Posted on 06/02/2004 9:52:03 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
Yeah, but they vote so they will get their handouts as the politicians on both sides pander to them.
Wow, so my dad can actually pay me for taking care of him!?! What a thought!
Now if I could only get them to pay me for carting around my kids.
So, are they the gimme generation or the greatest generation?
Having personally been the "Gimme Generation" for the first 18 years or so of my life, I'm a little reluctant to cast that kind of aspersion at the generation that raised me.
Yeah for real...I have to wonder about people who think we owe nothing to our elders.
We, as in family members owe a great deal to our elders. I however do not owe your grandfather free home repairs or a MARTA pass. Just as you do not owe my child a free school lunch.
I owe everything to my parents, who raised me and paid my way through college. But I don't owe squat to "seniors," just because they're old.
I provide help to seniors. I let them hit from the yellow tees instead of the white or blue tees.
"Handling of the needs of the elderly should be strictly a FAMILY issue, not an issue for all of society. If you refuse to help out grandma, don't ask me to."
On the other hand ... I can't count how many times I see or read of wealthy old people on the golf course - cruising around the world for the third and fourth time - spending their kids' inheritances in numerous ways. *They* certainly aren't helping their same-age cohorts.
Nor are many particularly helping their children and grandchildren. When Grandma's hanging out at the pool in FL six months a year, blowing it all on plastic surgery instead of helping raise her grandchildren, is it any surprise that *some* 30- and 40-somethings aren't terribly sympathetic?
Social responsibility slices both ways.
Just keep reminding yourself that they're the generation who drasticly expanded the Big Government social welfare state.
"And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."-- Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, May 28, 1816
BWAAAAhahahaha!
MineralMan wrote:
Yes, it should be. However, many old people have no families, or their families are far away. The woman stuck in her bathtub cannot install a grab rail for herself, now can she?
Here's a good job for the local churches, I'd say. I know that if a neighbor of mine needed a grab rail in the bathroom, I'd be happy to buy one and install it for her.
And, since everyone's really my neighbor, I don't begrudge these folks their grab rail.
It takes a Village alert.
"I'm torn here. On one hand, yes, I feel sorry for the childless old people with no one to help them."
There's a simple answer, and it requires no government funding. Just look around you. Are there old people living nearby? Ask them if they need anything done in their homes. If so, do it for them. They're your neighbors.
As for the rich old people you're complaining about...they're not the ones being discussed, quite frankly. They can afford to have the bulb replaced in their ceiling light fixture. Your neighbor might be sitting in the dark.
We can say we're not responsible for these old people who aren't relatives, but I disagree. Maybe your neighbor is an old WWII vet who helped keep our nation safe and end the reign of Hitler. Maybe your old neighbor worked on the development of some antibiotic that saved your life.
In any case, we should be out there making sure that the old people around us are OK. It only takes a little time, and is more than worthwhile.
"Just keep reminding yourself that they're the generation who drasticly expanded the Big Government social welfare state."
Just keep in mind that they're the generation that fought Hitler, too.
Irrelevant, in the discussion of the state confiscating private money for public use. You, yourself, are living Jesus' instructions in exemplary fashion. Whether people follow that example set by Jesus or you or whomever, his teachings on this issue cannot be used to legitimize welfare statism.
"I think Jesus has something to say about helping those around us"
And you know this as a godless atheist? Why would you say this if you don't believe? What a hypocrite. Why don't you use another godless atheist for your words of wisdom?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.