From: "Ronn!Blankenship" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> At 02:49 PM 1/16/04, Trent Shipley wrote:
> >On Friday 2004-01-16 13:16, Damon Agretto wrote:
> > > --- Trent Shipley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > Nope. If you are insolvent you should not be
> > > > treated.
> > > >
> > > > Open access to emergency medicine is the back door
> > > > is basically a disguised
> > > > form of socialized medicine. It forces solvent
> > > > people to take on your
> > > > charity case whether they want to or not.
> > >
> > > Well Trent then I guess I won't depend on you should
> > > my life ever be threatened. While we're at it, lets
> > > get rid of unemployment support, wellfare, and any
> > > other government "charities" since we're being forced
> > > to provide for those leeches too...
> > >
> > > Damon.
> >
> >Yep.
> >
> >If the space-cadets must justify their pet project in objective terms, so
> >must
> >bleeding hearts.
> >
> >The main reason to keep welfare programs is the sentimental belief that
we
> >(meaning those lucky -- or moral -- enough to be taxpayers)
>
>
>
> Why do you believe that being a taxpayer -- by which I am presuming you
> mean having an income, owning property, etc., so that you are subject to
> taxation -- is simply a matter of "luck"?
It is entirely luck. Allow me to illustrate: I am a genius, more
intelligent than over 98% of the world population. I have extencive
programming skills, a degree in biology, computer animation skills, the list
goes on and on. I, however, am unemployable.
Why?
I tried to join a branch of the military, but due to a genetic condition I
have (kyphosis) which makes my *appearance* "unmilitary", they won't have
me.
I've tried to get jobs in customer service, but, again, due to a genetic
condition (autism), I am socially akward, and so, not even considered for
such positions.
I've tried to find jobs in computers, there is so much competition right now
for such jobs, due to the bad job market and greedy corperate outsourcing,
that anyone without a Master's degree or a decade of experience is not even
considered for such jobs.
I've tried to find jobs in biology, but there are no such jobs locally, and
any job out of town won't pay enough to afford relocation and to pay off the
incredible debt I went into simply trying to get my degree.
In essence, I am fucked. Not because of lack of intelligence or skill or
education, but due to my circumstances.
Is being employed a matter of luck? You're damn right it is.
A *lot* of reform is needed, not only in jobs, but in education as well.
First, the government should have programs so that anyone who wants a job
but is unable to find one will be employed performing valuable services for
the country. This can take the place of both the Welfare and unemployment
systems currently in place. Companies that outsource work to foriegn
nations and/or do mass layoffs can be charged a substancial tax that can
provide a good portion of the funding for this. Financial/tax incentives
can be offered to companies that hire individuals working on such government
work programs to take some of the employment burden away from the
government.
Second, for people to have equal oppertunity, all state colleges and
universities need to be *fully* funded, meaning any citizen that wants an
education can do so without going tens of thousands of dollars in debt. My
parents, despite earning just slightly above the poverty line and being
burdened by my father being very ill and needing extencive medical care,
were expected to pay the whole of my college tuition, but because they were
unable to, I had to take out extencive student loans to pay for my
college... this is a circumstance that I find *totally* unacceptable.
Government employment programs (mentioned above) should also work around the
student's schedule so that stable employment while attending college is not
a difficult thing.
People who think that social programs are a waste of taxpayer money have
failed to learn from history. The poor overthrowing their own nation's
government due to feeling neglected and oppressed is something that has
happened repeatedly (The French Revolution, The Russian Revolution, etc.).
If poor people feel they have no other choice, and their numbers grow large
enough, they will act. I, personally, can not believe that the nation
doesn't see a problem in having a bunch of out-of-work, disgruntled, and
desperate computer programmers in the country. If skilled, out-of-work
programmers formed a rebellion, due to the world-wide dependance on computer
and network technologies, they could potentially bring the whole
technological world to its knees without firing a single gun-shot (just
imagine something like the "I Love You" virus, but written by a huge team of
programmers, with multiple vectors and exploits, and distributed as a
coordinated attack, not just a random propagation... a deffinate
circumstance that would be devistating, and could be easily avoid
