| Re: Racing Forms/draft//jk |
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Group: alt.philosophy · Group Profile
Author: Dale HoustmanDale Houstman Date: Jun 26, 2008 00:59
Amanda Reid wrote:
> On Jun 25, 7:45 pm, "ggamble" you.net> wrote:
>
> >>So far, you have: Dale, Blue and myself (all of us at that far end of the
>>curmudgeon scale) more or less enthusiastically endorsing Obama; Jeanne and
>>Karla uh, hating Obama, but not saying whether they'll vote, not vote, or
>>vote for someone else; and I'm not quite sure where Dennis stands.
>>
>
>
> I stand foursquare before you to stand behind you.
> I wholeheartedly endorse education for the intelligent and stupidity
> for the stupid -- it's /so/ much cheaper in the short run, and /
> infinitely/ cheaper than a car designed by an enginer who can't even
> spell it.
> Not to mention a "government."
> I am a strong proponent of National Insurance -- or State Fume,
> American Formaldehyde, Prude Dental, or small lizards -- provided the
> choice to insure is up to the insured, and not up to a little boy (or
> girl, let's be Fair) with a Degree in coc... ah, Political "Science."
> I am absolutely for Universal Socialised Medicine -- the kind /
> everybody/ can get out of a bottle for $3.95 for 500 tablets at Wal-
> Mart or $10.95 a liter at Happy Harry's.
> d00d, it don't get no more social than that.
The reason "socialized medicine" works is precisely due to what even
Newt Gingrich (in one of his many unguarded moments) said: it provides
the largest possible pool of participants - everyone. "Opting out" is a
recipe for disaster. It isn't so strange or foreign - this "socialist"
thing - society provides many services using exactly the same formula:
police, firemen, transportation, education. Why? Because a real
civilization realizes that some things are best shared, and that it
behooves some of us to sacrifice a little so that many of us can have a
lot, and - what's more - the same. I'm afraid your formula is no more
than glib...Allowing someone whose house hasn't burnt (yet), or someone
who hasn't been mugged (yet), to "opt out" of paying for those services
just because they "feel lucky" renders the service useless for those who
are not so lucky - which might include them in the future.
The "rugged individualist" while an enduring and often endearing
caricature of an American type, is essentially a myth, and - I think -
basically a damaging one in the long haul. The original settlers were
not "rugged individualists," the West wasn't (tamed/slaughtered) by
"rugged individualists" and not much else on a civilization level was
done by "rugged individualists": enacting a society-wide healthcare
system will not preclude a future Johnny Cowboy from thinking individual
thoughts - it will just provide a modicum of security and wellbeing in
which Johnny Cowboy can live out his fantasies of "roaming the purple
sage"...
dmh
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