Posts by teenyuck

Thier shouldn't be one person hungry in this country, or in need of physical care. I sometimes volunteer my time to a food shelter and I can't believe the people who come in for food, from adults to children......pitiful.

This brings up the whole issue of family responsibility. What happened to families being responsible for the immediate family members who were 1. Hungry 2. Homeless 3. Impoverished?

We, in the US at least, have turned into a Welfare State. The safety net of family is gone. Families no longer care for their own. They turn them away and tell them to apply to the state for aid.

Housing should not be subsidized by the gov. Period. If you cannot afford an apartment in the city you want, go to a cheaper city. Many immigrants lived in hovels, now called ghettos, and didn't complain. Many new immigrants are living the same way. Yet, a welfare family, (mom, 6 kids from 6 different men, all nameless, therefore responsibility free) demands better housing in a better neighborhood because people are shooting and dealing drugs in the neighborhood. The new immigrants deal with it, work hard at their low wage jobs and dream of a better life, that they know will come, by HARD WORK.

Welfare is a good, short term program. (or whatever it is called)

My short story:

When my father walked out, my mother applied for it. She had $17.36 in the checking account and no job. She got food stamps and about $25.00 cash a month to live on. (Actually, the Elders at the KH gave her the $212.00 to pay the mortgage the first month)
Without that *safety net* we would have been on the street. My mom's family had not spoken to her in years (except her old grand-mother, the one who called me teenyuck) and she was in her 70's and on Social Security. Mom could not ask her for money. There was no one else.
Anyway, she ended up finding a job as a secretary within a 2 months and we were off the dole.
Going to the store with food stamps, even in our rag-tag suburb, was very humiliating. I was 12, my sister 15. My mom sent us, on our bikes to do grocery shopping, or she would sit in the car and wait while we went in and bought food. She did not want to be seen with food stamps.

Without that program I don't know what would have happened to us.

My whole point in bringing this subject up was to try to show that no matter what side of the gov you are on and believe, the gov has grown way beyond what the US founding fathers intended it to be.

When the US gov tried to become the social conscience* of the people, they took away responsibility from the people. People became less inclined to give to local chairities and to their church. These social services that the government set up can never be as strong, as human, as compassionate as the local pastor/person in charge/of the local food bank/church/parish, etc. Many people volunteer at agencies, however, funding is very hard to come by. People are giving so much of it to the government, they don't have much more to give.

I am disgusted by big government. That is the main reason I lean republican. Since I left the JWs and started paying attention to politics, the republican *agenda* of smaller government was attractive. The problem now is that the repubs are not making the gov smaller, just lowering taxes; giving *faith based initiatives* was one of the worst ideas I read, after the government grants for performing arts- .

However, making government smaller is a huge task. Think about all the jobs at risk. Who is in those jobs? All those job-holders have a major interest in seeing big government stay the way it is. So the democratic agenda holds a big trump.

I really don't think the government owes me anything other than security (police/fire/borders), military, highways. I do believe in highways. They opened up the country to everyone, everywhere to easily go state to state. I believe we have Eisenhower to thank for that. Other than that, let me figure it out.

SFTT said:

Yes the government do owe us. They owe us to listen to us when we disagree with policy and they owe us to live in freedom and the right to run our own lives without camera's watching our every move.

This in interesting....in the suburb I live in, Gahanna, Ohio, they have installed *traffic flow* cameras. Supposedly they are to monitor traffic at red lights to watch how many cars are backed up and change lights accordingly. BULL SHIT. The mayor admitted the cameras are for people running red lights. While I am not an advocate of running red lights, in this suburb, this is ridiculous. It is not necessary. They are doing their Big Brother routine to intimidate people.

That is the kind of stuff that my tax dollar should not be used for. Security my ass.

I appreciate all the comments and feedback.

*I am using Social Conscience here in the sense of services your local parish or wealthy benefactor would traditionally provide or set up and local volunteers staffed.

18

Give experiences as to what it felt to be a female in the JW's..

by Country Girl in

jw
friends

i can tell you how bad it felt.

it felt bad every time i put some "doily" on my head cuz some fourteen year old baptized freak was saying the pryaer that day.

it felt good when i had to put a napkin on my head, knowing i was the oldest child, because my brother was baptized... and i was older and babysitting him.. to show "submission.".

teenyuck

So, I am getting the impression we all seemed to have problems with *submission*....

Even my good-dubbie mother hates that word. She admitted it to me not too long ago. I almost fell over! In spite of being Stepford Wife-like, she actually admitted she hates it!

Hopefully the men reading this thread are picking up on some of this.....

18

Give experiences as to what it felt to be a female in the JW's..

by Country Girl in

jw
friends

i can tell you how bad it felt.

it felt bad every time i put some "doily" on my head cuz some fourteen year old baptized freak was saying the pryaer that day.

it felt good when i had to put a napkin on my head, knowing i was the oldest child, because my brother was baptized... and i was older and babysitting him.. to show "submission.".

teenyuck

What more can I say? You, all, covered everything!

38

Why does the Government OWE You?

by teenyuck in

with all the recent political threads, i have a question.

what do you think/feel/believe the government or your country *owes* you as a citizen?.

i am talking about pensions, health care and other *social services*.

teenyuck

But there's a mentality today that says that the government should be our mommy and daddy and take care of every aspect of our lives. And the more we embrace that philosophy, the more power we give the government in regulating our lives. In my opinion, we've already gone too far down that road.

That is exactly my point. (you said it much better)

Why should other residents of the state be taxed so that I can go to the theater? What compelling public interest should there be in maintaining a privately owned theater with tax dollars? I say, let them raise the ticket price if they have to, and leave my tax money alone! The theater is a business, and should be able to support itself as a business. If it can't, then it shouldn't be in business. The company I work for doesn't get government subsidies; why should a private theater?

Again, this is a *social service* that most just shrug and shake their heads at. What's a few million here and there? Next thing you know, it is a few billion.

Government should not be funding this. Let the wealthy people (like in the past) support it and make it *affordable* for the average Joe. The government took over the job of the *wealthy* supporter.

12

Witness and Agnostic - Not a perfect match...

by Mike Ferguson in

i'm agnostic.

i was writing to this 21 year old kid who is having a hard time because he's gay and he believes the witnesses are the truth.

before he broke it off with me, he wrote this:hi mike,.

teenyuck

He's also very political for being a Witness, wrote a whole commentary on how much he hates President Bush. lol. I just wish he could be happy.

He needs to join the board....the Bush haters are *legendary*....(especially since *many* don't reside in the US, nor are they US citizens...but I am nitpicking.)

As Bradley noted the pessimistic nature of the JWs is startling....when you leave and realize it.

There are *some* here on the board who express those same views (the world is going down the toilet)...they are afraid of nuclear war, poverty, famine etc. What can you do? Nothing. Worry gives you lines. It is not worth it. Botox costs a fortune!

I am sure you are not completly oblivious to the political turmoil. You are relaxing, drinking an iced Frappuchino....that is good. Why worry about things you have zero control over. Live your life. Have fun. Stop worrying about *the political turmoil*. The political turmoil ain't going anywhere.

38

Why does the Government OWE You?

by teenyuck in

with all the recent political threads, i have a question.

what do you think/feel/believe the government or your country *owes* you as a citizen?.

i am talking about pensions, health care and other *social services*.

teenyuck

ash said:

No taxes, and I woudn't ever need to use their social services, such as social security and pensions. I'd have enough in my paycheck to start saving early in life, with more to spend on a house, kids, etc.

That is the problem...the US government decided with Social Security that US workers were not smart enough to start saving and decided to do it for them. Now they have run that program to the brink of descruction.

Obi:

A decent wage for all the millions of dollars they make selling thier product. If they didn't have us they wouldn't have a product.

That is why US companies are moving manufacturing overseas or to Mexico. If they didn't have us, they wouldn't have anyone to purchase the products, which are kept at affordable prices by the companies abilities to go overseas or south of the border and pay less. As a result *we* can afford those products. I read a report in Business Week that showed how the US is moving from being a manufacturing nation to a service nation. Expat:

It should owe me the barest minimum, the smallest amount possible to achieve security. That's because it should tax me as little as possible, and stay the hell out of my life as much as possible.

I agree. People complain about taxes. People complain about government. In the US, the dems have been in the Congress and the Senate for decades. The social programs created and supported by dems and taxes are costing the US billions every year, that are not there. Now people want *free* health care. Why does the government *owe* us free health care? I am trying to understand the mindset of *The government Owes me* mentality. Nothing is *free*. When the gov gives out something *free* they took the money from *someone*. That someone is anyone who *PAYS* taxes. If the government cannot balance a budget and spend within the limits, they certainly cannot be trusted with our health. Ask any patient on Medicare.

12

Witness and Agnostic - Not a perfect match...

by Mike Ferguson in

i'm agnostic.

i was writing to this 21 year old kid who is having a hard time because he's gay and he believes the witnesses are the truth.

before he broke it off with me, he wrote this:hi mike,.

teenyuck

All I can say is that this world is going down the toilet and that despite the many flaws in the witnesses' religion, it is the only solution for all of mankind's problems.

Well the beginning of that sentence has been stated here by confirmed apostates many times.

They lament the *world* yet have no solutions and have no plans to run for office or volunteer for anything to help those truly in need.

The only difference is that they are out so they can't/won't go back. The apostate life is too real and good to let go of. But, they still lament the fact that all the wars won't end, hunger won't end, poverty won't end and people just won't all get along.

Tina

38

Why does the Government OWE You?

by teenyuck in

with all the recent political threads, i have a question.

what do you think/feel/believe the government or your country *owes* you as a citizen?.

i am talking about pensions, health care and other *social services*.

teenyuck

With all the recent political threads, I have a question.

What do you think/feel/believe the government or your country *owes* you as a citizen?

I am talking about Pensions, health care and other *social services*. Not roads and bridges and military.

With all the BS flying about what side/party is better, why does the government of your country owe these things to you?

74

So, will you be voting for Bush next time?

by czarofmischief in

.

when the election rolls around, will you be pulling the lever for w?

i will, unless somebody comes along with the offer of free supermodels for me.. czar

teenyuck

Who was in the majority, in Congress and the Senate, the last 45-50 odd years?

Oh, yeah, the DEMOCRATS. TAX and SPEND Democrats.

The taxes go down, as the jobs start to fall with the market, which the president does not control, (go ask an economist) and the DEMOCRATS continued to spend.

Tax and Spend

If Clinton is responsible for the economy going up, he is just as responsible for it going down, during his tenure. It started in the late 90's.