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Re: Maher and friends on socialism
ER — (archived)

I know where you're coming from, I could read between the lines and I knew perfectly well what your situation was even if I didn't play that card. What happens is very often the result of the choices we make, as well as the choices others make, which we have no control over. But luck has a lot to do with it too.

I lucked out, but I am perfectly aware I got lucky, I take no credit for engineering my good fortune, although I do take credit for a lot of things I didn't do which would have been disastrous; like starting a business, putting my savings into stocks, or job hopping or career changing. A lot of those were conscious choices based on my intellectual, academic assessment of where the country was heading--i.e., they were ideological decisions based on how I perceive this society really works, not the way I was taught it works. It turned out I was right, in the only way that matters, empirically.

But if I had been born just a few years later I would be in your shoes right now, and my wife doesn't work. Being ready and able does you no good at all if no one will hire you, no matter how good you are at your job. I can't blame anyone in Tallahassee for not hiring me now. And Tallahassee has always been run by the Republicans. Like they say, the private sector creates jobs, but the private sector ain't hiring, either. I saw that coming too.

I'm not immune to worrying about what the government might do to me, either. The governor wants to mess with my state pension, and the Republicans are going after Social Security and my wife's Medicare, she's six years older than I am, and we both have long term medical issues. Yeah, I'm sure they all have very good reasons, but no one consulted me when I was playing their game, following their rules, making plans and paying dues.

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