When I made my original post / rant, I may have been in a "mood." I stand by much of what I said, but as I read back, my tone was kinda mean. Oh well.
X, let me clarify one of my stances. I oppose free medical care for reactive treatments to major diseases for Americans in poor health, whether addiction-related or not. Is that me being selfish? Maybe, but am I more selfish than the person who doesn't suffer from the "disease" of addiction and just abuses the hell out of their bodies, expecting the government to bail them out of tens of thousands of dollars worth of triple bypass?
See, I can tell from your use of quotation marks around the word disease with addiction that you don't think it's a disease. Ask any doctor, it's a medical disease. It's just as much a disease as schizophrenia is. There's even genetic predeposition to addiction, so it IS a disease.
So pretty much you're saying that everyone should live like you? And that no one is allowed to make any mistakes, ever? You're under this illusion that addicts can simply put the cigarette/drink/drug down whenever they want to. They can't. Thats a part of the disease, and its one that is incurable. I know people who were extreme alcoholics for 20 years, then sobered up for the next 20 years, seemed to be perfectly happy, then drank himself to death within a 3 week period. It's a
DISEASE IC. Would you fault, say, one of the firefighters who went into the twin towers on 9/11 and have now developed lung disorders from all of the toxic dust? After all, it was their decision to go into that building, so fuck 'em right? I'm not trying to be mean IC (though it sounds like it probably), but unless you've experienced addiction first-hand, you really can't judge it because you don't know anything about it.
I am very much in favor of Government Sponsored WELLNESS programs. The US Government needs to get 100% behind preventative medicine, not reactive care. Example: The money for the chemotherapy for the lung cancer patient who smoked himself silly for 25 years is a HELL of a lot worse than the money the US would spend per person on anti-smoking and smoking-cessation programs. We seem to be heading in that direction now. And don't ask me to sympathize with "the victim of tobacco addiction." Nobody forced that first cigarette into that man's mouth. He made that choice - let him live with the consequences.
Prevention does not work IC. It never has. The US spends millions and millions of dollars already on Anti-Smoking, Anti-Drinking, Anti-Drug, and Pro-Exercise/Anti-Fat Food programs. You can't watch a single TV program without seeing a commercial for atleast one of the above. Every student in America is required to take a Health class where they are taught all about the dangers of these things. The US has already been 100% behind preventive programs ever since Reagan was President.
Prevention doesn't work. It simply doesn't. No matter how many times your gym teacher tells you that "Smoking WILL kill you", there are still going to be kids in that class who smoke.
Just a question; what sort of prevention program would you want them to start that isn't already in place?
We need to start with the fat kids. Take out the fat kids and you take out the fat adults. School cafeterias have gotten away with murder (literally) for decades, feeding America's children crap foods, loaded with high-fructose corn syrup and trans-fats. When Mozzarella Sticks and Tater Tots are a lunch option provided, why are we shocked that there are so many fat kids?
You're completely right IC; but you're also about a year or two late. These things have already been done in most states; in the New England area for example, all schools are required to provide healthy lunches. At the local high schools where I live, the most fattening thing you can get for lunch is a wheat-bread pizza slice.
Besides, all of those food are easily available to children outside of school. The school's shouldn't be held responsible anymore for something they've fixed; it's the parents fault for stocking their houses with terrible food and being surprised when their children become overweight.
Bull-shit programs like Title 9 need to be done away with. I get the whole "gender equity" thing, but the only thing that suffers are youth athletics. With less programs and less options, kids go home and watch TV or play video games. Again, that makes fat kids. If the government wants to pay for health care, take a step by creating more youth after school programs and take a stronger step by removing cola, HFCS, transfats, and other shit food from schools.
Sodas have been banned from most schools in America for a couple of years now, and as I stated above, in most states things like transfats have already been removed.
I'm not really aware of what the Title 9 program is, but I'm guessing from what you've wrote that it makes schools provide both female and male counterparts to sports? Like there has to be boys and girls basketball, soccer, etc?
Virtually every school in America has a football, basketball, and soccer team. Those are the three most popular sports in America (baseball falls right outside of there). I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, that more programs get cut because of this? If thats what you're saying, I don't really buy it. So the school cuts their golf team in order to start a girls basketball team? Whats wrong with that?
I don't know, man. I smoke cigars on occassion, I love a few good drinks, but at the end of the day, I know when enough is enough. My addicition? The gym.
But you're not an addict. If you were you would understand, and your opinion on health care would probably be completely different.
I tend to agree with no universal health care, as IC25 said, fuck em. Addiction can be prevented, don't start, it's that simple. You put a cigarette to your lips and you know how bad it is for you, that's your problem. My girlfriend is a chain smoker and I get into it with her all the time about it.
Addiction can be prevented, you are right sir. So could the lung disorders the firefighters from 9/11 have developed. What does it matter what the cause of these diseases are? Each deserves the treatment just as much as the other. People make mistakes, are you trying to tell me you've never made a mistake in your life? Someone makes the mistake of picking up smoking, they should be allowed treatment just like anyone else. If they keep smoking while this treatment is going on, then I would completely agree that they don't deserve the treatment. But you can't just judge millions of people and say "Fuck em" and generalize them all into a category of people who somehow said to themselves "I think I'd like to get addicted to alcohol after this first drink here". It's not reality.
I don't like paying for people's welfare, let alone health care. Personally, I'd love to do away with the IRS (go Ron Paul) and just do a univeral sales tax on everything. That way all of the frivolous(sp) spenders out there can pay for everything with all of the material things they by. Plus, it ends the debate on illegal immigrants not paying taxes because, if they want to eat, they'll pay a 30% tax and everyone is happy.
I understand it, you don't like paying for things that you don't see any benefit from. That is an utterly selfish way to look at things, but I understand it. God forbid we pay for people's welfare, I mean that pregnant mother of two who lives in the ghetto without any child-support, she doesn't deserve any help at all right? Hey, fuck em right, they had the children, their fault right?
How can you guys think in such a selfish way?
