On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:15:32 -0800, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:32:27 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


"jps" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:10:05 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


"jps" wrote in message
om...
On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:16:28 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


"jps" wrote in message
news:rt9rf5ltoqcpioebfthjrtbs8pqpi7sj8o@4ax .com...
On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:16:06 -0800, "Bill McKee"
wrote:


"jps" wrote in message
news:hq7qf5l8kq4p64fiiflf8jp724lva28her@4 ax.com...
On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:26:37 -0800, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
news:2oednaCSuqvBSmHXnZ2dnUVZ_oednZ2d@e arthlink.com...

"jps" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:45:54 -0800, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
news:urunf51v88n5ji2qimguc3ksspiivpd ...
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:39:34 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

The argument that we could pull out of Afghanistan if Karzai
doesn't
do what we say is stupid

What we need in Afghanistan, and here, is more boats. Send
in
the
navy and the marines, clear out the terrorist infidels.



Now that's funny... thanks Wayne.

Let's leave the Marine who thinks Greek Orthodox priests are
terrorist
infidels at home.

Hell, lets send him and point out all the radial mullahs.

Radial mullahs? How many tires do you get?

Oh, you mean Radical mullahs.... my bad.

Radial mullahs are the round ones.

Beat the crap out of them too. Or run them down the road.

What did you say you did when in the service?

Fixed radar units in transport airplanes. And you did what in service
to
the country?

I create jobs.

I was a low number in the last year of the draft but they didn't end
up taking anyone since Vietnam was winding down. Military service
wasn't real attractive in the early 70's. No one that I knew thought
we were doing the right thing. My father joined the Marine Corps when
he was 18, spent most of WWII overseas and didn't encourage any of his
kids to join. He did encourage college.

So you did not help the Peace Corp. or do any civic duty. I doubt you
created jobs when you were 20 years old.

Is it some sort of moral law that you're obligated to assist your
country in your 20s? Or is that just your map of the world?

Is a moral law to assist others all through your life. Try it, you might
like it.


I think, Bill, that it might be apropos to address the moral conflict
that JPS may have unwittingly created for himself. In the world view
of most progressives, it is the moral duty of the citizen to pay taxes
to 'assist the country' and to accept the yoke of compulsory health
care for each individual citizen (to 'assist the country'). There's
no genuine distinction between active duty or passive duty on this
one.


I don't know about jps... I think we all have an imperative to help those
less fortunate. I don't know if "moral" is the right word. If nothing more
than my own self-interest, I think it's an important aspect of my life. We
pay taxes to "assist" ourselves. We demand certain services and some of
those are best done by the government without a profit motive. Health care
is one of those things that doesn't really, shouldn't belong to a for-profit
company. There's too much at stake both for the individual and for the rest
of the country. I disagree that it is a yoke. If it is, it's an essential
yoke, such as breathing.

I'm not sure what you mean by active vs. passive duty.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we
are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most
frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are
all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory
of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And
as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission
to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence
automatically liberates others."

I don't consider taxes my contribution to the less fortunate. They're
my contribution towards the country that makes success acheivable.

I don't consider that redistribution of wealth. It's dues. Paying my
way. Holding my mud. Doing my part to keep the system working. I
like to see tax dollars helping those that need it, even if they're
old farts like Bill McKee who needs to be retrained to do something
useful with his life.

Volunteerism and helping others has nothing whatsoever to do with
taxes. As Plume says, it nourishes the soul when helping others. You
can't get that handing someone a check, but we do that too. I've done
a lot of work on houses where folks can't do it for themselves.
Awesome feeling. Love making things better in someone else's life.