1 post tagged “conservative”
You know, That Guy in the hobby forum that periodically complains that his incredibly high tax burden goes to a bunch of lazy, greedy delinquents who should just pull themselves up by they're own bootstraps like he did, etc. I've tried telling him that state medical coverage is not the yummy bowl of cherries he seems to think it is, having had to rely on it for a while when my son was small. Foodstamps are no fun, either, but are gratefully accepted when one is paying half one's salary to daycare in order to hold a job (with no benefits) that barely pays the rent. And I had family to love me and help me, and I worked and learned and got along fine, so I'm not crying victim or saying all of those on assistance are saints. I would just love, for once, for That Guy to acknowledge that his "burden" is a lot lighter than that of a poor single parent trying to dig herself (or himself) out of a hole. Countless people are one accident, one medical emergency, one unexpected major car repair away from financial ruin. But not That Guy. He thinks if you work hard enough, none of that stuff will show up on your radar, or you just add another shift onto your schedule and suck it up.
Dear That Guy,
There's this parable in the New Testament about the vineyard owner who goes out at sunrise and finds a crowd of men outside his gate looking for work. He picks a hand full of them and asks them if they'd like to work in his vineyard until sundown for $10. They say hellzyeah, and go off to do the job. Then at noon, the vineyard owner goes out and picks a few more guys and asks them if they'd like to work until sundown for $10. The men can't believe they're getting the chance! They agree and get to work. At about mid afternoon, the owner goes back out and picks a few more men to help finish the day's work, asks if they'd like to work until sundown for $10. Oh yes they do, and they do.
Come sundown, the workers stop and come to collect their pay. The guys who have been working since dawn see the nooners and 3 o'clock shift getting the same $10 as they are and they get angry.
The parable goes on to point out that the workers agreed to their pay and hours in the beginning and the vineyard owner can pay whoever he wants as much as he pleases. But I always think that in that angry crowd there are a few guys who take the cash and run to buy food for their kids, no time to complain about injustice. And there are a few guys who make a note to sleep in tomorrow and come around the vineyard around three p.m. Then there's the guy who started to work at noon, sees how mad the dawn shift is, and starts complaining about the 3 p.m. guys even louder so noone will think he's a slacker. (Oh, and every time one of those workers in the parable buys a bottle of wine, they are paying for the nooners and 3 p.m. shift, so in a way, it's still applicable to the tax discussion.)
You didn't start life with a couple strikes against you, you were probably born in the U.S., have a fairly decent grasp of the language, have had your health, had the stamina and intelligence needed to get an education. Good for you. Why are you picking on the folks who are scratching for scraps? You obviously already feel you're better than they are, isn't that enough for you? Would you feel even better if you were a richer man AND they were suffering more?
