Originally Posted by 718stylez
in many ways our political appetite mirrors our personal resolve.
i guess as a history buff i look back at previous american generations who sacrificed for the sake of the country. in the civil war 2% of the entire population died, that would be around 7 million dead in todays numbers. During WWII there were rations and entire generations were asked to put there personal dreams and ambitions on hold for country. Yet seemingly now, things are less about the greater good of the community and more about individual wants. I'm not naive i know that there's always been those who have put personal interests ahead of the pact, but i guess they are now a growing/more vocal block.
it's easy for us to sacrifice in the face of immediate danger. wars, terrorism etc are graphic enough to jolt us out of complacency and into sacrifice. if we were bombed tomorrow and had to go to war no one would think twice about a 5% increase in taxation, let alone 1.5%. Yet more people have died do to heart disease than have died in war. throughout this whole debate on healthcare, i have not heard what is in the best interest for the COUNTRY. What is good for the largest amount of people out there? instead its broken down into tribalism with the patients, hmos, insurance companies, poor, middle class and wealthy all going to battle to protect their fiefdom. no ones willing to look out and sacrifice for others.
i lived in NJ for years and now NY. these states pay more to the government in taxes than they get back. this has pretty much been the case since i can remember. yet you rarely hear people complaining about states like Louisiana and Mississippi that regularly take more federal dollars than they earn. Is that fair? No. But i recognize our union is a lot stronger when Louisiana and Mississippi are taken care of.
So your comparing temporary changes during tough times to a permanent change that could affect multiple generations? What you say sounds all rosy and kosher but we eventually have to face reality. This plan is not going to sustainable unless they drastically lower the price and don't raise taxes.
For the good of the country? sounds like nationalistic propaganda to me. Whats best for the country is whats best for its future generations. Loading massive amounts of debt onto future generations stands to only lower the quality of life as time progresses.
everything the federal government does is for nationalistic purposes by virtue of it being federal. national healthcare is no more propaganda thana national guard. i think there are certain issues which mandate gov't intervention because the problem is too large to solve individually.
And interesting that you think those sacrifices were temporary. considering how the military industrial complex has managed to consume more and more of ournational debt in the years after our greatest wars, i'd say they were/are pretty permanent. yet let someone talk about curbing defense spending in anymeaningful manner and you'd hear about it loud and clear.
while debt is a very real issue for future generations to deal with i just cant agree that its more important than healthcare. without your health, nothingelse really matters. ironically, most people go into debt and bankruptcy due to overwhelming medical costs.