Recently I was passed a post that was written by a 21 year old female with the intent that I would pass it along to the readers of Political Discussions. This short posting touched me as the essence of who we are as conservatives and what we stand for. That being said here are my personal thoughts pertaining to this post which the reader can find at the end of my comments.
To my dear leftist friend,
Below is a letter written to you that I happened to come upon. I know that you may be offended in the slightest manner while reading it and that is why I wanted to soften the blow with this introduction. The truth is that there are plenty of truths spelled out within the lines of this letter that are somewhat blunt. Your initial thought upon reading it will be to accuse those of us with conservative beliefs that we are rich elitists who are greedy people haters. You will think that we have no empathy for those who “just can’t get ahead” or for that matter even get started. Here is where you misunderstand us greatly my friend. You see, many of us, including the author of the letter and myself are still getting started in life. We have nothing to our name because we are recently married, putting ourselves though undergrad, starting our masters programs, but what we do have we have because toil and strive for it and we proudly can call it our own. We understand that many people are born into situations that are grave, where opportunities do not abound and it is very hard to get ahead or even a start. My friend, we wish to help but we wish to help an individual become something greater than they could without our help. The policies you have put your trust in will offer an easy path to those who have nothing. However, it will truly give them nothing. The old adage give a man a fish and you feed him for a day holds very true with your political philosophy. Sure you provide a man a wonderful service of a free meal. We on the conservative side feel more that teaching a man to fish will feed him for life. We need to and must help our fellow man, give them a sense of meaning and make them feel the worth of being needed. Handouts decrease self-worth. Why not give man knowledge so that he might grow and become something great instead of giving him a fish and nothing more? Please my dear friend, we know you are trying to help and your intentions are wonderful. Try instead to look at the long term and see why we wish to help in a different way.
PUT ME IN CHARGE . . .
Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.
Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, or smoke, then get a job.
Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your home" will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.
In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the "common good.."
Before you write that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and ruin their "self-esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self-esteem.
If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.
AND While you are on Gov't subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes, that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are receiving a Gov't welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.
