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Chris Hedges: The Pathology of the Rich White Family
from truthdig:
The Pathology of the Rich White Family
Posted on May 17, 2015
By Chris Hedges
The pathology of the rich white family is the most dangerous pathology in America. The rich white family is cursed with too much money and privilege. It is devoid of empathy, the result of lifetimes of entitlement. It has little sense of loyalty and lacks the capacity for self-sacrifice. Its definition of friendship is reduced to What can you do for me? It is possessed by an insatiable lust to increase its fortunes and power. It believes that wealth and privilege confer to it a superior intelligence and virtue. It is infused with an unchecked hedonism and narcissism. And because of all this, it interprets reality through a lens of self-adulation and greed that renders it delusional. The rich white family is a menace. The pathologies of the poor, when set against the pathologies of rich white people, are like a candle set beside the sun.
There are no shortages of acolytes and propagandists for rich white families. They dominate our airwaves. They blame poverty, societal breakdown, urban violence, drug use, domestic abuse and crime on the pathology of poor black familiesnot that they know any. They argue that poor black families disintegrate because of some inherent defecthere you can read between the lines that white people are better than black peoplea defect that these poor families need to fix.
Peddle this simplistic and racist garbage and you will be given a column at The New York Times. It always pays to suck up to rich white families. If you are black and parrot this line, rich white people are overcome with joy. They go to extreme lengths to give you a platform. You can become president or a Supreme Court justice. You can get a television talk show or tenure at a university. You can get money for your foundation. You can publish self-help books. Your films will be funded. You might even be hired to run a company.
Rich white families, their sycophants opine, have tried to help. Rich white families have given poor people numerous resources and government programs to lift them out of poverty. They have provided generous charity. But blacks, they say, along with other poor people of color, are defeated by self-destructive attitudes and behavior. Government programs are therefore wasted on these irresponsible people. Poor families, the sycophants tell us, will not be redeemed until they redeem themselves. We want to help, rich white people say, but poor black people need to pull up their pants, stay in school, get an education, find a job, say no to drugs and respect authority. If they dont, they deserve what they get. And what the average black family ends up with in economic terms is a nickel for every dollar held by the average white family. ......................(more)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_pathology_of_the_rich_white_family_20150517
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Chris Hedges: The Pathology of the Rich White Family (Original Post)
marmar
May 2015
OP
swilton
(5,069 posts)1. The presidential portraits
used to illustrate this piece says a lot....The pictures symbolize/are a metaphor of style over substance.....the glorious art that masks the treacherous actions.
Hedges so eloquently writes of realism and a truth through his quite experienced world view....and I totally agree with him.
I wonder if his writing wouldn't be more effective if it were prescriptive as well as descriptive
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)2. Rec a million times. Chris nails it, again.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)3. Brutal but true