Jorj, Tow Roads are part of the progressive dream.
You got it! Sometimes it is best to be as dumb as a fox and lure the rabbit into the trap.
and at what point is it the individual's obligation to seek to meet these needs on his or her own?
One of the difficulty in helping others is not to become an enabler of others while at the same time having empathy for others and assisting them if there is true need.
Such an example was when our Church requested that I help an individual who lived in a HUD apartment, disability healthcare, medicaid, was receiving food stamps, utilities and cable TV fully paid. He was able to perform minimal tasks. He was upset because the government would not buy him a computer. He only lived one block away from the public library which had labs of computers.
However, when I examined his credit report, with his permission, I noticed that he had $30,000 in credit card debt. When I asked him how he was planning to repay the $30 K, his reply, "I don't plan to pay it back." He further stated that he was upset with our State and was planning to move to Florida or California where the benefits were better. I asked how he was going to get to those states. His reply was to use the recently new arrived credit card to pay for the flight to those States to make arrangements. We later learned that he had a felony conviction in Florida.
Jorj, this what I would call "gaming the system," where individuals need to feel the consequences for their behavior and actions. But, do I have empathy and wish to help others like him my answer would be yes. But, giving without conditions the answer would be no.
Again, a cardinal rule in organizing, "do not do for others those things they can do for themselves - but, help others to help themselves."
Personally, I would not have gone into Iraq, nor Nam.
I believe that military is over extended and I go along with what President Eisenhower expressed, do not allow the Military Industrial Complex get to large. The question is, what is to large.
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