Quote:
Originally Posted by lifer
Most Natives are infinately better off right now than they would have been if Europeans had never shown up in North America. I dont' see too many of them drinking untreated water, I've seen many getting medical treatment in clinics and hospitals, I've passed them onthe highway when they're driving cars rather than horses...the list goes on an on of what they have because of the European settlement, but all they do is want more. It's sickening, and their continued walking around demanding handouts isn't doing much to challenge the stereotypes around their people.
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I think there would be a rather large contingent of people that would say that technological advancemet aside, the standard of living for many Natives today is lower than it was 500 years ago.
I would say that at this point, the debate is how much is self inflicted, and how conterproductive to fixing the situation are claims such as this one about cell phone signals.
I've been through a lot of reserves, and I gotta say, living in a teepee and hunting for a living would probably be preferable to some of the places I've seen. Certainly this is a group of people that at one time were tremendously disadvantaged, but at this point there are any number of programs avaialbe to help make their lives better, but when their leadership pulls stunts like this it creats a culture looking for handouts, and those of us on the outside see the entire comunity as greedy.
Untill the leadership of a lot of bands start using the advantages afforded to their community properly, and to better the lives of the rest of the band, instead of looking for handouts like this, the problem will persist.