I've been thinking about this tweet from my Congressional Rep #Massie And I want to unpack it a bit. The way it's phrased as I read it is that he doesn't think society should worry about people starving to death. 1/

Now one of the things I feel that humans as civilized beings should be doing is ensuring that other humans aren't just left to die. From disease, from starvation, whatever. This society we've built is, to a certain point, built on caring for each other. 2/

We collectively build roads so we can all travel easily to work. We pool our money so we can have hospitals and ambulances. We each pay a bit so we can have protective services like law enforcement and the military. We build and fund schools. 3/

It really puzzles me that some people draw the line at food for the poor. Especially when the folks who do so present themselves as Christians. I point to Matthew 25 for Christ's instructions on caring for others, which so many of those on the right conveniently ignore. /4

The basis for this seems to be a deeply seated distrust and contempt for "the poor." As if being poor equates with laziness and sloth. There's that whole "He who will not work should not eat thing." Which actually has been misinterpreted and misused. See https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2013/9/21/1240473/-I-don-t-think-the-words-in-Thessalonians-3-10-mean-what-you-think-they-mean

And whether or not we should help "the poor" is another entire discussion in and of itself. But I just really struggle with the idea that Americans (or any society), should just let people starve to death. So you know what? I am perfectly ok with "Food Stamps For All." 5/

Which of course brings up the concept of #UniversalBasicIncome which I know #Yang has floated, sort of. It's a concept I first read about as a teen in the writings of SF author Robert Heinlein. And while Yang is not my first choice, I do wonder if UBI might not be a good idea. 6/

I am not a fan of the whole "leave it to charities to take care of the poor" concept. I reject that entirely. I think it's up to us as society as a whole to act humanely towards others, and that includes giving food to people who need it. 7/

Would some game the system? Well sure, because humans can be jerks. But lots of other systems are gamed & we still use them (military spending for example.) Bottom line for me is, it's one of our jobs as humans to care for each other. So let's just do so shall we? /end