OT: Entitlements [was Re: Python usage numbers]

[Rick Johnson]

On Feb 13, 12:38 pm, Ian Kelly <ian.g.ke... at gmail.com> wrote:
> I hate being suckered in by trolls, but this paragraph demands a response.
>
> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 9:01 AM, Rick Johnson
>
> <rantingrickjohn... at gmail.com> wrote:
> > You are born with rights. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
> > Healthcare care is NOT a right, healthcare is a privileged.
>
> If you deprive a person of access to healthcare, and they die, then
> you have deprived them of life and thus violated the very rights that
> you just stated they had. And finally the "pursuit of happiness". Notice the wording here: "pursuit". You have a right to PURSUE happiness, not a right to steal it. Also, you are guaranteed happiness, only the right to purse your version of happiness -- so long as that version does not interfere with others rights.

You have a right to life, NOT a right to unnaturally extend your
lifetime by stealing the fruits of other people's labor (in this case:
money). You have a right to be free, but NOT to quell the freedom of
others so that YOU may benefit (in this case: taxation).

Healthy people do not need healthcare very often, and in the rare
cases when they do, they don't bog down the system because their
bodies are strong. Why are their bodies strong? Because healthy people
eat correctly, healthy people exercise, therefore, healthy people have
correctly functioning immune systems -- of course quality genes always
help!

> In any case, taking that phrase from the Declaration of Independence
> and holding it out as an exhaustive list of rights is moronic.  First,
> because it's not even a legal document -- it's only a statement of
> high-minded classical liberalism, albeit a historically important and
> influential one.  Second, because it actually states "We hold these
> truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they
> are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
> **AMONG** these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  The
> phrasing obviously implies that there are other human rights besides
> the three examples listed.  After all, the purpose of the document was
> not to enumerate all human rights, but to air a list of grievances
> against King George and assert the right to revolt against him.



> Incidentally, "not being required to pay taxes" is not something that
> the founding fathers would have considered a human right, taxation
> being necessary to support government and representative government
> (at least according to the Declaration of Independence) being
> necessary to secure those rights.

I never stated that taxation violated anyone's "human rights". And i
personally believe that "some" amount of taxation is a necessary in a
democratic society. How else would the government pay the bills? Rule
of law, infrastructure, national security (just to name a few) are all
subjects that the government must handle for the sake of society as a
whole.

HOWEVER, healthcare is not a concern of the greater society, but only
the individual -- with the exception of contagious disease of course,
which effects us all! Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, cirrhosis,
kidney failure, stroke, diabetes, etc..., are NOT contagious but
continue to be a drain on healthcare costs. In fact, most of these
problems are the results of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Listen, I have no objection to folks living an unhealthy lifestyle. I
say, if that's what makes you happy, GO FOR IT!. However, i'll be
damned if i am going to subsidize their healthcare because now they
are dying and can't afford the medical bills.

Likewise if someone gets hit by a bus... was the person j-walking? If
so, too bad. Ride a motorcycle without a helmet and get a concussion,
too bad. Drink and drive and then end up in a coma, too bad! You play
with fire and you get burned! You kick a bear in the ass and you get
eaten. You stick your head in a crocodiles mouth and you suffer the
consequences! You are not fit to survive in this universe. You were
given fear for a reason. You were given pain for a reason. Those who
refuse to learn are culled from the herd.

> > Procreation should be a
> > privilege, however sadly for our collective evolution, it's seems to
> > be a right :(
>
> There is a word for the philosophy that procreation should be a
> privilege reserved for those with good genes: eugenics.

No, the word is evolution; which means: "survival of the fittest".

Listen, i will be the first to admit that evolution is VERY unfair to
those among us who have a poor gene pool. Poor genes are not our
fault. We did not get to CHOOSE our genes, or our parents, or our
country of origin, or etc, etc, etc! But these ARE the cards we were
dealt as individuals of a species. That last sentence is VERY
important: "individuals of a species". We like to think that our
individual lives matter in the greater scheme of things, but i can
assure you we don't matter.

Anyone who has studied animal behavior knows that only the strongest
males are allowed to mate. Why is this? Because strength can only
manifest itself in an individual with quality genes. An indiviual who
is healthy. What all the whiners want to do is strengthen the
degenerates. You want to circumvent evolution and devolve as a species
for nothing more than the sake of your own selfishness.

I can however tell you that what DOES matter is the continued
improvement of the base gene pool. Yes, this improvement comes at a
cost; the cost of the individual. Those with quality genes will reap
the rewards, likewise, those with crap genes will not. Evolution does
not care about you and how long your miserable little life will last,
or if you're going to get that new Apple device for Christmas, or how
many shoes are in your closet, or what brand underwear you choose to
cradle your loins with!

Your measly little 60-100 years of breathing means nothing against the
eons of evolution of individuals within species. YOU are pawn of the
Human species and nothing more. And the Human species is a pawn of
biological lifeforms. When (or if) you finally come to grips with that
grim reality you will be ready to transcend this life -- some make the
connection early, others make the connection on their deathbeds,
others not at all.

> Welcome to fascism, Rick.

Don't try to append me onto a specific ideology structure just because
that group happens to support ONE of my beliefs. I carry no political
or ideological "membership cards" in my pocket. My mind is free of the
boundaries that confine most of the Human species.

But go on falsely believing your little puny life matters. Go on
believing in your worn out traditions and selfish languages and
cultures. Go on believing that humans will be inhabiting this rock in
the next 1000 years, or this universe in the next 10,000 -- because
the enlightened few will have transcended into the mind hive and your @
$$ will be glued to Terra firma forever!