"I'm not a Christian by any means, but there are some great lines written in the bible on the subject of helping the poor and downtrodden, and also on the matter of pride. "No casting of stones etc." is one of those concepts that is damn near impossible to live, especially when you want to smack the person you're helping in the face for being such and idiot. But you don't. You go above that. You suck it up, take the cost, and you work to educate them to help them not get into the situation again. That's what a civilized man does. "
The point is, forced charity is an oxymoron. You can't claim any magnanimity when you have no say in the matter. Redistribution of wealth is and has always been larceny. As I watch more and more of my earnings going toward things I would not otherwise support, I have less and less capacity for charity, that is to say the volume is diminished, but not the spirit. It is this contradiction that angers me about those who put themselves or remain in harm's way when they know better, and I am burdened with their salvage and recovery. Charity cannot ever be a burden, they are diametrically opposing aspects. Charity cannot be taken, it can only be given freely. What is being done now in our country, and has been done for quite some time, is not charity. It is robbery and fraud, and it will end only when the supply is exhausted, which is happening quickly.
To say that government bailout in one instance is okay and another is not is a red herring. None of it is ever any good.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)