I'm going to answer this one, as I've spent most of my life living in seedy, inner city apartments surrounded by the 'lazy, downward spiraling culture' Ryan references.
The first is we certainly do have major issues in our inner cities. They have turned into zones of little opportunity, un-regulated illegal drug trade, marred by elevated high-school drop out and incarceration rates. There are many things that need to be done to alleviate the almost third world living experienced by many Americans in our biggest cities.
However, Paul Ryan...and indeed the entire Republican Party, have put forth the argument that it's the fault of the POOR themselves. No matter the area of discussion, the poor did it TO themselves by being lazy. No, it has nothing to do without our corrupt, bought system in which One Percenters pulls the strings of congress like they own the place (they do).
This argument doesn't pass any tests. The poor can't be the reason for our capitalism failing any more than the Denver Broncos losing the Super Bowl can be used as reason for the problems with the NFL. The poor do not control the money supply or Washington or our way of life. Each poor person can be blamed for his/her station, but bears ZERO responsibility for the state of the nation.
We went through this during the big crash, and the fools on the right try to sell us on ANY one being at fault other than the banks--- individual home owners lost their homes for buying more than they could afford. That didn't crash our economy. The big banks gambling on our collective mortgages like it was a casino CRASHED our economy.
The fact is this: capitalism has blossomed to such an extent in this country that those with extreme wealth control a disproportionate amount of power and use that power to steal money that doesn't belong to them. For every dollar we give the poor in forms of welfare, food stamps etc, we give TEN to big business through subsidies, tax breaks or massive cash injections as in the bailouts.
So, enough of the tired GOP talking point that the poor are the reason America is failing. It can't be true, for the poor do NOT control the game, the money or the voting system. Stop being a lemming and repeating this bullshit, which at best makes you look uneducated and at worst makes you look racist.
I'll end with a tweet from the man running against Paul Ryan for his seat in Congress.
Attn @PRyan: Driving through blighted areas on your way to the sports arena is probably not the best way to learn about inner city culture.
— Rob Zerban (@robzerban) March 12, 2014
From Vegas
Stephen Moran