Sunday, October 12, 2008
"Personal Responsibility"
OK, so lately, and by lately I mean since I have been in college (2005), I have been hearing this whole “personal responsibility” rhetoric thrown around, mostly by conservatives. Now, normally I just think “how stupid” and get over, but I recently had a mini debate with someone about this issue and realized how selfish of a term that really is when applied to politics.
Conservatives usually tout the whole “personal responsibility” thing when it comes to what they call welfare spending.
The actual word welfare has several different meanings and connotations; I will take the third one, as it relates to this rant of mine: “financial aid and other benefits for people who are unemployed, below a specific income level, or otherwise requiring assistance, especially when provided by a government agency or program” (aiding people in need also is listed as a definition). So, when we talk about aiding people in need, for the greater good, what does that mean?
The government provides numerous kinds of assistance: municipalities provide fire, police, water and sewer, schools, and sometimes health care (county hospitals, etc.); states provide law enforcement, corporate regulation, and give “aid” to municipalities to help with their governmental obligations; the federal government provides for the common defense, interstate regulation to keep her citizens from being taken advantage of, national law enforcement, and aids those who, usually because of local circumstances, cannot provide for themselves adequately.
So all these seem like worthy causes to a Christian, most followers of Christ would agree that a person who is down and out should receive some sort of help, but then they turn and say “personal responsibility.”
On the south-side of Chicago there is many a child who wants to go to college and make something of him or herself, but because his or her mother (who is already working two jobs) cannot afford it, it is not an option. But I guess what that person should take “personal responsibility” and find a higher paying job which does not exist considering we have really been in a recession since 2001.
Or, how about the millions of Americans who though they had good health insurance but then they were diagnosed with a terminal illness and their plan dropped them, or the college student who lost his or her health insurance at age 21 or 22 and cannot work enough to pay for medical care and go to school, oh maybe they should just use their “personal responsibility” to pull health care out of the sky?
In a nation as wealthy and as “Christian” as ours is we should be dying to help those in OUR OWN SOCIETY who may be less fortunate. I completely understand that there are some who abuse the system; a minority of a minority does this. Over 200,000 hardworking people in Ohio have lost their jobs over the past eight years (CNN.com), these were hardworking Americans, doing what they were supposed to do, but because of the “leadership” of the Bush administration they have lost their jobs and health care, but it’s their fault for not picking a stable job (many of them had been working at the same place for 18-25 years) right?
I say if we want to go off on the whole “personal responsibility” kick, dismantle the federal government and let the states become independent nations and do for themselves. My family’s tax money can no longer go to fund a road to a bridge to nowhere in Alaska or to some low income woman who decided to have a child with a “birth defect” in Louisiana, or to help fund the education of some kid who can’t pay his own way through college, it’s the “fair” and “responsible” thing right? Is it Christian, heck no!
People think the majority of people on welfare are unemployed, unmotivated minorities living in urban slums that just don’t want better, not so. Most of the people who receive welfare are white and live in rural communities. In addition, what constitutes welfare? Unemployment is a type of welfare, federal highways funds is a type of welfare, federal college grants and subsidized loads, grants to local law enforcement, defense programs, home heating assistance to the poor and elderly, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, community block grants, libraries, public schools, charter schools, law enforcement, water and sewage collection (if provided by a municipality), garbage collection, and even tax exemptions for non-profits such as churches and charities, everyone should exercise their own “personal responsibility.”
I know I might be taking it to the extreme but it is not logical and defiantly not Christian to have that position and to take that position only because of what one assumes, is just not intelligent, review the facts and don’t believe the hype, seek truth for yourself and don’t be somebody else’s mouthpiece.
Conservatives usually tout the whole “personal responsibility” thing when it comes to what they call welfare spending.
The actual word welfare has several different meanings and connotations; I will take the third one, as it relates to this rant of mine: “financial aid and other benefits for people who are unemployed, below a specific income level, or otherwise requiring assistance, especially when provided by a government agency or program” (aiding people in need also is listed as a definition). So, when we talk about aiding people in need, for the greater good, what does that mean?
The government provides numerous kinds of assistance: municipalities provide fire, police, water and sewer, schools, and sometimes health care (county hospitals, etc.); states provide law enforcement, corporate regulation, and give “aid” to municipalities to help with their governmental obligations; the federal government provides for the common defense, interstate regulation to keep her citizens from being taken advantage of, national law enforcement, and aids those who, usually because of local circumstances, cannot provide for themselves adequately.
So all these seem like worthy causes to a Christian, most followers of Christ would agree that a person who is down and out should receive some sort of help, but then they turn and say “personal responsibility.”
On the south-side of Chicago there is many a child who wants to go to college and make something of him or herself, but because his or her mother (who is already working two jobs) cannot afford it, it is not an option. But I guess what that person should take “personal responsibility” and find a higher paying job which does not exist considering we have really been in a recession since 2001.
Or, how about the millions of Americans who though they had good health insurance but then they were diagnosed with a terminal illness and their plan dropped them, or the college student who lost his or her health insurance at age 21 or 22 and cannot work enough to pay for medical care and go to school, oh maybe they should just use their “personal responsibility” to pull health care out of the sky?
In a nation as wealthy and as “Christian” as ours is we should be dying to help those in OUR OWN SOCIETY who may be less fortunate. I completely understand that there are some who abuse the system; a minority of a minority does this. Over 200,000 hardworking people in Ohio have lost their jobs over the past eight years (CNN.com), these were hardworking Americans, doing what they were supposed to do, but because of the “leadership” of the Bush administration they have lost their jobs and health care, but it’s their fault for not picking a stable job (many of them had been working at the same place for 18-25 years) right?
I say if we want to go off on the whole “personal responsibility” kick, dismantle the federal government and let the states become independent nations and do for themselves. My family’s tax money can no longer go to fund a road to a bridge to nowhere in Alaska or to some low income woman who decided to have a child with a “birth defect” in Louisiana, or to help fund the education of some kid who can’t pay his own way through college, it’s the “fair” and “responsible” thing right? Is it Christian, heck no!
People think the majority of people on welfare are unemployed, unmotivated minorities living in urban slums that just don’t want better, not so. Most of the people who receive welfare are white and live in rural communities. In addition, what constitutes welfare? Unemployment is a type of welfare, federal highways funds is a type of welfare, federal college grants and subsidized loads, grants to local law enforcement, defense programs, home heating assistance to the poor and elderly, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, community block grants, libraries, public schools, charter schools, law enforcement, water and sewage collection (if provided by a municipality), garbage collection, and even tax exemptions for non-profits such as churches and charities, everyone should exercise their own “personal responsibility.”
I know I might be taking it to the extreme but it is not logical and defiantly not Christian to have that position and to take that position only because of what one assumes, is just not intelligent, review the facts and don’t believe the hype, seek truth for yourself and don’t be somebody else’s mouthpiece.
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