Reply #46: Let me clarify some things... [View All]

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It seems like this thread is getting off to a bad start. I think hlth2b has stated things very well. But I'd like to add some personal anecdotes. I have a sibling close in age. As adults we lived together and actually shared our finances. There were times that one of us was working but not the other (or perhaps we were both working but one at a place that didn't have much in the way of benefits). During those periods it would have been nice if we could have shared health insurance or enjoyed some of the other benefits that married people get. It made me angry to think that the company I worked at was effectively giving twice the benefits to employees that had spouses -- in essence reducing my share of benefits. I would have liked that same advantage, but because the person I shared my living quarters and finances with was a mere blood relative instead of someone I had a sexual relationship with, I was denied this benefit. To me, that is discrimination. But what if two people wanted to live together who were not even related and share some, if not all, of their finances? I remember the show "Kate and Allie" about two divorced mothers who were friends who did this. Shouldn't even they have the same rights as a married couple? If society is not willing to extend these benefits to siblings, gay couples, or even close friends, then they should do away with them altogether. It's not that I resent paying taxes, it's that I resent paying taxes that are used to discriminate against me.