I read a aggravating prose from a woman I have come to know on the chat circuit today. She argues that "many people are on social security disability that should be in the work force doing their best to bring marvelous improvements to the infrastructure and social sphere by the labor of their abilities". Where as I do agree that labor is necessary and beneficial, I also disagree that every person regardless of his or her capacity must labor to the extent that he or she can provide services of any sort at all. With her philosophy, a fellow like myself would be required to cut my day short and spend hours at the 7/11 handing out slurpees and cigarettes. I did go to medical school and I will indeed be considered a physician by all who are of the integrity to recognize affluent higher aspirations in any arena. This is not arrogance. This is professional integrity. I could certainly work in that gas station or fast food chain and my proceeds would be minimum at best. I might be able to endure the labor and mindnumbing dissatisfying experiences that may go with such said occupational choices. Indeed I did work in a Bob Evans for a summer when I was in high school doing all sorts of jobs from bus boy services to dishwasher to working on the grounds and then when I had advanced to filling in as help in the kitchen. (I would make 500 biscuits a day starting at 5 am every day).
So thus we have a dilemma, should those who lose a leg be required to drive a taxi cab with the other leg? Should those who have a mental incapacity be used to stamp metal plates in other places simply becuase they do in fact have that ability? Or rather, do we give people the public and social security assistance that a flourishing society has to offer in order to spare their dignity, self respect and pride. I say the latter, of course.
Public assistance on the other hand is a bare necessity of growing modern life. I do not regard any person on public assistance with contempt nor do I feel that they should "get a job". People have their dilemmas and one must consider that nearly every person wants to live a life of integrity and usefulness. Ladies who are single mothers and have children to dote to with their daily work deserve the assistance. And if you are worried that its tax money waster or squandered, consider this... Any child raised on public assistance for 18 years or whatever is very likely to benefit from his mother or fathers presence in the home. He or she if served by the educational system has every opportunity to advance his or her own life here in America. What is spend on his or her benefit today may be returned ten fold or greater when he or she is of the age to contribute his or herself in a later day and age. One must not disregard the efforts of any person to live the American Dream, even if it will take that family 20 or more years from now to be in a productive and useful role in society. Rather than worry about these children turning to drugs and crime, provide services aimed at awareness and education to improve their lives. It is money well spent.
I told my friend that her philosophy (and she tells people that she is an orthodox Jewish person- a woman who had converted to our faith and is a school teacher) that her ideas would mandate that our Creator, God, should have turned the Jewish people back to Egypt becuase they were only going to roam unproductively in the desert for 40 years. Instead by her philosophy we could have been helping the remaining people on earth by building, slaving, agonizing and rusing to make a living in the material world. Fortuanately our Creator provided all of our means to survive and now our people are prosperous and world leaders in terms of human dignity, scientific and philosophical discovery and contribuing both materially and socially to the benefit of mankind. Just a thought. Thanks.
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