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Originally Posted by MaggieL
I suspect that's a perception that's reinforced by time spent in (or watching through the lens of media that originates in) urban centers, an ecological niche that cultivates a population that depends on the government to do everything for them and screams in abject victimhood when it doesn't.
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Nope, my perception is based on a sister who has lived in Switzerland for 10 years and who is required by law to keep a fully stocked shelter in her basement. Then there is my cousin who is married to a Chinese national and travels back and forth frequently due to her job teaching at William and Mary College. Both countries started long ago on a system of public defense that is mind-boggling to American mentalities. The Swiss even have all those tunnels through the Alps set up to act as giant fallout shelters if necessary. This stems from being a country located inbetween historic adversaries who might launch attacks on each other over the top of Swiss heads. Sounds like foresight against the obvious to me, not dependence on the government. As for China, they have all the slave labor they need and even built the largest dam in the world by ordering women and children carrying woven baskets of dirt to do what we do with union workers on bulldozers for 1000 times the price. China got the very logical idea that either the US or Russia was going to end up attacking them one of these days, so when they started rebuilding all their cities they made sure the proper facilities were added underground. Chinese do not ask the government to take care of them, they have no choice in the matter.
So you are quite mistaken on this count. And may I ask, if the government is NOT required to take care of the population in this area, how do you think it will get done? For one thing, how would you suggest that private industry handle it? Sell timeshares?