Bryan W. Alaspa 1Not understanding
September 4th 2009 13:34
Almost exactly two years ago I became an uncle for the very first time. I will admit that seeing my niece changed my life in ways I never thought about. It certainly gave me a new perspective on life, this country, and the world in general and the kind of world I hope I leave behind for her and her children, grand-children, nieces and nephews.
I guess I just don’t understand conservativism. There are just too man contradictions that never get answered. They don’t want government in their healthcare, but they want the government to determine what love is and who should and should not be able to marry. They don’t want scared young teenage women to be able to choose whether or not to have an abortion but they are against further social programs to help those mothers or their unwanted children once they are born. Their entire belief system seems to be, hey, if you happen to be born to a middle-class or higher family, good for you and you should have all of the breaks and benefits the government can offer. However, if you were born to a poor family, well, tough break kid, and I’m sorry you were born on the wrong side of the tracks. Good luck now!
In short, it seems like they claim to be Christian, but then throw out the parts of the Christian belief system that doesn’t fit their idea of what the government should be. Sure, there are all of those Bible verses, including the one where Jesus tells the story about how if you do unto the least of the world, you are also doing unto God, but that doesn’t mean society should actually help you with anything.
I want my niece to live in a world where no one who is a citizen of this country has to go broke because they got sick. If you start a business and make foolish decisions, then you should go broke. If you get a lot of money and develop a drug or gambling problem, you should go broke. Those are choices you made and you should live with the consequences. You should not suffer because you got sick. She should also live in a world where no one dies from a treatable disease because they are unable to afford healthcare. Allowing people to die from treatable diseases or denying access to care by pricing treatment out of the hands of so many Americans is the same thing as creating a “death panel” and is certainly not something a supposedly caring and “compassionate” or “civilized” country should do.
I want my niece to live in a world where her and her children, grand-children on down have the ability to choose what they do with their bodies. I want her to live in a world where she doesn’t have to be afraid of the choices she makes. Part of that will come from us, her family, but it should also come from society she lives in.
I want her to grow up believing that this world is not made in an “every man for himself” mode. That is our natural instinct. I believe that civility is a mask we wear, but I also believe wearing it and trying to achieve that ideal is a worthy cause and we need to fight against our selfish nature. The goal of this life is not to achieve as much for yourself without helping those around you. It is not “he who dies with the most toys wins.” It is that we should leave this world having tried to help as many people as we can and by trying to make the world a better place for us having been here.
That means we take care of those less fortunate than us. It means we help those who are sick and cannot get treatment. It means we take care of the planet and try to make the air breathable, the water drinkable, and the food edible without killing us. It means we provide opportunities to those who otherwise would not have opportunities and we do it for the few who can truly succeed and make the world better and we don’t get rid of that because there might be a few others who take advantage.
I don’t understand any other way of thinking. I don’t understand and I don’t want my niece to have to try and understand that way of thinking either.
I guess I just don’t understand conservativism. There are just too man contradictions that never get answered. They don’t want government in their healthcare, but they want the government to determine what love is and who should and should not be able to marry. They don’t want scared young teenage women to be able to choose whether or not to have an abortion but they are against further social programs to help those mothers or their unwanted children once they are born. Their entire belief system seems to be, hey, if you happen to be born to a middle-class or higher family, good for you and you should have all of the breaks and benefits the government can offer. However, if you were born to a poor family, well, tough break kid, and I’m sorry you were born on the wrong side of the tracks. Good luck now!
In short, it seems like they claim to be Christian, but then throw out the parts of the Christian belief system that doesn’t fit their idea of what the government should be. Sure, there are all of those Bible verses, including the one where Jesus tells the story about how if you do unto the least of the world, you are also doing unto God, but that doesn’t mean society should actually help you with anything.
I want my niece to live in a world where no one who is a citizen of this country has to go broke because they got sick. If you start a business and make foolish decisions, then you should go broke. If you get a lot of money and develop a drug or gambling problem, you should go broke. Those are choices you made and you should live with the consequences. You should not suffer because you got sick. She should also live in a world where no one dies from a treatable disease because they are unable to afford healthcare. Allowing people to die from treatable diseases or denying access to care by pricing treatment out of the hands of so many Americans is the same thing as creating a “death panel” and is certainly not something a supposedly caring and “compassionate” or “civilized” country should do.
I want my niece to live in a world where her and her children, grand-children on down have the ability to choose what they do with their bodies. I want her to live in a world where she doesn’t have to be afraid of the choices she makes. Part of that will come from us, her family, but it should also come from society she lives in.
I want her to grow up believing that this world is not made in an “every man for himself” mode. That is our natural instinct. I believe that civility is a mask we wear, but I also believe wearing it and trying to achieve that ideal is a worthy cause and we need to fight against our selfish nature. The goal of this life is not to achieve as much for yourself without helping those around you. It is not “he who dies with the most toys wins.” It is that we should leave this world having tried to help as many people as we can and by trying to make the world a better place for us having been here.
That means we take care of those less fortunate than us. It means we help those who are sick and cannot get treatment. It means we take care of the planet and try to make the air breathable, the water drinkable, and the food edible without killing us. It means we provide opportunities to those who otherwise would not have opportunities and we do it for the few who can truly succeed and make the world better and we don’t get rid of that because there might be a few others who take advantage.
I don’t understand any other way of thinking. I don’t understand and I don’t want my niece to have to try and understand that way of thinking either.
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