Why DON'T they like Romney?

[rosebud]

yes, greed is part of it. Everyone thinks they are entitled to a heart transplant. a HEART transplant!

That was a Frankenstein oddity just a few years ago.

Yes, wanting to LIVE is SOOOOOOO greedy.

[bae]

Yes, wanting to LIVE is SOOOOOOO greedy.

At the forced effort and expense of others, yes.

[puglogic]

It has always been that a human - that any creature - will thrash and fight against its own death, yes? The tools to thrash against death are just much more sophisticated now, and this high stakes game of "who gets to take advantage of the technology that will keep them alive" is far from a black and white issue. I suppose on paper, to some, it appears fair: the rich (who can afford the technologies) can live, while the poor must die.

Yet I know many people in the 99% who I wish could stick around longer, even if they can't afford expensive treatments, because they bring something important to the human party (other than money and the drive to accumulate more and more of it). Is there no solution that benefits all?

I find a heart transplant to be an extreme example. What about expensive cancer treatments, for example, that could guarantee a much longer life in a middle-aged person? Is there no way to assure that people of average income levels can take advantage of these life-saving developments?

[bae]

Is there no way to assure that people of average income levels can take advantage of these life-saving developments?

People could *voluntarily* band together to fund such things for those who need them in their community.

[Alan]

Is there no way to assure that people of average income levels can take advantage of these life-saving developments?

Sure there is, the question is, who pays for it?

There is a safety net for everyone, the problem is, some people end up losing their savings or other personal property before the safety net kicks in.

I believe the question is better framed as, how can one achieve the benefit without paying the price?

[Gregg]

I believe the question is better framed as, how can one achieve the benefit without paying the price?

I don't have the wisdom to offer a solution, but I'm pretty sure there really isn't such a thing as a free lunch.

[rosebud]

At the forced effort and expense of others, yes.

That's heartless. And I'm not even making a pun there.

One of the primary reasons why you have nice things in the form of accumulated wealth and material possessions is because the "forced effort and expense of others" created the infrastructure for you to get and keep those nice things. Everybody pays taxes. Everybody benefits from society.

Not sure why everyone should be forced to pay taxes to provide the infrastructure for the accumulation of vast wealth in individual hands but somehow it's immoral for those fortunate individuals to be "forced" to pay taxes for anything else.

[bae]

That's heartless.

Not at all, and your conclusion doesn't even follow logically. Not supporting using force against another to make them help against their will doesn't mean I'm against helping. Just that I'm against force.

I firmly believe in voluntarism, and I live my beliefs - I devote the bulk of my time and wealth to helping others, through my *voluntary* efforts directed by my own will.

[Zoebird]

Government is one instrument of banding together voluntarily.

[bae]

Government is one instrument of banding together voluntarily.

Sometimes, yes. But sometimes the government uses force to carry out the demands of the majority against the will of the minority.