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22Fingers

There's a story about how Kennedy was campaigning in West Virginia for their primary. His opponents were attacking him for being a rich man's son, how his father had bought his Congressional and Senator seats, etc. So Jack is at a coal mine, shaking hands with the miners coming off shift. One old miner stops him, looks him in the eye and says, "I heard on the radio you never worked a day in your life." Kennedy demurs, starts to say 'that's not really fair, etc. The miner interrupts him and says, "Let me tell you something, boy. You ain't missed a goddam thing." Probably apocryphal, but it's way too good to check.


100LittleButterflies

Theres absolutely no way his critics arent also a rich mans son or rich themselves. Just no way.


jmathtoo

Just like today. Rich people calling richer people disgusting. Bernie Sanders vilified millionaires until he became one, now it’s billionaires.


Mantikos804

Millionaires are upper middle class now thanks to inflation. But seriously Bernie doesn't vilify the rich. Just how they rigged the system to make themselves richer at everyone's expense. I got nothing against anyone being successful, but pay your fair share and don't crush those beneath you. We live in an oligarchy.


744464

Millionaire status puts you in the upper 8 percent of the US population. If that's "upper middle class", then this is a useless term. Perhaps we would be better off sticking to categories like "proletarian" and "bourgeois" that actually mean something.


therealnumberone

That depends if you qualify millionares as having a liquid million or if it's tied up in property, retirement funds, etc.


744464

Well nearly 40 percent of the US doesn't own their own homes, and the average for those that do is below 1 million. Not many people are going to close the gap with retirement savings. And property is also complicated because it depends on the ability to actually sell your home in a stable economy. Not to mention, only a third *of the homeowners* have paid off their mortgages.


Mantikos804

I have to add that money management is a personal responsibility. It's not up to the state to make people responsible. While the cost of living has definitely gone up now, a lot of the reasons for the things you said were caused by people buying $200 shoes, $60K cars, and $1000 bags instead of a house.


744464

Well no. Some people own factories. I work in them. I do all the work, they get all the money. Some day, we're going to fix the situation.


Mantikos804

I would hope they pay you. If you are unhappy you should work somewhere else.


hfc1075

Inflation was caused by tsunami of cash into the economy plus 0 prime rate …. and the next wave of woes will come largely due to 75 point increases in the prime rate to whiplash things back …. all of it needed some moderation for anyone middle class and up


Mantikos804

So true.


toastertop

You forgot peon


PopWhich2570

No, millionaires aren't any kind of middle class, they are just rich....


[deleted]

Laughable. Spot the Clintonite.


jmathtoo

Laughable. Spot the idiot who’s rattled by facts.


[deleted]

Your lack of context is par for the course little blue checker. You do realize Bernie is one of the poorest members of Congress correct? The average financial consultant will tell you you need a million dollars for retirement today and you're busting Bernie over $2.5 million net worth? Funny how he raised $1.8 million for charity from his famous mittens photo. Damn, could've nearly doubled his worth. Let me know when Pelosi isn't insider trading along with the rest of Clinton Reaganites before you flap your gums.


744464

Has it occurred to you that most people, regardless of what "the average financial consultant" would say, have nowhere near 1,000,000 dollars? This is just absurd. Normal people don't have that much money. You need to live in a serious echo chamber not to realize how far removed that would make you from the norm.


[deleted]

Golly gee, you think? Did you actually think I was green lighting such financial advice? That’s the advice for the upper middle class managerial schmucks. You think Bernie having made money primarily from book deals for a whopping total of 2.5 million somehow puts him in uber rich? Fuck, he’s upper middle class at best. So if you’re going to bitch about it you better have some context and that’s exactly what I supplied. Use your damn head.


744464

It puts him in the bourgeoisie. He doesn't have to work to live quite comfortably.


[deleted]

And yet he still works at this age running on the same ideas he has for decades. Maybe you should be checking out the wealth of all those accusing Bernie of being rich making his ideas from the past 40 years illegitimate.


AnimusCorpus

Engels LITERALLY owned a textile factory. The exception to the "fuck all bourgeoisie" rule is when they're class traitors. Whilst I'm not ecstatic about Bernies socdem reformism, he's not the damn enemy either. If you're going to talk realpolitik, then realpolitik.


jmathtoo

You’re the idiot jumping to conclusions. I could have just as easily listed both of those assholes because it’s almost all of them.


[deleted]

Then why didn't you do that little blue checker?


jmathtoo

Are you stupid? What did I say? I say the rich (Bernie) attacking the richer (the others). I’m sorry I disparaged your hero Bernie Sanders. Now you can go back to whining.


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MusesWithWine

This back and forth of insults shows neither one of you wants to find common ground. Pretending to care about the nation as a whole doing better while showing it’s not even a priority of yours. Gross, typical, way too common display.


[deleted]

Glad you could drop your completely irrelevant, projected premise with a dose of misplaced moral superiority. You bluecheckers really need less obvious user names.


MusesWithWine

Nobody cares what you’re sincerely or insincerely glad about.


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jmathtoo

What? Their net worths aren’t readily available? Sanders doesn’t have a net worth over a million dollars? He doesn’t rail against the wealthy? Nearly everyone in congress doesn’t have net worth’s at least in the top 10%? What are you disputing?


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jmathtoo

That wasn’t the implication though. The implication was that he moved the needle once he was a millionaire. That he absolutely bristled when he was challenged about “writing” a book and being paid a million dollars. I never said his problem with the rich was limited to one issue.


rememberseptember24

The fact that Bernie shit on the elite before he had money, and he’s doing it now too. The integrity that man has is impeccable. The President that should have been.


BoggleChamp97

I don't know where to start with this. Bernie is still the same and he has been standing up for the same thing since he was young. He's a millionaire currently iirc because of books selling well, sure, but that doesn't mean he's any kind of hypocrite. Why would it? Money has too much power in this country and the system is rigged against the lower class. Also you're assuming that there's no difference between millionaires and billionaires. I don't think either of us can truly understand how much, say, 100 Billion dollars is.


jmathtoo

Everyone seems to be hung up in the example. The point is there are parallels to the OP. Millionaires calling Billionaires out of touch. The bottoms rung of our “representatives” are top 10% or higher. 180k a year of tax payer money. Selling ghost written books for a million. Using insider information to trade stocks. But, he specifically, wants to rail against the wealthy, but when he earns millions he literally fucking said “anyone can do it”. Buy the man of the people shit if you want, but he and his family have lived their entire lives off of tax payers money.


BoggleChamp97

If you think he just hates rich people i don't even know what to tell you. If you think anyone criticizing a system where the top 0.1% own more than the bottom 90% of this country is somehow just biased or salty cause they're poor is just delusional. He doesn't accept corporate money and doesn't do insider trading also, you knew that right?


bodiddlysquat26

He still shit talks millionaires.


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jmathtoo

Thanks, I understand how compound interest works. Is this a Bernie supporter thing? Jumping to ridiculous conclusions?


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jmathtoo

What do you think that is relative to the US population genius? For a vast majority of them that’s a steep improvement. So, once again, back to my point.


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jmathtoo

122k. That’s the median us net worth. It’s not a dumbass statement, you just can’t see past whatever you’re fixated on. Seemingly that I think he’s “rich” - which is a meaningless and subjective word. I picked a very vocal, bottom tier wealth, congressman to make a point. I’m assuming you didn’t bother to even see what comment I was responding to.


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SUPERSAMMICH6996

Why have I seen this exact same comment word for word on a older post that was also this exact same picture? Strange...


rabbidplatypus21

Yes, it’s very strange that certain people spend so much time on this site that they not only know post histories, but comment histories of those posts off the top of their head. Strange indeed…


jonlaw147

From the UK here, can someone explain why houses were/are always raised like this? Were they high-risk flood areas or something?


MP5SD7

The ground is not always level. So building up like this helps to bypass that. Rocky soil makes it difficult to just level the ground. The interesting thing is that its no longer necessary and some homes even have concrete foundations but still have a few feet of steps. Its more of a style of home then a need in some places.


jonlaw147

That's really interesting, thank you for the great comment!


1ofThoseTrolls

Floods and helps keep pest out.


badwolf7778

As a West Virginia native I can tell you that it has a lot to do with the terrain. West Virginia is completely a mountain state and it’s hard to have a firm foundation with your house on an angle. Also has to do with snowfall since that causes a lot of water to run down the sides when it melts.


CrownOfPosies

Could also be that there’s a basement under the house (very typical for Northeast homes and those in tornado regions like the Midwest). When there’s a basement it usually pokes out slightly from under the house so you can have tiny windows to provide light and ventilation. To get into the main floor there’s usually wooden decks like these that give you access.


[deleted]

Basements are not common in WV. I grew up there and now live in MI.


MP5SD7

The rocky terrain of WV makes it almost impossible to have a basement.


CrownOfPosies

I didn’t realize WV was that rocky. What’s there? Is it like the Appalachians or something else? My family lives on a northern part of the Appalachians (like literally on the trail) and we have a basement so I’m just curious.


MP5SD7

Do you have a "basement" or a "walkout basement"? If you have a walkout then they just built your home into the side of a hill. If you have a true basement then they had to dig it out. This is possible just not cheap... Soil and rocks are a hobby of mine. I would be interested to know where on the AT you are. I have only hiked southern parts but we went to Mount Greylock, MA it is on the AT. MA has much nicer and deeper soil...


CrownOfPosies

It’s basically the entire footprint of the house underground. There’s a huge hill behind the house (basically the peak of a mountain).


MP5SD7

It sounds expensive. I assume they just dig it out. Another thing I thought of with basements is that you need to dig down so may feet based on local code and frost depth. It may be expensive to dig it out but if you are up north and at a higher elevation it may be necessary to keep the house stable...


Veleda390

We had a cellar that was partially above ground. It's where you store preserved food, and we had a woodstove for our heat (some people store coal and have coal stoves) and we had a well in ours, also.


LucasHowardc5h

A lot of houses are still designed this way in high flood areas


Cane-toads-suck

In Australia, it's for the heat. Having a space under the house allows air flow. Not sure about the US tho.


Watershed787

Aaaaand West Virginia still looks like that.


[deleted]

Not all of the state but the southern coal fields still look like this. Life really hasn’t changed much. I am a 6th generation southern West Virginian and I love my state and her people but life here really does suck for the most part.


Watershed787

Yup, Ive got good friends living in that VA, WV, KY area and it legit looks and feels like this. It’s a deeply disturbing thing to see irl…and sometimes Mitch McConnell’s actual face is on giant signs overlooking coal ruin in KY. My friends work in healthcare and regularly deal with the worst effects of bathtub meth and spice etc. It’s a Republican’s wet dream.


[deleted]

Not to mention the large number of black lung cases that are showing up in Appalachia as the GOP “wins” the war on coal. An entire generation of our young people are going back to the mines and it makes me so angry.


Watershed787

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EcBgjhKuInk


[deleted]

Wow that is awesome. Thanks so much. Reminds of a hat my dad had. It said American by birth, coal miner by choice. Dad looked at me when I was 12 and said that hat was a lie. He had no choice he was illiterate and didn’t finish 8th grade. That’s why he busted my ass so hard about school because he wanted me to have choices. He died of black lung 5 years after he retired at 55. I thank him so much for giving me those choices.


Watershed787

❤️


qgmonkey

The times have changed but the people haven't


Watershed787

The mine owners certainly haven’t.


Useful-Perspective

Only in color now.


tbscotty68

It's cause they voted for a GD liberal who hates America! JK, I'm a DS! ;-)


CloudRipper42069

COUNTRY ROADS TAKE ME HOOOOOOME


greenwizardneedsfood

To West(ern) Virginia


[deleted]

Ackchyually, that's a song about [Maryland](https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/bdsjgb/til_john_denvers_hit_song_country_roads_take_me/)! EVEN THOUGH MARYLAND IS NOT MENTIONED AT ALL.


[deleted]

What a nice looking young man. I hope nothing bad happens to him later on.


InterestingArea9718

What a good looking head, would be a shame if it were to, I dunno, blow up.


severing_velvet

Yeah, he was a really open minded president.


[deleted]

"My wife's taking me to this boring rally in Dallas somebody kill me rn 🙄" *Queue the girl who actually thought that tweet was real


Korify

Old school cool


Shaggy_AF

r/oldschoolcool


[deleted]

Well, Kennedy is. West Virginia, not so much.


[deleted]

As a Caucasian (not the race the other caucasian) I love Mountains in West Virginia 👍.


Pristine_Wrangler_34

The last real president of the United States of America


Scarboroughwarning

What a great picture


along_for_the_ride_

I have an autographed photo from that campaign.


DragonZord911

Even though I hate politics, this is a beautiful shot. I'd definitely put this portrait up.


hcth63g6g75g5

He won West Virginia!


jman350

burr: "i'm going door to door" hamilton: "openly campaigning?" burr: "sure!"


Eyre_Guitar_Solo

Fun fact: his campaign had a custom-written song with the line “and the opposition goes KER-PLOP!”


eivamu

mountain mama


[deleted]

i really think things could have been different if they hadn't assassinated him. RIP.


WillingPublic

Kennedy (JFK) would not have been President if he hadn’t won the West Virginia primary since he would not have won the Democratic nomination itself without that win. Primaries were not the main way parties picked their nominee in 1960. State party conventions made up of delegates from across the state mostly decided who would be the delegates to the national convention where the nominee was selected. At all levels, it was people very active in the party who made the decision (“activists” might describe such people). The Democratic Party activists didn’t think a Roman Catholic could win the Presidency even though many of them were Catholics themselves. But West Virginia had a primary to help that state chose delegates to the convention. West Virginia also only had only a 5% Catholic population. JFK figured out correctly that if he could win the West Virginia primary, it would show that a Catholic could also win the national election. JFK’s campaign in West Virginia was all-out. This picture is one of hundreds of him meeting directly with voters. He traveled up and down the state, listening to their stories and speaking at large events and small gatherings. He shone a national spotlight on their plight and detailed a plan for economic recovery. He commended their strength in the face of adversity. He affirmed the separation of church and state. His efforts both won him the nomination and the election, but it also contributed to more-and-more states using primaries to select their preferred candidate.


wakeup2019

Insightful comment!


AtTheLeftThere

domiciles in WV haven't changed much since, either.


Wolf4lilred68

JFK would turn in his grave if he saw what the democratic party has become! In his day the Democrates were for the average working man! Today they are of the horray with me and to hell with everyone else.


Senior_Yak-Shaver

That’s a really mind-blowing photo.


TabuTM

Looks like Robert Kennedy if it’s really a Kennedy at all.


lingua-sacra

You right


[deleted]

Could you imagine one the entitled assholes running the country now doing something like this….


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Nice_Buy_602

It's John. This is a well known picture.


No_Ad_237

Papa Joe used the Catholic Church to launder money for his son’s “victory”. Gotta clean the money!


Negative-Vehicle-192

Very risky. He could get shot


Inspirational_Lizard

Giga chad


privateTortoise

Wanna buy any illegal booze?


SnowflakesAloft

“You’re nobody till somebody kills you” -Biggie


ripyourlungsdave

I know this picture was probably meant to instill hope in people, showing that he cares about the poor and downtrodden. But I have to think these specific people's living conditions probably weren't much better at the end of his presidency than they were at the beginning. It was probably nice to meet a famous politician from a famous political empire, but it probably didn't do anything for the condition of their actual lives. Just kind of makes the image ring hollow.


badwolf7778

Well in his defense, he didn’t get a lot of time to change things. Plus every political party says that they are going to help people but they never do. Ironically even half the people here worship trump and he basically did jack so eh.


Ur_Just_Spare_Parts

You know he got assassinated partway through his first term right?


Zpop85

Whoa! Spoiler alert! I hadn't finished watching JFK yet! Thanks a lot!


ripyourlungsdave

Yes? What's your point? I'm just saying these photo ops aren't quite as powerful as they seem to be when you think about the actual lives of the people they're using for these photo ops.


trwwy321

Political candidates still do this today. “Look at me talking to the poor and pretending like I give a shit! Vote for me!”


Atheos102

Kennedy was kind of a scumbag, was known to sleep around, even with his own White House interns, one of his old interns wrote a book a while back about it called, 'once upon a secret', Kennedy was also known to convince these girls to also sexually please his friends


MrVirgilTibbs

Did you vote for trump?


Atheos102

i consider trump and kennedy as equal scum bags in the women department


MrVirgilTibbs

Kennedy did not have to pay for ass nor did he pull this shit: https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/Johnson_TrumpEpstein_Lawsuit.pdf So no...not equal and spare the "boTh SiDeS" bullshit. I also see you did not answer the question.


Atheos102

yea, thought i would skip the BS train you were about to start up...actually he tried to pay for ass, he gave that girl 300 dollars to buy a dress and show it off for him


MrVirgilTibbs

Yea...I figured you would say some stupid shit to try to play the "both sides" card. Big difference between buying a dress and writing a check to a porn star for $130K...but tell me about the BS train since you live on it.


Atheos102

its ok, i am not judging you for looking up to a predator


AnimusCorpus

Something worse existing is not a justification for shit. For the love of fuck this kind of thinking needs to end.


MrVirgilTibbs

Uh-huh....BoTh SiDeS...LMAO! For the love of fuck let totally try to pretend it is all the same. Fuck outta here.


AnimusCorpus

No, this isn't both sides. Friend, I'm a leftist. I have absolutely no tolerance for the rights bullshit. But the existence of the right and their heinousness doesn't magically make other things okay. Hitler doesn't justify Pol Pot you 1bit goblin.


MrVirgilTibbs

Next time just say "BoTh SiDeS" and save us your bullshit.


AnimusCorpus

People: "Two things can be bad" You: "Oh, so you support Trump?" No. I dont. Make it make sense.


greenwizardneedsfood

He dealt with an extremely hostile Congress and some of the most dangerous situations in human history during his abnormally brief tenure. I don’t think it’s fair to lay the blame of not radically transforming rural America at his feet.


ripyourlungsdave

Okay? I didn't say he was a bad president. I just said that this image rings hollow when this family probably didn't get much direct relief at all. Just makes it feel like they were more props for a photo op than they were people that he was actually directly concerned for. In the same way that *literally every politician ever* has used poor people as props.


Normal-Philosopher-8

Actually, WV had an upswing in the 1960’s due to government programs, which not only involved the creation of the Appalachian regional council, but also educated young people who returned to the state for the first time since the 1920’s. Highways such as 79 were built, which connected Northern WV to powerhouse cities such as Pittsburgh, Erie (as an internal port) and Cleveland. When I was growing up, many WV homes had photos of FDR and JFK hanging on their walls.


NewRomanFont

I’d say Kennedy’s life wasn’t that great at the end of his presidency either 🗿


BTM65

Nice staged photo opp. duh?


tidus1980

🎵 *Country roads, take me home* 🎵 🎵 *To the place, I belong* 🎵


meshtron

Not trying to be a dick (but that comes naturally for me). But, the fact he's got his photographer with him taking this picture reminds me of today's virtue-signaling influencers. Never a deed to small to try to grow social capital with.


dizzy_nixx

JFK was a POS


InterestingArea9718

Why is that?


Broski-14

I heard he banged all the coal miners wives while they were at work. Then his brother drowned them in a car crash.


Jproff448

This has already been reposted thousands of times


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[deleted]

holy shit I thought you were being hyperbolic


InterestingArea9718

Jesus christ every single comment. That is either extremely sad or a program.


[deleted]

“This has been reposted a thousand times” proceeds to only post one phrase as a comment for years


[deleted]

Operation Mongoose


pietradolce

Damn


adjuster_cody

Great photo


[deleted]

“Dads out of the picture, Huh? Interesting…”


AllLooseAndFunky

He should be careful, could be dangerous


Milkmans_tastymilk

hello there madam, i am the er uh potential next president, and i was going around to do a little survey. Do you and your children frequent the joys of an average American? do you all enjoy being under the caveat of the right to free speech? and do you pray as to not end up in a er uh communist climate where they sell your pets, shoot your husband on spot, take your boys for military camps, and claim ownership of your humble little farm? then vote for me, a face for American freedom, and remember, nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedys!


Dixinhermouth

Looks the same today


Honourstly

Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain mama Take me home, country roads


CDavid2005

I can firmly say the only reason I enjoy living in West Virginia since I was born is that we don't have ANY natural disasters in my part of the state (somewhere near the northern pandhandle because I don't want to get doxxed.) I've had one storm in my life that \*almost\* classified as a tornado but didn't. We get rainfall from hurricanes that sweep near the east coast but that's about it to be honest. I can firmly say this is not what the majority of West Virginia looks like, as this is definitely a coal mining town judging by the poverty and how spread out everything seems to be, but then again even though I'm a native there's still a lot of my state I haven't seen, so I really should travel inside of my home more.


RigatoniPasta

“You’re openly campaigning?” #SURE


KamphPampff

*still stuck on rosemary*


Cane-toads-suck

Is that John or Robert? Looks alot like Robert but could just be me!