badgenome said:
Yeah, I think HappySquirrel nailed it earlier: basically, this is one fucked up, spoiled, deeply amoral generation, and it's a problem that cuts across class lines. The interviews I saw with looters all pretty much boiled down to, "We're not afraid of being arrested, there's no real consequences for doing it, so why shouldn't we get some free stuff?" Whatever their other myriad failing, I think they were being honest. As for welfare, I think Bastiat said it best: "Every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all." The government is not the society, it is only a part of it. I'm all for a safety net for those who truly need it, but I can't help but feel that the safety net turns into a hammock in no time flat under government management. Maybe it's just the nature of bureaucracy. A bureaucrat can write a million checks, but he isn't capable of actually caring about a single one of those people. They're all just case file numbers to him. The whole thing is just so deeply impersonal as to be almost dehumanizing. Private charities, on the other hand, seem to do a much better job precisely because they actually do care. I'm sure it also helps that if they don't do a good job and too much of their donations get eaten up in administration, watchdog groups will blow the whistle on them and people will start giving elsewhere. Whereas with the government, it's just a profoundly unhealthy monopoly. |
Keep in mind Scrooge's reply to asking to give to help the poor during Christmas season: He said he did by paying taxes. When a society ends up having a value system driven strictly by materialism, and just sees now as the drive of life is to GET more and more and more for oneself, and merely "play by the rules" as you get this (and if you can, change the rules to your favor), then you aren't going to have much going back at all. The system will break down, and then people demand the government do something, so you get more government. Merely cutting back on government isn't going to address this either, because it puts the cart before the horse.
And there are people in the system who do care and try to do things, but the system is limiting. It is everyone do what you can do in your own box, and everyone fend for themselves. Hey, if anyone is serious about wanting to do things differently, please let me know. I am up for answers on what can be done, and making a difference. I have stated multiple times to numerous people I do want to be part of the solution, and call me. Go ahead and say that to others out there, and see if they do call.
On this note, I would ask people to check out the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund:
This is a fund to help gamers in need. It originates in the area of boardgames but I don't see why videogamers couldn't donate to it also.
