Quote:
Originally Posted by mmonroe
OK, that's taking the whole damn statement out of context. People say they wouldn't want to pay a tax into a national/universal health system because they would being paying for the poor. Well, from the statement I made, ANY working person would have the SAME tax, rich or POOR, taken out. I said it was SELFISH/GREEDY to say that. IMAGINE, if a soldier said, eh.. i don't want to go fight, i'll be protecting the freedom of some poor person. But do they? NO. You know the government spends more on war than they do health care... but that's another subject all together.
Imagine, I was ignorant enough to say soldiers were dying because you didn't support a universal health care system. What person would say that?
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When I posted, it was an honest question. No offense, but I have no idea what you were saying. I still don't, to be perfectly frank. Are you saying that soldiers are willing to die for the poor but that the civilians are not even willing to pay for them? Are you making the contrast to shame the civilians? If that is not what you are saying, the rest of this post won't make sense.
In the first place, soldiers are a different breed than citizens. And I say that with respect. I can't imagine why they are willing to die, or why they put their lives and the lives of their families on hold for us. But they do. They are fighting for our way of life. Why they care about so many of us is something I don't understand. But they do.
As a civilian, I want to make it worth the sacrifice, to the extent possible. Calling on my fellow citizens to get off their butts, make decent decisions in their lives, take care of themselves and their families, show initiative and not expect the rest of us to subsidize their happiness level is about being a better, more productive citizen. I should think a soldier would be much more willing to lay it all down when we are doing what we can to live our lives the way that makes them proud. It should be more about what sort of people we want to be and less about what can I get and who else can I get to pay for it? After all, I deserve it! And why? Because I was born here?
We citizens need to be the kind of people that soldiers are proud to defend. The soldiers die for the poor because of the kind of people THEY are, not the kind of people the poor are. It is up to the citizens to do what be can to not be poor. There is no shame in being poor if you are a new immigrant; a young person who has not made it, yet; sick; or otherwise hit by something beyond your control. There is shame in being poor because you repeatedly make bad decisions; don't save your money when you can; won't work; have babies you can't afford; or don't learn a skill or get an education. This is the land of opportunity. A lot of people aren't taking the opportunity.
Ask not what your country can do for you...