Dear Yuyutsu,

You wrote;

“Forcing others to participate in a society they never wanted to be part of, can never be good, for anyone.”

Really?

This could well be the cry some of the top 5% in our country. Those who spend inordinate amounts of money trying not to pay their tax obligations. They want different rules to apply to them and would happily make off with the fruits of labour of others if given half a chance.

The fact that we, as much as we can, demand they are held accountable to the rest of society might not be as good for them but it certainly is a good for the rest of us.

For you to claim otherwise is an exercise in sophistry. Perhaps trying a different tack might be useful.

I'll tell you Paul, why I am no longer interested in helping your so called vulnerable, that I call bludgers.

My son blew up a knee in an accident in the navy. It was badly repaired by a lousy navy surgeon. He has had trouble with it ever since. He came out of the navy & was doing some heavy engineering work.

He slipped off his ute at hone, & the lousy surgery gave away. The navy don't want to know. The public hospital told him to go home & take some panadol. Our doctor sent him to get scans & x-rays. These he then presented to the public hospital. They & the Gold Coast had no one who could even read them. It took 2 weeks for them to evaluate them, admit he needed urgent surgery, & tell him he could expect to wait at least 3 months. His knee was so bad he could not even drive.

He then paid to have the surgery done at the Mater. He was not allowed to go back to work for 4 months. He applied for sickness benefit or unemployment benefits. He was told that as he had cash in the bank he was not entitled to any benefit. He could have spent his money on grog, drugs, a car, boat or a house, & the social security would have been all over him, but nothing until you’re flat broke. Pity he wasn’t one of your vulnerable.

Continued

Continued.
The Navy have been chasing him to go & put in some reserve time. They are desperate for people with his qualifications & skills. Come & serve your country they say. Which one he asks the one who won’t give me the time of day, because I haven’t pissed my money up against a wall.

It has cost him $50.000 to fix the lousy navy surgery, & you want us to pay for your drop kick vulnerable.

I know the story. I was a navy fighter pilot. When I suffered a back injury & couldn’t fly, I was told I would be better off resigning. The navy already had too many general service officers. Serve my country. Which one, I don’t have one any more, it’s been given away by people like you, to whatever bludger wanted a bit of it.

Dear SteeleRedux,

"Obligations" are a feature of society which only apply to its members. Your choice of words - "demand they are held accountable to the rest of society" implicitly indicates that you consider the "they" in question to be part of your society whether they like it or not.

However, pointing your finger at another does not make them a part of your society. If you make demands of others, including the demand that they become part of your society against their will and be subjected to its "obligations", that only makes you a brute, then all you have in your defence is your brawn and your guns. You might be physically able to bend others over, but then forget about calling yourself "good" - that places you on the side of evil amongst other infamous tyrants like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Kim Jong Un.

You further use the phrase "in our country" as if you legitimately own this land: the fact that you happen to have more powerful guns which allow you to subdue the other inhabitants of this continent does not make anything "your country", it only makes you a thief and a rapist and there is nothing good about it!

foxy, nobody is or should deny you of your right to help others who you feel are in need. The problem comes when you expect everyone else to feel the same way and do likewise, against their will.

As Y says, just like when you book a flight, you have the option to donate a few dollars to carbon reduction. Your choice.

I already pay $10K a year to insure myself against a disabillity. Do you now expect me to pay another $4K or so, so others who opt not to pay thier insurance should be covered?

If so, how is this fair?

As I said from the start, people have to get away from this mentaility that others will suport them.

Sorry Foxy, a 'typo', should have been $400 extra.