Willravel

On the contrary, I'm quite hopeful. In my lifetime, the cold war effectively ended, computers went from being as big as a house to inside of my phone and now can connect everyone on the planet, we were able to lift millions of people out of poverty, and Chuck Norris kicked countless hooligans. It just goes to show you that humanity is capable of incredible good, but progress requires vigilance. I'm simply being vigilant.
The United States of America boasts neither of these, actually. The standard of living is higher in Norway, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, France, and several more countries. Quality of life isn't quantifiable, but have you ever been to Norway? It's seriously like traveling to the future.
This argument effectively died after the Great Depression. That reset the clock on US economic power. We are currently enjoying our high standard of living because of massive borrowing.
Technically, they would via taxes, but because the tax burden would be widespread, they'd be getting more than they paid for.
Ask a black person if I'm racist.
The poor are victimized by society, Zenturian. Many black people are poor, therefore many black people are victimized by society. It's not a matter of weakness, it's a matter of circumstance. Because the poor in our country are disproportionately black, many members of each generation are born into poverty. Were you born into poverty, Zenturian? I was born into a lower class family, but I don't think I was ever impoverished except perhaps briefly during college. Have you ever been impoverished? Do you understand the state of poverty? Or do you stand from the outside, judging them without anything to formulate said judgment on? From my direct experience, it's not a matter of pathetic or estimable, it's often a matter of numerous circumstances combined with personal ability and motivation. Should great capability and unmatched motivation meet with the wrong circumstances, one can still fail. This is often the case when dealing with people that are poor.

Let's put your view under the microscope you used incorrectly on mine. You're almost certainly aware that more black people are poor, lack college educations, and are imprisoned. By your black and white understanding of society, though, there's nothing standing in their way, right? They live in the land of equal opportunity! So how do you account for the statistics about income, imprisonment, and education? Why,
... uh huh. Take that to it's logical conclusion. It's black people's fault that they're poor. It's black people's fault that they're born into a system in which they're hundreds of times more likely to be imprisoned than a white person. It's black people's fault that they can't get into college.

And I'm the racist? Open your eyes, Zenturian. Open your eyes and see. Its marvelous what you can see when you open your eyes. Come, marvel with me.