tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403232.post945938888998898338..comments2024-02-10T08:46:51.419-05:00Comments on Rude Armchair Theology: Requiem for the American DreamMike Croghanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18099387827886541138noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403232.post-37275398728556498452008-04-07T13:44:00.000-04:002008-04-07T13:44:00.000-04:00I never got the whole "pull yourself up by your ow...I never got the whole "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" thing. I mean, elementary physics shows that this idea is patently absurd! The upward force you exert on your bootstraps will always be balanced by the downward force of your feet pressing on the ground to get leverage. The free-body diagram will show zero net force upwards. However, if you sort of did a little hop and while your feet are briefly off the ground you yanked the bejeezus out of your bootstraps, you might be able to exert enough force to flip yourself over so you crack your head on the pavement.<BR/><BR/>Hm. Maybe the metaphor is relatively accurate after all.[REDACTED]https://www.blogger.com/profile/13115829713873019631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403232.post-33676046220406483122008-04-06T08:39:00.000-04:002008-04-06T08:39:00.000-04:00Good point in your post, Montag. That whole "pull...Good point in your post, Montag. That whole "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" thing always seems to be in the past for "us" - something our grandparents or our parents did, or possibly that we did in the past - but for "us" today, that's no longer necessary. We've got credit cards now, and lawyers, and lobbyists. We've *done* the bootstraps thing, and now we're entitled to something for nothing. But as for "them" - recent immigrants, folks who have fallen on hard times, etc. - bootstraps, baby. Chop chop. Look what it did for us.Mike Croghanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18099387827886541138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5403232.post-64511719869303967552008-04-06T02:13:00.000-04:002008-04-06T02:13:00.000-04:00The American dream seems to have taken an ugly tur...The American dream seems to have taken an ugly turn.<BR/><BR/>http://evolvedcolonies.blogspot.com/2008/03/american-dream.htmlMontaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06108749911861219717noreply@blogger.com