Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to No I don't understand you.

re: No I don't understand you.
TB — (archived)

Compassion is not something you outsource. It's that simple. I am tired of politicians in particular wearing the mantle of virtue by giving away other people's money. Meanwhile, I can bring up the philanthropy of wealthy people who have earned their own money, and the response is generally dismissive. They're rich, and still evil.

This is a moral disconnect that infects far too much of the way we think today. Me, I'm supposed to be some kind of unfeeling bastard because I don't think a government program is going to fix health care, any more than trillions in government programs have eliminated poverty, or kept people from falling through those particular cracks.

I could reverse the whole premise, and theorize that a lot of people who aren't doing a lot in person to help their fellow human beings, or are just are unable to do a lot in person, can feel better about themselves by supporting more government programs. The operational equivalent to wearing a colored ribbon. Hillary promotes government health care, and she's a Good Person who Cares. It costs her absolutely nothing.

Compassion on the cheap. At least Jimmy Carter, to his credit, went out and built houses for the poor. Does it bug you at all that so many "liberal" political leaders have a poor track record on individual efforts to help others? Even simple personal donations, for example?

My daughter made that video not because I bought her a lot of things, or gave her a lot of money. All she got was me, on the job, on the bounce, all the time I was with her, as best as I could. Like any other Dad, I spent a lot of time learning as I went.

Compassion starts with your own two hands. And if you can't help everyone--hell, who can?--at least don't pretend that Washington is an effective substitute.

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