Apparently this article is from June of last year, but is making the rounds again in wake of Trump being mecca-hitler by imprisoning babies and toddlers. I have no idea what to make of this situation as I don't follow the msm (although the idea of locking up kids doesn't jive too well with me). This post isn't about any of that drudgery, but apparently it does correlate to a lot of the left's perceived beliefs of the right, in regards to 'caring for one another'. I clearly don't align with the right in most facets, but the OP is painting all non-leftists as "hordes of selfish, cruel people", which I would argue, I am not.
The OP goes on to say things like:
Personally, I’m happy to pay an extra 4.3 percent for my fast food burger if it means the person making it for me can afford to feed their own family. If you aren’t willing to fork over an extra 17 cents for a Big Mac, you’re a fundamentally different person than I am.
I’m perfectly content to pay taxes that go toward public schools, even though I’m childless and intend to stay that way, because all children deserve a quality, free education. If this seems unfair or unreasonable to you, we are never going to see eye to eye.
If I have to pay a little more with each paycheck to ensure my fellow Americans can access health care? SIGN ME UP.
I don’t know how to convince someone how to experience the basic human emotion of empathy.
If you paid close attention to those statements, it should have been obvious to you that she started her sentences with 'I'.
"Personally, I'm. "I'm". "If I". "I don't". Doesn't sound to me like she is caring for anyone else's opinion but her own. Seems like she wouldn't turn down to be the Queen of everyone's lives, if given the opportunity.
This mentality that if you don't support giving money to causes the left approves of, then you are a cruel and selfish person.
source
Lets get a few things straight...
Giving tithes to your church, that's compassion.
Donating to a charity of your choice, that's compassion.
Volunteering your time somewhere, that's compassion.
Petitioning government to steal from your neighbor to fund things you advocate for, is NOT compassion.
You are not holier than thou because you want to help the poor at the expense of your neighbors wallet. You are in fact the opposite. YOU are the cruel and selfish one for wanting to take something that's not yours, regardless how virtuously you intend to spend it. The left (and some others) like to say "My body my choice", but have no qualms with saying, "Your wallet, my choice", and not see the difference.
If you want to be a compassionate human being, do it yourself.
Plenty of folks on the right are also just fine with having money taken from other people’s wallets to fund things those others would not choose to fund. Like killing lots of dark-skinned people in countries that most Americans couldn’t find on a map, funding police and prisons to conduct a war on drugs and “get tough on crime” that, entirely coincidentally, incarcerates millions of other Americans who happen to be dark-skinned.
It’s not really a leftist thing, it’s a statist thing.
No disagreements here. I figured someone would say something like that, and I thought about writing almost verbatim what you wrote. But I've come to realize it seems to be an unnecessary repetitive rebuttal. Like if I rip on the right, I'll hear "but the left does it too'. and vice versa as you clearly stated concerning the left.
It's kinda like "boo Clinton!!!" - "oh, so you're a Trump fan , eh?!"
I'm happy to call out the right, this just so happened to be the flavor of the day.
Funny thing to me when someone makes a comment like "the right wants to take your money and spend it on killing brown people in the middle East...". Our last President, who is more than brown last time I checked and hailed from the left, did plenty of middle East brown people killing himself. He was a huge fan of the drone bombs.
True story. Obama dropped more bombs than any other president and the anti-war left was silent.
But, THIS exact kind of dialogue is the reason I stopped caring about politics. "The left did something terrible!!!", "Sure, but the right did that before too!!!". ~ how is this improving our lives?
It isn't about getting to the truth or to make a more free populace, it's about bread and circus, and it's been working for far too long.
It does seem that we are both very unimpressed by the traditional left and right as well as the orange monster in office. I alluded to this in my last comment to your comment but I would love to see a new left and right sprectrum (with a few more flavors in between and more respect for each other) develop in this little corner of the internet we are playing in. Meanwhile more and more of us can drop out and opt in to experimental communities.
I'll elaborate on this on discord :)
I would be curious to get your take on what taxes you feel ARE legitimate. What courses of action would be considered reasonable to you.
Not to be antagonistic, I just want to get your opinion.
No antagonism felt :) We've met, I feel I have a decent understanding that you are a nice and genuine human being. So no worries.
Taxes, any tax, in my opinion (and I believe by definition. Unless you're not being completely honest with yourself) is theft. Taking something from someone else without their consent, is by definition, theft. Therefore, all taxation is theft and immoral. Regardless what positive outcomes may come from the stolen money.
Let's start with getting over the ridiculous notion that a small minority of people can somehow dictate the lives of everyone else, by force.
Privatize everything and all human interactions are based on consent. That would be a massive improvement and a major leap forward towards a less violent world.