How would you react? What to say.

Why arnt these so called decent people helping the tramps and whores.Sounds hypocritical to me.
I probably wouldnt say anything tho.

I would try my best to get him so angry that he went at me. Then I'd turn the tables on him.

Or i'd just make fun of him and his hillariously shortsighted mindtrack.

In any case, I wouldn't have the self control to leave him alone.

Very Honest Cyracuz. I probably'd have to take at least a verbal shot, too.

The idea is not original. Many societies have had property-ownership as a requirement for the franchise, including the colonies which would eventually become the United States. In England, property owners with substantial property were granted more than one vote in many jurisdictions, as "rate-payers," i.e., the taxpayers who supported the programs, and who were therefore entitled to a greater say in how the revenues were spent.

but how would you react?

If I was feeling like a bit of a smartass, and I usually am, I'd ask him how he would feel knowing that those decent folk got more votes than him?

Freeduck.

Let's not hope we run into the same person, because I might steal your line...

It was quite a reasonable sentiment at the time, considering the strong liberal feelings in those days.
When you firmly believe (without claiming it is right or wrong for now) that people are capable to better their own destiny by working hard in a good and honest job, one automatically can say that the classes mentioned (specifially the poor) aren't working hard enough. I'll not even go into the 'prostitutes not working hard' issue

As for how I would react? I'd probably try to debate with him, try to make him see where he is wrong according to me. Just as I always do in here as well

najmelliw wrote:




And so the sensibility of their judgement rested upon an assumption of limited truth, the one I've quoted. Maybe it was the popularity of this kind of reasoning that gave rise to what we came to know as determinism?

xguy wrote-



I would be inclined to agree with the Texan. In fact in England criminals in prison can't vote at all. Drifters show few signs of wishing to and whores are usually too busy. Degenerates,atheists and indecent folk are by far the largest interest group and they can be expected to vote for degeneracy, indiscipline and indecency and do so as you might have noticed if you haven't got your head in a flock mattress.

I would add an educational requirement on to the property qualification Setanta has mentioned and that they don't smell.

Naturally drifters, whores, criminals, degenerates, atheists and indecent folk will be opposed to the Texan's ideas for reasons too obvious to state on a thread dedicated to civilised values.

Aye, it did. But criticizing the people back then for an attitude based on what is now perceived as a limited truth is applying an anachronism. I agree with you that the ideology behind it is, for us individuals in modern day society, flawed. But for the time it was perfectly normal thinking. Perhaps, considering the classbound mentality of centuries before, even an improvement, in so far that people were now deemed capable of bettering their own lot byt themselves, and not 'convicted' to their class by reason of birth.

yeah if you are convicted of many serious (and some in my opinion not so serious) crimes in the states you can lose your right to vote.


Don't be so hard on the degenerates, athiests, drifters, whores (actually it's a real challenge to be considered a whore nowadays) and the otherwise "degenerates"....remember they add a counterwieght to all those people who think they know how you should live. They keep everything in balance. Even if they don't vote, they still have a say by thier very actions.

I'm ok with that since it keeps the governments mind on how it should stop their actions and off of how to try to turn me into a robot.

afterall you can't have a "decent folk" if "indecent folk" did not exist.

btw it may have been a common sentiment at the time but yossarian and his other friends in the scene don't agree with the Texan. instead they deride him sarcastically(to his utter confusion).

If I recall the book, that has a lot to do with the way the trenchwarfare 'equalized' the classes. What I mean to say is : It don't matter if you're black, white, rich, poor, catholic or protestant. In the trenches, you die just as quickly regardless of those issues. So claiming there is a difference between classes based on such arguments would be quite nonsensical in the 'communist' trenches. Communist being a figure of speech of course. So this could be a reason they made fun of the Texan.

Anyhoo, by the time of World War I, the sentiment I described was decidedly waning, since it became more and more obvious that the working class had almost no chance to better themselves in the ways the liberals believed they could.

But it would still be anachronistic to argue with the Texan from those trenches about this, so to speak. Try convincing a Roman aristocrat keeping slaves or watching Gladiators fight and die in the arena is wrong. Same problem.

I think drifters, whores, criminals, degenerates, atheists and indecent folk should be the only people to have the right to vote. At least they know about life and wont go holier-than-thou on you.

How many votes does that give you, Nimh?

I'd give the Texan 2 tickets to the next Lincoln Day republican fund raising dinner before saying "have a nice day"

spendius wrote:


So you'd be ok with not having a vote?

Seriously though, without the degenerates, atheists and indecent folk to vote for degeneracy (or decadence), indicipline and indecency, I don't think democracy could be upheld.

xguy wrote-



Yeah. Piers Morgan,a disgraced ex-newspaper editor did a programme tonight about the Sven/Faria BJ multi-million extravaganza in which a woman,probably jealous, asked what's the difference between whoring and having sex with the England team coach and charging newspaper readers for it.

cyr wrote-



I did vote once cyr when I was very young and I felt so stupid after I got outside of the polling booth and so deeply ashamed as I drove away that I have never felt the need to inflict upon myself such a sense of self disgust and despair ever again.

I gather about 50% of Americans feel the same way and at the last election here the non-voters were the largest party and they win local elections by a landslide. Only egomaniacal horseholes vote.