Let's draw the parallel between letting a house burn and denying health care

[Duer 157099]

Since that was so recently done, although it was in the context of insurance which isn't what I want to focus on.

Most of us who are rational compassionate human beings feel pure outrage at the notion of the fire department allowing a house to burn down.

How is that different than allowing an ill person to be denied life-saving treatment?

Or allowing a person to become homeless?

Or denying a good education to a young person who desires but can't afford one?

They are all symptoms of the same exact thing, a severe social disease running rampant in America.

edit to clarify:

I think it's absolutely outrageous that ANY of these are allowed to happen in our society!

[KittyWampus]

1. You can be rational compassionate human beings and still acknowledge realities and consequences.

[Xipe Totec]

8. I acknowledge the reality that people in a position to help stood idly by simply to make a point nt

[reggie the dog]

9. yes

and i can still help people in a jam due to their own poor choices just to be nice, and who knows i may find myself in a jam one day due to a poor choice and i bet i would like it if someone helped me.

[joeybee12]

2. LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, particularly the LIFE part...

read about that somewhere.

Not saying you're wrong, but life-threatening issues should not be available to only those who can pay. It's called the common good...we provide a fire department for the common good, not as simply as insurance.

[Duer 157099]

4. I think you misunderstood my POV

I agree with you.

[derby378]

5. +1000

And I'll go one further. Perhaps it's time to purge DU of those who would chuckle at this poor guy's house being allowed to burn down.

[Hannah Bell]

3. false. the county had the means to pay; median household income in the county is higher than in the

city.

they just chose not to pay because a majority of residents (or their reps) preferred to free-ride off the smaller, and poorer, city.

there's no analogy.

the city, after trying in the past to bill after the fact & getting no payment in more than half the cases, had every right to protect itself from being bankrupted by libertarian free-riders who voted down proposals to set up their own volunteer fire dept twice, & voted 19-1 to let individual county residents contract with the city as they saw fit -- or not.

sorry, if people with the means to pay choose not to -- i don't feel sorry for them.

The fee was $6.25 a month. The city offered services to the property owner twice, once in writing, once by phone.

He had no excuse. And let his grandson burn on his property knowing he had no fire protection. Pure libertarian madness.

[reggie the dog]

11. voted 19-1 to let individual county residents contract with the city as they saw fit -- or not.

you just pointed out the op's main point that something is seriously wrong with this country.....

[left is right]

14. In the wake of this

I would bet a quarter ($0.25) that if a vote was taken tomorrow proposing that every resident of county have their property taxes raised to cover the cost of the firefighters' fee so that all citizens were covered, they would vote it down. Again!

[stray cat]

6. People like to have things paid for - just by someone else

[Duer 157099]

7. Bullshit. n/t

[Freetradesucks]

22. I have a great suggestion...

Why don't they take the price to cover each house in the county per year, and divide it up between the people that want to pay? If you don't want to pay, no problem, everyone else will just pay more and you will still be covered!

I love how people here on DU are just realizing that this extends to many more things than a fire subscription...

[KansasVoter]

18. +1000

[depakid]

20. With this seemingly the prevailing attitude with so many- let's just say that it's no surprise

that America is spiraling down into 3rd world status.

I'd also add (in a very American way) that there are some out there who richly deserve the consequences of that inevitability.

[Freetradesucks]

21. Eeeexxacctlyyy. +1

nt

[madinmaryland]

25. Olbermann calls those folks, the "something for nothing crowd".

I got mine, fuck everyone else.

[Rex]

10. Simple truth; life is not fair.

Repukes are working everyday to make sure it stays that way and gets worse for the working poor. They spend billions a year to keep it that way.

[bobbolink]

23. And for "the poor" who are too old, too sick, too injured to work?

You're throwing us under the bus?

[suston96]

12. Some things like public safety cannot be bargained....

Insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare are not idle words in the Preamble.

They signify some of the reasons governments are created. These reasons and purposes of government trickle down to the smallest community.

There is no "opting out" of fire and police and any other public safety inspections.

Licenses to perform services involving personal health and the like require liability insurance. As do licenses and registrations of automobiles.

On and on! How ridiculous, for example, that in a group of contiguous townhouses some of the people could "opt out" of fire protection.

In my community, one fire allowed to take hold will destroy ten others if not more, especially when that Arizona desert wind is blowing.

[tavalon]

13. I hadn't yet put my thoughts about this down

but my partner and me were talking about this very thing. I don't care how damn scared ninny Americans are, we need to socialize our country. All of these things need to be considered a right, not a privilege and if taxes must go up, so be it.

[bobbolink]

24. And if we were to actually work together to formulate this, we could do it.

All the polls show that when stated the right way, that is exactly what the citizens of this country want.

We just haven't done our part in educating people.

When are we going to do that?

[applegrove]

15. They are both things the rich base of the GOP wants to undo because then

people will not want to pay taxes if they are getting no government services for their money. It is all about lowering taxes on the rich. That is all.

[TexasObserver]

16. recommend

[KansasVoter]

17. So everyone deserves a free college education also?

[divideandconquer]

26. In Europe they have free college education

[bullwinkle428]

19. I don't care if Old Man Cranik voted Republican in every election

that he participated in over the course of his entire life. You still have to be a really sick bastard to take pleasure in seeing his house and his pets burn to the ground!