From: orpheus@reed.edu (P. Hawthorne)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
Subject: Re: Something Wicked THis Way Comes
Date: 30 Jul 92 05:24:18 GMT
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR


  orpheus@reed.edu (P. Hawthorne) writes:
: Say, just for the sake of argument, that you can't make the rent. Maybe
: ends don't meet, maybe you've lost your job at the mill and you can't find
: another one that can pay for food for your family, or a roof over their
: heads, clothes on their back, or health care when they're sick. [Maybe your
: house burns down, you need health care...]
:
: In short, wouldn't you want people who could help to do so? [...] But there
: are a lot of hazards out there, and a lot of people don't realize how lucky
: they are. Affluent folks take a lot for granted, including the severity of
: the challenges they face. [...]
:
: But for me, and for many of the kids who grew up in the same times, my life
: and anything I can do is IN SPITE of the best efforts of the Reagan
: Doctrine to eradicate any government help I found while I was growing up.

  crosmun@mickey.rtp.dg.com (William Crosmun) writes:
: What I read here is an attitude completely alien to mine and one which may
: account for most of the conflict between liberals and conservatives.  You
: ask, suppose I ran into a patch of hard luck, I lost my job, my house
: burned down, I became sick or had an accident, wouldn't it be nice if the
: government were there to help.
:
: My answer, when I lost my job I moved in with my parents, got trained, and
: found another one. When I was sick and didn't have insurance I paid for the
: medical care out of my pocket. (which was interesting. Since I wasn't
: insured they cut the bill by about 40%.  Hmmmm). If my house were to burn
: down I have private insurance.

  That's well and good, but, and I mean no offense, that's mighty complacent!
  Lose your job, get another. Good thing your parents were there for you. 
  Get sick, pay the bills. Good thing your income was enough to do that.
  House burns down, claim insurance. Very nice, for those who can afford it.

  I, too, have done what you've described. When I lost my job, I started a
small business. When I've needed a health care, I've paid it out of my
pocket. When my apartment burned as a child, we moved into a studio, I got
some clothes from Goodwill, and we eventually got over it. 
  However, I am willing to see my good fortunes for what they are. I do not
consider it ordinary that I have money enough to contend with those
problems. I consider it the result of hard work that I am fortunate to be
able to do. There are those who are less fortunate than that.
  There are those who lack the mental health, the physical health, the
talent, the skills, the education, the language -- oh so many things which
it is easy to take for granted if you've always had them! -- to earn the
money that you would require to do those things. And there are the children
of those less fortunate, who do not deserve to be deserted.

  What would you say to them, Mr. Crosmun? 
  Go get a job?
  We, as a people, have to be willing to provide help to those who need it.
For the same reasons that we have hospitals, schools, police, we must have
charities too. Just because we are not necessarily in need ourselves, we
should not forget those who are.


  crosmun@mickey.rtp.dg.com (William Crosmun) writes:
: The point is, who do you rely on to get you through the hard times. You
: say the government should be there. I would rely on myself, turning to
: the government for help only when there was no other possible choice. I
: agree that it is nice for the government to provide a last resort, but
: for too many it seems to be a first resort and then the only resort. That
: can't go on.

  Surely those for whom government assistance is a comfortable life style
are beyond contempt. They exist, and there are too many. But they are not
the entirety of the poverty stricken. That is too easy a generalization to
make, one that is made at the expense of those who cannot afford expenses.
There are those who should not as easily be dismissed. There are those with
children who must be considered. If not for the standing of their parents,
then for the fact that they are young Americans, and beyond that tidy
provincialism, young people.
  Government assistance is nice?
  Perhaps to you, my lucky friend. To others, it can mean far more.

  Theus (orpheus@reed.edu)