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DanaC · 05-22-2004, 07:20 PM

20-40 million people with no access to medicical attention? *shakes head* I dont understand why you guys are prepared to accept that.

As to my rationale ....I guess it goes something like this. You can either look at wealth and resources in terms of who deserves it....or you can look at them in terms of who needs it. I believe in a small degree of redistribution of wealth. I am not ( as I was in my youth) a revolutionary socialist. I dont believe that people should be prevented from following their goals , whatever those goals shold be. If people want to try their hand at making millions, I say good luck to them. I also say that it was their society which made such a thing possible. It was their society that likely provided them a market, probably a labourforce, the basic infrastructures which make a city tick along......All these things are a part of a whole. I say that their wealth is a product of their society as well as their own individual efforts.

Mostly though its about whether or not one believes in making an attempt to elevate one's society above and beyond the confines of the hierarchy of needs. Of those people who spend their lives dragging themselves from one disaster to the next with no real chance to escape the grinding poverty they were born into, how many could have been great? How many could have done something truly creditable if only they hadnt had to waste 40 years struggling against hunger or the deep and nasty depression that comes from money worries.

The rich dont get rich in a vacuum. We are all a part of the equation that makes them the elite. I say we make em pay for the privelege of having gotten rich off us......

It doesnt matter much to me who deserves it. What matters to me is who needs it. Thats why I really dont mind paying my taxes. Its why I wish a larger percentage of them went to helping people who have fallen down on their luck.

It also makes economic sense. If you give people little or no social provision then the grey economy becomes even larger and thats all money thats getting lost to the system. If people have their basic needs met and a small amount on top to live on they'll spend that money in shops.

If people are able to survive without work but with some dignity
( ie dont give them stamps give them currency. I have unemployed friends they get their money paid directly into their bank account.) employers will be forced to offer their workforce better conditions/packages. This will lead to higher wages and therefore higher spending power. The higher wages and higher spending power will attract the people who arent in work thereby reducing the number of people defrauding the system.

Personally I would prefer that people are taking a job because it will improve their lives and allow them to do all the things middle class people take so much for granted (like hifis and holidays, decent cars and nice toys for the kids at christmas, an abundance of good food) ....I'd prefer that to them taking a job because the alternative is as miserable as any calcutta beggar's existence. My fellow citizens are exactly that. I would not want any of them to go to the wall.

05-22-2004, 07:20 PM	#28
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	20-40 million people with no access to medicical attention? shakes head I dont understand why you guys are prepared to accept that. As to my rationale ....I guess it goes something like this. You can either look at wealth and resources in terms of who deserves it....or you can look at them in terms of who needs it. I believe in a small degree of redistribution of wealth. I am not ( as I was in my youth) a revolutionary socialist. I dont believe that people should be prevented from following their goals , whatever those goals shold be. If people want to try their hand at making millions, I say good luck to them. I also say that it was their society which made such a thing possible. It was their society that likely provided them a market, probably a labourforce, the basic infrastructures which make a city tick along......All these things are a part of a whole. I say that their wealth is a product of their society as well as their own individual efforts. Mostly though its about whether or not one believes in making an attempt to elevate one's society above and beyond the confines of the hierarchy of needs. Of those people who spend their lives dragging themselves from one disaster to the next with no real chance to escape the grinding poverty they were born into, how many could have been great? How many could have done something truly creditable if only they hadnt had to waste 40 years struggling against hunger or the deep and nasty depression that comes from money worries. The rich dont get rich in a vacuum. We are all a part of the equation that makes them the elite. I say we make em pay for the privelege of having gotten rich off us...... It doesnt matter much to me who deserves it. What matters to me is who needs it. Thats why I really dont mind paying my taxes. Its why I wish a larger percentage of them went to helping people who have fallen down on their luck. It also makes economic sense. If you give people little or no social provision then the grey economy becomes even larger and thats all money thats getting lost to the system. If people have their basic needs met and a small amount on top to live on they'll spend that money in shops. If people are able to survive without work but with some dignity ( ie dont give them stamps give them currency. I have unemployed friends they get their money paid directly into their bank account.) employers will be forced to offer their workforce better conditions/packages. This will lead to higher wages and therefore higher spending power. The higher wages and higher spending power will attract the people who arent in work thereby reducing the number of people defrauding the system. Personally I would prefer that people are taking a job because it will improve their lives and allow them to do all the things middle class people take so much for granted (like hifis and holidays, decent cars and nice toys for the kids at christmas, an abundance of good food) ....I'd prefer that to them taking a job because the alternative is as miserable as any calcutta beggar's existence. My fellow citizens are exactly that. I would not want any of them to go to the wall.