@pegc wrote:
Sanctimoniously donating used clothing and a few boxes of food to a food pantry is a drop in the bucket.
I don't interpret Shopetal to be speaking or "preaching" sanctimoniously, pegc, but rather articulating and espousing a particular economic ideology that is limiting of the scope of government.
I could be wrong, but that is the economic-political view I sense in Shopetal. In my own circles, I don't have any close friends or family who hold this view, but there have been fellow Christians and some very conservative (economically) folks whom I've met that hold to such views, pegc.
They can be very kind individuals, who would help you personally with any of your needs. A person on a Christian forum I am a part of is like this. If you have home repair issues or need help in some practical way, he's always there to be supportive and helpful. However, whenever we've discussed politics and economics, he's known on the forum for being very unwilling to have government tax people and use that money to help others. He believes in private charity and very limited government (views taxation as literal theft). We all disagree with him very strongly and there have even been heated debates. But, over time and having experience with him and others like him in my personal life, I've come to see that they aren't "bad" people in some way, nor lack compassion. It's just that they hold a very ideologically strict view of how government should be run and what is best for citizens.
Shopetal's views fit that orientation from what I can gather. I don't want to put words into anyone's mouth, but that was just my impression.
For people of that persuasion, less taxes can mean more opportunity for private charity (and getting rid of the middleman - i.e., government, which can be inefficient and wasteful). Letting businesses and people fail is also seen as a good thing and a natural part of the market, as it leads to "creative destruction" and a chance for newer and more productive/societally useful businesses to replace them. Thus, they are not in favor of bailouts and want free markets to determine winners and losers. ...There are very good points that I often am sympathetic to in this view. I just think it can be ineffective at certain times...such as a crisis like the one we're facing.
I think bailing people out temporarily is fine. In a "disaster" situation, where it's no one's fault, I think it would be cruel to not help. Shopetal and others may think that help should be from individuals and not government. They may very much want to help, but simply see the means to doing so as best through free individual choices (as government involvement creeps more and more into individual liberties and is often done by "force" ). They may also be opposed to money printing (I'm not sure).
I really feel that differences in discussions on politics are often more often from misunderstandings or miscommunications (or the limits of) in an online forum setting vs. malice or lack of compassion in people. I've had so many instances where people thought I had a particular intent or view and I did not, so I'm just giving a possible reading of Shopetal's comments in the thread.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2020 01:51AM by shoptastic.
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