I was being sarcastic, because there are those who believe Liberals believe in an entitlement society. Sorry if that was taken seriously. You seem sincere enough and also not the kind to wait for the government to come and take care of you.
I imagine you are probably moderate. I've found, as have many people my age, that as the years have gone by and the responsibilities have piled on, I've become by nature more conservative. I think even people who are exremely or radically liberal in their younger days often move to the right, although not all of them (naturally) make it to the middle or past it. I think that experience shapes our beliefs to a large degree. I'm not presuming that you will become a right-wing conservative but I think you may well become, eventually, more conservative than you are now.
Whatever you believe and whereever you fall, I hope that what you value as a person is reflected in your political beliefs and that you are able to sincerely and without hesitation or self-censoring express them to whoever you want. That is the country I want to live in.
i've found that often times there are specific issues that are "hot buttons" for individuals. issues that when brought up in conversation, the person affected by them will immediately JUMP UP and start SHOUTING, usually incoherently.
we are veering into that territory, so i am trying my best NOT to jump up and be any more incoherent than i normally am. so, if i am more incoherent, i apologize.
I do not remember the 2nd half of my senior year of high school. I know that my father was "illegally" fired from his job for firing an employee who was consistantly late and etc. There was no severence pay, there were legal fees. Let me add that his position was in a non-public school.
It was winter in northern wisconsin.
Let me explain winter in northern wisconsin. (incidentally, i have lived in many places, for very short periods of time. i have lived in wisconsin in three distinct and separated periods of time[edit- i guess it was four]). when i was in first grade, i remember there being a layer of SNOW on the inside of the Front Door. The Front Door was not "malfunctioning". There was nothing wrong with the front door. there was not anything wrong with the Storm Door on the outside of the Front Door. There was weather stripping, and it was functional and well maintained. It's just that when there's that much wind, and that much snow, and it's that cold, that the snow just _seeped_ under the door. That's not a complaint, that's just how it is.
So, it was winter in northern wisonsin. my father had lost his job. my mother has had health problems as long as i can remember. regardless of her health problems, she had always tried to work as much and as often as she could. at that point in time, she was working part time as a substitute teacher and as a music teacher / instructor.
Any benefits that my father may have had at the time were lost. my mother, as a part time employee for the public school system was "entitled" to no benefits (which i would absolutely agree with. part time employees of any business are not "entitled" to benefits).
so, ya, "boohoo" times are tough. we "cinched our belt" and carried on. dad was particularly demoralized, it appeared, due to the inequities of the whole system, a system up until then he had Faith in. [edit- not the Governmental system, the specific system he was working for]
regardless, it was our family's duty as good citizens to pick ourselves up and move on.
one thing i remember is when the ambulance came, and that it couldn't back up to the front door, because there was too much snow.
my mother had a blood clot in her leg. she'd had it for some time. the blood clot had become dislodged and was "thrown".
when a blood clot is "thrown", it can go two places, as i understand. somewhere not important, or to the heart where it causes the person to die.
the angels that my mother has Faith in must have been directed by the God that my mother has Faith in, because she survived.
am i proud of the fact that as a minor i subsisted on Food Stamps for a period of time? am i proud that the "State" paid for _some_ of the medical treatment that KEPT MY MOTHER ALIVE?
YES I AM PROUD! i am Absolutely Proud that the Greatest Nation of the World in all of History has safety nets in place such that its citizenry can rely upon The State for support in times of Dire Need. I am Proud that The State will not let Mothers die and Children Starve.
When someone talks about "Entitlement", i feel a rage build up, an IRRATIONAL reaction. I irrationally "hear" them say "blah blah entitlement blah blah YOUR MOTHER SHOULD BE DEAD" and i want to IRRATIONALLY grab them by the throat acnd scream "FUCK YOU! YOU fuck*ng DIE!".
i know that such a reaction is irrational.
Rationally, i believe that i am blessed to live in the Greatest Nation of history. There are wealth and resources present in this country that do not exist in other times or other places. I feel that it is MORALLY WRONG and Unjust for there to be hungry children in this Nation.
I feel that it is Morally Wrong and Unjust for The State to let those who give their life to making the State Stronger and more Prosperous die.
Did I or my family "wait for the government to take care of [us]"? NO! I continued to work at my after school job, and was FORTUNATE enough to have an employer who as Able and Willing to give me more hours. My Father made every effort to find work in a community that Actively Shunned Him due to Unsolvable Social Injustice.
My Father was FORTUNATE enough to find a job late that winter, in Southern Missouri. My Mother was BLESSED to have recovered, and as soons as she was able, she went back to working for the Public School system, regardless of the constant harrassment by Petty Minded individuals in order to give me the Opportunity to finish High School.
The entirety of my Father's career has been spent in Education or Public Health or Religious Pursuit. He talked a man off of a bridge. He counselled Adolescents and children, Alcoholics, and the Mentally Ill. He has taught or worked in Elementary, Middle, and High School. He is teaching, again, at a College Level. My Mother has taught, been a substitute teacher, worked in Church Administration, and followed Religious Pursuits.
I had the opportunity for a "free ride" through college paid for by the State (secifically a "state" and not federal, but regardless) and chose NOT to take it. I worked for a temporary agency as a City Garbageman. I worked during college (as most do). I took private scholarship and Federal Loans, and ultimately did not finish my Bachelor's career because i could not afford to continue at the Institution i had dreamt of attending since i first wished to attend College.
Until 1 year ago, I had been working at a local Small Business with No Healthcare. A majority of what i did was for local municipalities, counties, and police forces as well as for local medical facilities. The other signifigant part of what i did was to help people who had no idea how to use a computer, the self-proclaimed "computer illiterate", connect to the internet so that they could access the wealth of information and knowledge and communcation potential available. [edit 1- see footnote]
during that time, i paid my incredibly low monthly fee to the state (not federal) healthcare program. I used the benefits of that Program for Two Issues. The first, which required local outpatient surgery, my doctor declared "how the hell did you go this long with this?" when i finally came in. the second required surgery at a hospital when i was unable to walk without the pain causing negative affects to my work performance.
now i guess it's _my_ turn to be sarcastic:
ya, it would seem that Me and My Family sure do feel ENTITLED to benefits from the government and are Unwilling to work for them.
[edit]- made some typo fixes, and this:
[1] i do not imply that my customers, whom i supported, were ignorant or less intelligent or anything. there is a large base of people who ARE self-proclaimed "computer-illiterate". i make a point to take time to explain to these people that the fact that they do not know how to do something does not make anyone better than them.
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Topic: I voted today! (Read 18088 times)