Monday, May 09, 2016

Obama to college grads: Luck kept you from becoming a drug dealer


We can’t walk by a homeless man without asking why a society as wealthy as ours allows that state of affairs to occur. We can’t just lock up a low-level dealer without asking why this boy, barely out of childhood, felt he had no other options. We have cousins and uncles and brothers and sisters who we remember were just as smart and just as talented as we were, but somehow got ground down by structures that are unfair and unjust. 
And that means we have to not only question the world as it is, and stand up for those African Americans who haven’t been so lucky — because, yes, you’ve worked hard, but you’ve also been lucky. That’s a pet peeve of mine: People who have been successful and don’t realize they’ve been lucky. That God may have blessed them; it wasn’t nothing you did. So don’t have an attitude.
Basically, he's saying there is no moral or volitional component to success, or even, just, being a good person, instead of a bad person.

It's just luck.

You got lucky.

You didn't build that.

12 comments:

Pete Rowe said...

Who is this boy who was so unlucky to get locked up on drug charge? Why did not Obama pardon or commute his sentence? Surely, there is someone like this poor unlucky boy languishing the federal penal system.

Epaminondas said...

There's something actually wrong with Mr. Obama.

Anonymous said...

There's definitely something wrong about Mr. Obama for people like us. He must be basing everybody's experience on his own. He was remarkable lucky: coming from a radical mother and father, raised by dysfunctional grandparents and a communist mentor. Helped along the way with affirmative action benefits, and wealthy sponsors who saw in him the perfect puppet to push their hateful, radical agendas. For the hard left there is nothing wrong with the man. On the contrary they have been complaining he was moving way too slowly.

His world and life vision is diametrically opposed to our own.

Pastorius said...

Anonymous, you're analysis sounds reasonable.

And, it would explain why he has to continue go around telling people they are not responsible for their successes. Because deep down, he knows he's not, and he is envious of those who are responsible.

It is a terrible thing to tell people their wills are worth nothing, their efforts are worth nothing.

In fact, I believe it is the voice of Satan himself that tells us that nothing we can do could ever amount to anything; that we are worthless creatures.

Anonymous said...

OT... Over at conservative treehouse,
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/05/09/as-predicted-billionaire-ted-cruz-and-jeb-bush-backers-now-financing-hillary-clinton/#more-116034
the following comments may warrant interest here as well as trigger further exploration...
.Notmeagain says:
May 9, 2016 at 7:02 pm
On BB it says Langone, the founder of Home Depot, is “all in” for Trump. I think it will soon be a battle of the titans.
Somewhat tangential to Wall Street, what about the Military-Industrial Complex? They haven’t been mentioned much but there is serious money there, and it seems like it would go to all these warmongering Neocons or perhaps Hillary. I bring it up because I was just talking to an elderly relative who has owned Lockheed Martin stock for years and dotes on them because dividends–she shocked me by telling me how they are partnering with some group called Leidos, who have a very vague web explanation of who they are:
https://www.leidos.com/transform
And what they are going to do in partnership with LM is process the taxes and be the interface for the IRS to entities such as school systems. Now this seems very bad to me, military contractor + IRS + local government. What do they do behind the scenes?


Janie M. says:
May 9, 2016 at 7:55 pm
Notmeagain, here ya go. I wandered into this site a few days ago. The first article discussing killary will answer your question about the Military-Industrial Complex.

https://www.publicintegrity.org/news/Center-for-Responsive-Politics

Liked by you and 1 other person

Always On Watch said...

Gad!

I think I'm gonna puke.

Always On Watch said...

Did you hear the speech, Pasto?

Obama used his "black preacher voice" for certain portions of the speech.

Anonymous said...

Pasto: "...deep down, he knows he's not".

Nailed it!

In my entire life I don't believe I ever felt worse than when I was given praise I knew I didn't deserve.

Nicoenarg said...

This is totally inline with commie/socialist thought and education. I know people here in Argentina who are socialists and say exactly that, "I am better off than others because of luck." Nothing else.

There's definitely something wrong with Obummer: He's a commie. Whats more disturbing is that he won two presidential elections. Says a lot about those who voted for him.

Always On Watch said...

Also implies that going down the wrong path is not a person's fault. "Just unlucky!"

Sheesh.

Epaminondas said...

'going down the wrong path is not a person's fault. '

No one is responsible or accountable for anything, and if you cannot be BLAMED for anything, you can neither CLAIM anything

Pastorius said...

According to Obama, either the state did it all for you, or the State stole from you what is your brithright.