I work with a girl who is a conservative republican, and a holy roller to boot. I'll admit, she's nice, friendly, but I have a hard time seeing eye to eye with her on some of her views.
Some examples:
She told me that she doesn't feel bad for people who are underprivileged. I argued with her that sometimes yes, people make bad decisions which lead the to bad situations, but on the flip side, some people are just thrown into hopeless situations where they are given no hope, and are not taught that things can be different. Her logic: No matter where or what circumstances someone is brought into, they should know that things can be better, and thus if they don't create their own opportunities, it's their fault. I totally disagreed and painted the most dire and pathetic situation, but she wouldn't change her mind.
I told her I hated that some employers take advantage of some employees, and keep them underpaid when they know that they aren't making livable wages. Her logic: It's the employee's fault if they stay in that situation. I partially agreed, but I said that some people are just stuck in some situations where they can't take a proactive stance to get themself out, but she wouldn't change her mind.
Another situation:
We have an intern at work who was supposed to be doing technology type work and was reporting to said conservative republican. She stuck the intern arranging catalogs. I said, "Don't you feel bad that she is not doing what she signed on to do?" She said, "No, not really, I asked her such and such and she didn't make a big deal of it, so I don't really feel bad".
So really it seems that her theory is, if you can take advantage of someone who doesn't know that they are being taken care of, it's ok. And my theory is, if someone doesn't know that they're being taken advantage, they should be made aware.
The irony of it all is that she's really just an overpaid glorified receptionist, who doesn't do much, yet somehow she gets special treatment, and manages to pass off her assignments to the intern turned employee. So she gets more than she should, while at the same time taking advantage of and not feeling sorry for those who don't know better.
The scary part is that she's a holy roller who guys to church every weekend, so I would think she'd be the one with compassion, and I'm the godless guy who by all stereotypes should be the one without compassion. Well, I think that's the problem with this world. We have the people who claim to be believe in god and jesus, yet are in these positions where they could help, yet really it does seem that they are mostly interested in making themselves rich, while making the poor poorer.
Although I have to say, I suppose in her defense she has managed to get an overpaid glorified receptionist position where she doesn't get taken advantage of. But all in all, I totally disagree with the assumption that as people become more successful they somehow should be allowed to take advantage of those less fortunate.
