Native Americans
With the exception of Italian-Americans, and perhaps Hispanics, I really don't know of too many Americans who really immerse themselves in culture(s) they descended from. I mean, I have a large percentage of Irish in my DNA, and just about the only Irish thing I do is attend an annual Irish Fest in my town every summer.
But also, two of my older brothers are Japanese-Americans, as my dad's first wife was a Japanese immigrant: the younger of the two actually lives in Okinawa with his family . . . and they really don't indulge in too much Japanese culture, either . . . in fact, neither of their sons know a word of the Japanese language, considering the part of Okinawa they live in is a largely English-speaking area anyway.
Not really defending her, mind you, I'm just saying I really don't see too many people who actually participate in many cultures they descend from.
There is a difference. Native American's don't consider heritage to be defined by DNA, but by living the culture. But still, that's not the point. I have no problem that she thought the story was true and claimed it in her school records. My issue is how she handled it once she had the test done. She could have said nothing, she could have said the test is inconclusive, she could have said the test showed she was mistaken and apologized. Instead, she took inconclusive data that showed nothing in support of her and made it seem like some kind of definitive proof. It just makes her look bad. It embodies everything that her opposition claim she does.
Bernie is a socialist, and I don't mean that in the hyperbolic way people called Obama one. He legit is one. He calls for a 90% tax on the wealthy? He said people standing in food lines in Venezuela was a good thing. That's insane. Do we need tax reform? Yes. Do we need to serious dismantle the budget and analyze where we can cut spending so we can move funds into other areas? Yes. Should we tax the top 1% 90% or more? No!
The top 1%, on average, starts at $389,436. Yes, that is a lot, but now tax it 90%. That turns into a 38,943 take home. That's noting if you live in a major city, and usually if you make that much it's because you went to school and put in a great deal of work and effort. It also means that instead of the money you make stimulating the economy, it will funnel into a broken system of government spending. It just does not seem right.
People claim that the rich "hoard money", but that isn't entirely true. When I was making a decent living, not rich but I met my needs, I saved 12% via 401k, kept some money in the bank, invested a small portion in stock, and the rest went into general living expenses and luxury items. Was I hoarding the money I saved? No, I was being smart with it. The investments stimulated the economy. I had savings to live off of when I lost my job. What Bernie wants is for everyone to have equality of outcome, meaning there is no rich or poor. Sure, it sounds great if you are poor, but it sounds terrible if you are someone who worked hard to create your own business and build something from nothing.
Personally, I believe in social programs to an extent. However, I think that people would be better off with personal savings and retirement accounts than with social security. If I hadn't saved money I wouldn't have been able to pay my rent with the unemployment I received. I paid way more into unemployment than I got back. Ironically, it was going through the unemployment system that made me realize how poor these programs are run. I'd much rather live off money I earned than live off money from the government.
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