I imagine we've all heard the aphorism many times: give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. As the Rev. Al Sharpton noted on Politics Nation yesterday, Paul Ryan had an interesting take on the saying yesterday.
For those who can't watch clips online, Ryan was confronted by a voter at an event yesterday who's struggling, and can't afford to give up on public assistance. The Republican vice presidential nominee responded, "The only thing that limits you is your God given talent and your own effort. We need to have that dynamic economy return. You do that by drawing the economy and giving people a hand up, not a hand out. Teach a man how to fish, he can feed himself for a life. Don't simply feed fish."
As Sharpton asked, "Don't feed fish? What does that even mean?" I don't know, but that strikes me as a good question.
But I have a related concern: since when does Paul Ryan believe in teaching people to fish? Ryan's budget plan includes some pretty brutal cuts to education and public-assistance programs. In fact, though much of his agenda is vague when it comes to reductions, if Ryan's cuts were applied evenly, his budget could cut nearly $5 billion from elementary and secondary education, and take college aid away from nearly 10 million students.
The idea of stressing education as a mechanism for growth and social mobility sounds pretty appealing, but the Republican vision is one in which struggling folks wouldn't get a fish, wouldn't be taught to fish, the lake gets drained, and those affected would be told to "take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
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Welllll ... we WOULD like to teach people how to fish. Unfortunately your budget plans cuts education and the school was closed. It also cut government funding to get the fishing poles, the lines and the bait. And your getting rid of the EPA caused the rivers and oceans to be polluted by waste from businesses so the fish died.
Did you mean Swedish fish? ;o)
http://blog.duchessstrollins.com/2012/09/25/calling-out-more-tea-party-propaganda-duchess-style/
I'd like to reel Ryan in on a shark hook!!!!
I wish a whale would come along and swallow him whole!
What is even more remarkable than him being an @!$%# was the applause.....
I agree that Paul Ryan was once again being selfish, callous, and absurd. "Don't feed fish" is a butchered misinterpretation of a very old and eloquent proverb, but there is another layer to this story. The quote, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," belongs to Moses Maimonides (Rambam) and it is related to his Ladder of Tzedakah, which means righteousness and charity.
There is a strange irony in the fact that Ryan chose to twist Maimonides's quote into a rhetorical and ideological weapon on the day of Yom Kippur, which is not only a very important Jewish high-holiday, but a holy day that has been heavily influenced and shaped by Maimonides's teachings. Maimonides was a 12th-century physician and philosopher, who codified Jewish law, and unlike Paul Ryan and his budget, Maimonides was in no way saying: 'don't give a man a fish so that he may go hungry today.' I can't think of a single religion that would praise such a teaching. That sounds like Ayn Rand, not Maimonides.
In his Laws about Giving to Poor People, Chapter 10:7–14, Maimonides argued that the highest degree of charity is to support those in need through a gift, an interest-free loan, partnership in business, and help until they are no longer dependent upon others, and this was not the only degree of charity that he defined. There are eight degrees of giving on Rambam's Ladder.
Moreover, Yom Kippur is a holiday in which Maimonides's teachings are highly pronounced. It is a day of self-reflection, repentance, and atonement, which are all subjects that Rambam wrote about. It is a day on which the Jewish tradition is to fast and to ask of one's self how we as individuals can become better people to ourselves, to others, and to God; how we can change and become more righteous in spirit, thought, and action.
I'm not posting this to preach, but only to offer context to the quote that Paul Ryan butchered and to agree with Rev. Sharpton that Ryan was throwing overboard the woman who told him of her financial hardships and all who struggle in our country. His statement was an abandonment of his oath as a Member of Congress and a rejection of basic moral character.
On the surrounding walls within the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives there are decorative images of the faces of philosophers from legal history. Maimonides is up there, and so is Moses. In fact, Moses is the only face that is not in profile and his eyes are aimed at the Speaker's chair. I support the separation of church and state, but in terms of symbolism and mythology, as it is inscribed on Maimonides’s tomb in Tiberias, "From Moses to Moses there were none like Moses."
Here is more on Maimonides: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides
Also: this is a powerful response to the Ryan budget by Rep. Dennis Kucinich from the floor of the U.S. House: Thou Shall Not Harden Thy Heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO9zk_iG1RY
Basically, Paul Ryan: #fail.
WHY SHOUDLN'T WE FEED THE FISH?? What did the fish ever do us? Doesn't feeding the fish means the poor man gets bigger and more fish? Why is Paulocchio saying we shouldn't feed the fish? He is becoming more and more like Mitt; confuzzling!
How is he planning on giving them a hand-up instead of a hand-out? If you cut education then people that need a hand-up for better jobs will have less opportunity.
Ryan also seems to have forgotten that when the crowds listening to Jesus had only 7 fishes, and a like amount of bread .... He urged them to shared it all out equitably, and there turned out to be enough fish for everyone. Personally, I think that is less about miracles than the principles of community. But strange, I thought the GOP were big believers in miracles these days (like the idea the investor class will be so happy if Romney is elected, the economy will immediately fix itself...)
Meanwhie, I don't think this country has heard the cry of "starve them 'til they work" since the days of slavery ....
Is frying fish filets at McDonald's one of those "god given talents?" Many people DO choose to take personal responsibility——flipping burgers and/or sweeping floors and possibly another job but can't begin to feed themselves, let alone a family. Talk like his shames people who are already down and embarrassed they need assistance.
He's government lifer who makes a ton of money w/ benefits for working maybe 30 hrs a week, with one week off for every two and never has to take responsibility to produce or deliver anything. He gets a review every 2 years that comes with meals and contributions and if he's fired can go back to DC and pimp---I mean lobby, for a living.
If the GOP (via Paul Ryan as their 'Ken Doll' mouthpiece), wants to stop feeding of fish, I recommend they start with not feeding the sharks on Wall Street and in other multi-national corporations that get subsidies and "assistance" that dwarfs that of any poor welfare recipient.
Why can't Ryan recite one of the oldest saws in the graduation-speech lexicon without mangling it? Simple, because he's never thought it through. And how typical of him to recite slogans about people needing a "hand up rather than a hand out" when a hand up is precisely what he wants to deny them. Ryan thinks in cliches, acts in cliches, and has the intellectual depth of a coat of paint.
Dan Quayle famously tried to recite the slogan of the UNCF that "A mind is a terrible thing to waste," but somehow managed to turn it into "What a waste it is to lose your mind." Paul Ryan's "Don't feed fish" will go down in the hall of fame along with that one.
Question, what is this woman doing to help herself? Schooling, Trade, extra classes....
That would have to be answered first. Also is she earning the maximum with welfare on top of her salary and if so what is the gross amount of this before taxes? She might be fairing better than most that never get a handout.
Ryan's sanctimonious fish fry.
Working people catch fish.
Ryan et al. eat fish.
The republican party teaches a man religion so he'll starve to death praying for fish.
The republican party leases fishing poles but won't let you buy one and will claim patent infringement if you build your own.
The republican party supports more patent protection for fishing pole corporations and free fish to the fishing pole manufacturers as incentives to test out their products. After they work out the kinks, the technological benefits will then be passed on to others.
The republican party doesn't advocate teaching fishing for free, but with a voucher program, for-profit fish schools can teach you parts of fishing techniques but then kick you out of the program before you complete your training and stick you with the bill.