.  No one is going to get "everything" they want either. However what often separates "winners" and "losers" are the choices, their ambition, attitude, and persistence. Excel at your natural talents is key

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      Electro-Denizenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Indeed thatdashingscorpio. The idea of becoming a financier or something similar, is a measure of total failure, not success, to some people. What is success? Being kind to one another, all the time. It's hard to do, and not many succeed at that!

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   ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years ago

   If somebody needs or wants something, is all that they have to do is ask? Society needs and wants power over the individual to influence their course in life. Society does not allow and should not ask to exist within an individual's vacuum and succumb to the individual's whim to move them about. Asking for such a thing is dangerous. The trade off for not having things that way is that all variables which are independent from the individual, and free to their own jurisdiction, have to realistically accept some of the blame for the individual's state.

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      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Great answer!

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   JThomp42posted 10 years ago

   So many things factor into this question. Denial, ego, racism, rebellion, etc. the list could go on and on. For a person to accept their own choices, they need to stop blaming the history of this country. The picture above says a thousand words about racism still in this country. Pointing the finger at those who had nothing to do with what happened 200 years ago.
   
   With that said, people are responsible for their own actions and choices made in life. Do not put yourself in a situation to be put into a situation. Blaming others will only keep the hate flowing in this society.
   
   A society full of so many wrong choices with only a handful of right choices to be made. The road to success is so narrow, as the road to failure in this society is so broad. People need to lift their heads high and be content with the choices they make. Instead of having to blame other's for your wrong choices and failures. Instead, thank God that we are in a country where freedom still rings and there is a way out to success.

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   1. 83

      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent and insightful answer, Jeff!

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      JThomp42posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you gm.

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      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      JT, it seems that so many people would rather make excuses than to make oopportunities for themselves. People love to subscribe to victimology and the blame game.

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      Electro-Denizenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      but you can't blame kids for a failure to act, when they've been brought up on the wrong side of town as it were, with dozens of less opportunities than the well off. It's not victimology. Some kids are brought up with no idea how to make good.

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   CraftytotheCoreposted 10 years ago

   Great question!   I know a few people in my own life who do this habitually. 
   I think they feel left out, or entitled and want more. They want what others have, but they aren't equipped to work for it or don't have the drive to succeed.  They become jealous.  They don't use the opportunities that are available to better themselves.  However, they are opportunists, using loop holes for self gratification instead of self-improvement.

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   1. 83

      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Another excellent answer!

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      Electro-Denizenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think it's always going to be hard to distinguish 'freeloaders' from genuine cases of ill fortune.

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      ParadigmEnactedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      There's less legitimate opportunities for self-improvement in society than one is made to believe. Especially with all the stereotyping, nepotism, and blacklisting that goes on. Americans also lack the desire to see reforms made.

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   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   Most people don't want to assume responsibility for their failures in life.
   They refuse to acknowledge that the choices (they) made determined how their life turned out. They blame their mates, their employers. their parents. their siblings, and their government.
   The fact of the matter is we live in a free society. We get to (choose) who we spend our time with, where we live, who we date/marry,where we work, and have children or not.
   Anyone who is unhappy with (their) life really needs to take a look at the choices they have made along the way.
   What I find most disturbing about (some) millionaires and billionaires is they feed the less fortunate the belief that it is outside forces that are holding them back INSTEAD of sharing with them how they "made it" despite living under the same circumstances.
   People need to be inspired instead of being to succeed instead of being told they can't make it because of the system. If that were true how does anyone make it?  Successful people need to "teach" and not "preach".
   One man's opinion! :-)

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      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent answer also!

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   Sri Tposted 10 years ago

   Everybody is programmed from childhood. Unless they have parents or teachers who will tell them the truth about the powers of their minds and about seizing opportunities, they may not succeed. Also, most people are brainwashed by the news every day. The news tries project an "American shared experience", which is not true. The media projection is the experience of "some" people, not the whole country. Those who take in all of the bad news and negativity and believe it will have trouble seeing past it. The wealthy people know that it depends on an individual's determination. They gather the information, the people and the tools required for success in spite of the daily propaganda that tells everybody about hard times. The creative power of the mind can overcome obstacles. In a way, you cannot blame a person who is asleep to the facts. A person can change if they become awake and aware of their own power. If not,  they will fight you with the negativity that they have been progammed with for years. That's what daily brainwashing does. It shapes perceptions of society. Those who are wise think independently. They don't accept the lies or control from the media or the government. They don't let anyone tell them what they cannot do. In the last twelve years or more, the media has continuously reported tough times. But those who did not buy into it; successful corporations, other businesses, athletes, actors, musicians etc... have made millions and billions over those same years. Those who have had bad experiences or are glued to the media tend to ignore that fact. That's how effective conditioned propaganda is. It tries to plant the idea that things are hopeless and nothing can be done about it. The government "with perceived authority" reinforces that idea. The government will never say times are good. So from now on, everybody is supposed to be miserable? No. It is an individual choice. Those who decide to ignore the "hard times" talk can and do become successful and wealthy. Make no mistake, the government does want to control the money and create a drain. They will try to create obstacles to free thinking, independence and wealth. But there are ways around it, if a person makes the right decisions and understands that they have the power.

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