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I& #39;ve been thinking about this tweet from my Congressional Rep #Massie And I want to unpack it a bit. The way it& #39;s phrased as I read it is that he doesn& #39;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& #39;t just left to die. From disease, from starvation, whatever. This society we& #39;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& #39;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& #39;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">https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2...
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& #39;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& #39;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/
