For some of us who have not served or are ineligible by virtue of age or other disqualification, millions of people serve their country in so many different ways. Some of us employ our talents to serve our communities.... Keith Wilson's 'Little Free Library' projects are an example of that. Still others find their own way to serve; my wife, for example, is a member of the local Rotary, and is a past President... and frequently engages in numerous activities that serve others, like the Thanksgiving dinners she organizes every year, for senior citizens.
I don't serve as much as I should, but I try to be reasonably generous, in terms of contributions to organizations that serve the needs of people in this country... I have a big folder of receipts for contributions that I need to tabulate every year, at tax time.
So why is it that people who would ordinarily endorse or approve of that kind of behavior, as being 'selfless' in support of the country, will completely reverse their attitudes about something like health care?
There are a few people here who have couched their opposition, for example, to Obamacare, strictly in terms of their own selves... extending their complaint to some others who may have also seen a big increase in their health insurance premiums this past year. I'm willing to bet that many or all of them are, in ANY other context, also people who put others before self, when it comes to what they are willing to do for their country. Perhaps one or more of them are veterans, making them extraordinary... maybe they contribute generously... maybe they even volunteer their time and efforts on behalf of their community...
...but when it comes to help and aid for the tens of millions of people who are unable to access health care, suddenly, it's a different story.
No matter what you think of Obamacare, surely the benefit of helping to provide health care to the millions who heretofore had little or none, is an act of support for the country as a whole.
So, this is my dilemma: why would otherwise selfless and honorable people, when confronted with the idea of having to pay an increased tax, in order to help the lives of others, react so differently than their consciences would otherwise be: giving, and generous, and sympathetic? Why would someone who thought enough of his obligation to his country, to risk his life to serve in the military... then think it unreasonable that the country wouldn't attend to the needs of so many millions of others who need their help?
I don't get it.
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