I may make some enemies saying this, however in my humble but educated opinion John Stossel, “reporter and consumer crusader extraordinaire” has gone over to the dark side. That is a wordy and pretentious way to say I think he’s full of BS. I believe Stossel is more interested in self-promotion than a deep analysis of the truth at this point in his career.
There was a day, I must admit, when I admired John Stossel. I thought his consumer reporting was helpful. But in those days I was not taking the time to check the veracity of his statements. Had I read FAIR reports earlier in my life, perhaps I would have known that his “facts” were not always really truthful facts. You can check FAIR concerns yourself at http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1887 .
I will also tell you that, had I attempted to write this last night, when I first read his blog post of March 25, 2011 entitles Freeloading Doesn’t Help the Freeloaders, it would have turned into an angry diatribe. I would have attacked Mr Stossel personally which would not have been worthwhile. However, I will say I was really steamed!
I refuse to give a link to take more people to his blog post. I will tell you he posted it on that date at 4:57 in Entrepreneurs, Fox News Appearances, Free Market, Freeloaders and Government. I will analyze it for you, though. So don’t give him more views unless you plan to add to his already large quantity of negative comments. I don’t claim to be an expert, like Stossel does, but I do think I am fairly well-informed.
Stossel’s opening statement was “No group has been more ‘helped’ by the American government than American Indians. Yet no group in America does worse.”
Right here I have to split a few hairs with Mr Stossel. “No group has been ‘helped’ more …than … Indians.” Mr Stossel, please tell us the definition of the word “help” that you used. In my dictionary, help means “to give what is necessary to accomplish a task”, “to save or rescue”, “to make easier/less difficult” and “to relieve in pain, sickness or distress.”
Let us consider how the American government has “helped” the Indians of this country.
American Indians are the original inhabitants of this continent. They had flourishing cultures, strong family structures, languages of their own and their own forms of government and justice. In those cultures, the poor were taken care of by sharing – no one went hungry when others ate. A chief wasn’t the most popular person in the group but the person chosen as having proved him or herself as most wise. Chiefs didn’t seek the office; it was usually thrust upon him/her. It wasn’t even a real office, as such.
There was variety among the cultures. Some were more centralized, where game was plentiful or perhaps the soil was good enough to grow crops. Other tribes were nomadic – without a permanent home although they did have “permanent” territories. They followed the migration of animals that were their own life blood. Indians used every single part of the buffalo, for example, not just the meat or hide.
Although there were certainly disagreements and conflicts between families (clans) and amongst tribes, most were also generous and hospitable.
Enter the Europeans. Yes, those who are the ancestors of most of you readers, definitely me and assuredly Mr Stossel. Those Europeans step on the soil of this continent and “claim it.” CLAIM IT! Oh yes, there are already people living on this land. But there don’t seem to be that many of them. We think there is room for all. We will claim some of this land as our own. Yes, we will OWN it. What? You, the original inhabitants don’t believe you can own land? Well, we do and we have stronger weapons, so it will be our way. Besides, we don’t need that much land.
The success of those first European interlopers would not have been a problem for the Indians if their group did not grow. But grow it did! They had huge families and they interested more Europeans in moving to this land of promise. Then they needed MORE ROOM. MORE LAND. Oh, so sorry, we’re going to take more land from you. Sure, we’ll give you a few trinkets and shells for it. Trust us.
Woe to those who trust the untrustworthy.
The first Indians to encounter the Europeans had smaller tribes and were more settled (which is NOT to say they were permanently settled in towns, etc). As happens everywhere, some fell into interracial love affairs. So begins assimilation. Others were truly converted to the European life style. Many were either forcibly “converted” or died trying to preserve their own way of life.
But we need MORE LAND. MORE SPACE.
So the push westward was begun. Indians who were already displaced from the east were pushed further away from their homelands if they did not assimilate.
The government began to make treaties with the tribes. In exchange for the land you are “giving” us we PROMISE to take care of you, make sure you have enough to eat, good places to live. We PROMISE to punish any bad person who hurts, steals from or otherwise harms a member of your tribe. We PROMISE no one will bother you on the land we are giving you.
People today like to think that these treaties are quaint documents in which the government meant well but which don’t have much meaning in this day and age. WRONG! Treaties are legal documents between sovereign nations. Would we think of saying, “Sure, we have treaties limiting nuclear arms with Russia, but that’s for them, not us. We can do what we want to.” That wouldn’t fly, would it? Treaties are binding on all signing parties. That includes the US government.
So our government agreed to give the Indians certain things and do certain things for them. Did the government follow through on everything it PROMISED? NOT EVEN CLOSE!
Treaties were broken by the government. There was more land taken (stolen). There were cultures destroyed and languages lost. Sacred places were defiled. And did I mention more land was taken? Reservations began to shrink as precious minerals were found and mines begun. Cattle and other grazing herds competed with the native animals that formed the Indian diet. The government condoned the wholesale slaughter of buffalo to get them out of the way for the railroad to cross the country and to free up grazing land for stock. The government condoned genocide, too.
The remaining Indians were left on reservations with fairly useless land. They had no access to food, especially the food they were all accustomed to. There were no jobs on the reservations. The children were taken from their families to be “civilized and educated.” These are the Indians whom Stossel calls FREELOADERS. These are the ones surviving on the benefits the US government promised to them in “exchange” for all their land and their culture.
Let’s go back to the dictionary. Freeloader is defined as “slang: a person who habitually depends on the charity of others for food, shelter, etc”. And freeload the verb is defined as “to take advantage of others for free food, entertainment, etc”.
Okay, based on what we’ve discussed, it is obvious that Indians are freeloaders, right? The are taking advantage of those who stole their land and culture by expecting to be given the things that treaties have promised. I’m sure they are entertained by the broken promises, hungry children, substandard living conditions and prejudice they have. It must be an advantage to experience hopelessness and despair to such a degree that there is an epidemic of youth suicide on reservations.
Mr Stossel blithely notes, “They have short life spans.” That is the understatement of a lifetime! The life expectancy for a male on Pine Ridge Reservation is 48 years and for women it is 52 years! Those are life expectancies comparable to Burundi, not anywhere in the USA. Do you really think, Mr Stossel, that these “freeloaders” are getting a benefit here? Do you think they greedily and lazily think that losing 30 years of expected life is a good deal?
Do I disagree with Mr Stossel’s premise that people who are given everything prosper less than those who must work to get ahead? Not entirely. I look at the youth of this nation, a group who have come to believe they are entitled to things, education, jobs because their parents gave them everything they asked for. Talk about a group of freeloaders (in general; there are certainly exceptions).
However, do I believe that American Indians are freeloaders, as Stossel claims? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I wonder if Mr Stossel has ever spent any time visiting a reservation or talking to those who live there. I doubt it. I have done both. I have seen with my own eyes what passes for housing on the reservations of South Dakota. I have seen how hard it is to succeed even with an education – that it often means leaving home, family, culture and friends.
So, Mr Stossel (I’m sure you read your own press and hope you have been able to read to the end), I urge you to read any of my blog entries in the Lakota category. Watch the videos I’ve made from photos I’ve taken on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
My Passion is Pine Ridge http://youtu.be/t8UYGSBl4yU?a
Third World Conditions in the USA http://youtu.be/-gHXmlUpVvs
Look carefully at the pictures of my friend’s house, Mr Stossel. Tell me if you really believe that someone would live in those conditions willingly in order to take advantage of charity or “government handouts.” If you really believe that, you don’t deserve the BA in Psychology that you got at Princeton University. You obviously didn’t learn enough to merit it.
Yes, there are prosperous American Indian individuals and tribes who don’t need the benefits they are entitled to from the US government. But there are many, many more who, for whatever reasons, absolutely need them and would not be able to survive without them. You should know better than to compare apples to oranges, Mr Stossel!
American Indians, especially in the Dakotas, endure prejudice and bias akin to that experienced by African-Americans in the deep South in the days before the Civil Rights movement. Where is the American media when that occurs? Absent. It is abominable that you add to this with the commentary you wrote equating all American Indians with freeloaders. Shame on you!
Mr Stossel, you should not write about what you don’t know, even if you have a wonderful staff to feed you statistics.
And you owe American Indians an apology at the very least.
g a person who habitually depends on the charity of others for food, shelter, etc |
slang a person who habitually depends on the charity of others for food, shelter, etc |
slang a person who habitually depends on the charity of others for food, shelter, etc |
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Comments on Stossel Comments
Posted in America, American media outlets, Comments, Day to day, Democrats, Education, FOX News, Freeload, Freeloader, General, Honesty, John Stossel, Life, National News Media, Native American, News, Pine Ridge Reservation, Politics, Poverty, Poverty in America, Republicans, Reservation, Rezlife, Soapbox, South Dakota, Stossel, Treaties, Truth, tagged Life on April 11, 2011| 1 Comment »
Well, I certainly didn’t get the number of comments on my post that Stossel did on his Fox Business Blog post. But I got a couple that were interesting and I’d like to share them with you – as well as my thoughts on them.
First of all, I think that perhaps the original commenter, Mr Hack, should perhaps follow his own advice. He said I should have watched Stossel’s whole show before I commented on it. If I had been commenting on the show, that would indeed have been wise. But since I was commenting on Stossel’s blog post, the advice should have told me to read it first — which of course, I did! Perhaps Mr Hack should have followed his own advice and read my post completely and accurately.
Here is Mr Hack’s first comment:
My response to Mr Hack:
I did not take Mr Stossel out of context. I took him at his word – or words – the ones he wrote in his blog, just as I am doing here. So anything he defined in his show or anywhere else is irrelevant. His word has to be what it is in the blog.
I disagree that there is no need to go into “the history of how Americans and Christians screwed them over.” In spite of Mr Hack’s assertions, everyone does not know that. Furthermore, history is important here because the treaties that were signed by duly elected officials of the United States of America are part of that history. Those treaties are legally binding and should not be ignored because they are inconvenient.
Mr Hack, please do your homework. What the Native Americans receive from the government are not “handouts,” but the fulfillment of treaty obligations. Furthermore, if you read my post, you would see that I explained the difference between a small NC tribe that “refused” those “handouts” and the bulk of the Indians of the western region. The tribe you reference is not necessarily doing well because they “refused” the government benefits. You have some individuals of that tribe who are doing well because they have been assimilated into Western culture. You have a land developer. Certainly, if you were “in environment” as you stated, you know the difference between land in North Carolina and land in southwestern South Dakota. Try to develop the SD land – oh wait, the government did that . . . with a bombing range and uranium mines.
You stated there is no “legitimate rebuttal” to Stossel’s information. I believe there is no legitimacy to his statements. If you read my post, you would already know why. I hate repeating myself! You state I liked Stossel at ABC because he was censored there. No, Mr Hack. I liked Stossel because I agreed with some of his consumer protection/awareness pieces. I judge a person’s work on what I see, not what I have no knowledge of.
You spoke of libertarianism and progressivism. I could care less about any “ism” you would like to discuss. I am not a political person. I am interested in caring for people. I care that everyone has enough to eat, heat when it is freezing and adequate clothing.
Your last comment was about seeing people abuse the system. I have no doubt that occurs. You were in environment. I processed auto insurance injury claims. You want fraud, you’ve got it there. Yet I don’t claim that everyone who makes any injury claim is a fraud or faker. We all, even Mr Stossel and you and me, deserve to be judged on the fruits of our labors and at our words.
So, for the record, Mr Hack, I do not “hate” Stossel now nor have I ever. As for your statement, “I spit at your bullshit comments.”, I find it in poor taste and would never stoop to such a low in responding.
Here is Mr Hack’s second comment:
My response to Mr Hack:
Contrary to what you may believe, I am not for spending without attention to waste control. I believe legislation should only be for what it is meant to be — no little “pet projects” put into bills that have nothing to do with them. I believe that, if we as a nation taught responsibility and self-control to our children, we would have fewer problems and we would not have to legislate common sense. However, I also believe that we must fulfill our legal obligations, whether we like them or not.
There was one other comment that was not from Mr Hack but in response to his comments. It said:
My reply:
Thank you for not wanting to drag politics in because I really try to steer clear of politics as much as I can. My wish is to focus on human needs when I write about Pine Ridge Reservation. However, I did chuckle at your point. If not “most of the country,” certainly most of the people I personally know.
So where does that leave us?
It leaves me thinking John Stossel would be better off writing (or broadcasting, for that matter) about facts rather than using inflammatory name calling to get readers/viewers.
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