So the word "life" would not mean feeding the hungry to you?
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life (and likely his family as well.)
You want to feed people from day to day.. I want to help them feed themselves and RETAIN the respect that comes from knowing they worked for that paycheck.
You want to make them dependent upon the gov't so you can control them and get them to vote for your liberal agendas (on pain of having their benefits cut)..
Do you have something against making able bodied individuals earn the money you want to "dole" out to them? Do you have something against work?
We've had the National Debt nearly doubled under this administration and we still have tens of millions on Food Stamps, and nearly 20% effective unemployment (the basic stats only cover those still eligible and drawing unemployment, not those who's benefits have run out).
Where did all the trillions of dollars go C_O?? Why wasn't that money offered as a "labor bailout" to small and mid-size business to retain, train, and rehire, workers? If we have to spend the money to sustain people's ability to eat, then isn't it better to do in coordination with the private sector, or by putting them to work on infrastructure projects?
As for my "christian" values, let me give you an example (and I'll try and keep it short).
I have a neighbor who, a year ago, became a material witness in a home invasion and kidnapping, where two people he had known for years, and two of their associates, entered a residence and held a husband and wife hostage at gunpoint while they ransacked it. They made off with over $50K worth of cash, gold, and silver, which they subsequently used to purchase drugs.
Because of his close association with two of the perpetrators, at first he was considered a person of interest, if not a suspect. He was "interviewed" (interrogated) 4 different times, threatened, held against his will, had spurious rumours spread about him at his place of employment, and eventually lost his job as a result. Over the course of last summer, everything he had worked for was taken from him and relapsed into drinking (he's a recovering alcoholic). He became so distraught from the incredible pressure of the investigation, and consumed with fear that he would be targeted as a "Rat" for what he knew about the case, that he started drinking again and wound up getting a Felony DUI in a different country from where kidnapping crime was committed.
I bailed him out of jail last fall, but his driving privileges were revoked and he couldn't hold a job due to lack of transporation and his obligations as a material witness. Three of the defendants copped a plea and the last defendant was claiming he was not directly involved, asserting he was only the driver. My friend knew otherwise based upon statements his friend has subsequently made to him after the crime. He was the KEY witness in this case (the last defendant copped a plea just last week and now my friend doesn't have to testify).
He's had several promising jobs since last fall, but all have fallen apart due to this burglary/kidnapping case (one employer fired him for receiving a subpoena to testify, citing that he would be unavailable to work)..
So you know what he does to make ends meet? He works for us doing odd jobs and performing landscaping on my mother's home. The landscape work is not really needed at this time, but we offer him the work as it preserves his pride and acts as "therapy" towards staying clean.
All this time the only "deal" he has asked for is to have his Felony DUI charge reduced to a misdemeanor, so that he can avoid the possibility of a prison sentence where his safety would be in jeopardy for being a "Rat" (this is serious.. he's already been threatened by friends of the perpetrators). Also, if he receives a felony, he can no longer work as a Nurse, a position he spent years of training to obtain. He's been to over 200 AA meetings over the past 6 months. And he's willing to continue court order treatment, and have an interlock placed on his vehicle to protect the public safety.
One of his attorneys (who I paid for), was aghast that the prosecutor in the DUI case was unwilling to take into account my friends cooperation as a Material Witness to consider reducing, or dropping, the charge, since such deals are commonly offered to drug dealers/users for the purpose of taking down a bigger criminal. The prosecutor won't settle for anything less than a felony. Said prosecutor wrote a letter claiming that his DUI was more grievous than a drug user and a deal was not warranted. This despite the fact that my friend's testimony helped put away 4 people who held innocent people at gunpoint, all for the purpose of obtaining money to buy drugs.
And all of this time, my friend continues to be grateful that we're willing to give him work to do.. I could just give him money to sustain himself, but he wants to work, and I'm more than happy to create "make work" so that he retains his sense of pride until his DUI case is resolved and he can ascertain what lies in his future..
All of this because he chose to cooperate as a material witness in this case, doing the right and honorable thing. I know that he'll never be able to fully pay off the debt he owes to me for posting bail and paying for legal representation, and ultimately I'll probably just forgive the debt and turn it into a gift.
I firmly believe that, had he not had his life destroyed by being involved as a witness in this case, he never would have resumed drinking which eventually led to his DUI. But having your life destroyed by overzealous detectives (who later verbally apologized to him) tends to make one default back to addictive behaviors.
So do I just care about people from "ovulation to birth".. The above should provide my answer to you.. It's what I've been doing since I returned from Asia a few weeks ago..
Hawk |
