B.A. Bearacus said:
Question for Oski003, GoldenOne, BearlyAmazing, Cal88, and CalBear93: are there any groups of Americans who you feel that our government or society in general or this administration in particular should show more compassion towards? This is not a trick question. We rarely hear this side of Republicans on here. It's the Christmas season, so thought it would be nice to hear your perspectives.
Yes.
Homeless, working single moms, underprivileged children who need better mentors and education, working immigrants. Those are the groups where most of my donations in time and money go.
I just don't believe that big government is the answer or voting for politicians who believe taxing and allowing apathetic bureaucrats to just write checks is the answers. And I don't believe that saying you are voting for some populist candidate makes you a good person when your actions end there. It's always easy for populist to promise free things to get elected. The fact that California, Oregon, New York, etc. tax and spend so much but still have so much poverty and homelessness (busing homeless to another city is not caring) is unfortunate. When I used to live in Hillsborough, I had neighbors who would talk about evils of income disparity and talk passionately about their progressive viewpoints while they bought designer clothes for their elementary students, rented suites at Four Seasons for birthday parties for their kids, had nannies for each of their toddlers, had multiple vacation homes and then always said no when I tried to organize day of volunteering at shelters. I have long become skeptical of those who say one thing but make no real sacrifices. That is not caring.
I believe that each of us, if we care, should contribute. I am not in any way influenced by those who act like they care but think someone else should do the heavy lifting.
While I believe the government's role should be to provide basic safety net and robust means for people to become productive (training, rehabilitation, child care), most of the caring should be done through non-profit organizations and by individual volunteers. And if you care, do more than vote or mock others.
And let me now ask you, a "compassionate Democrat" (my words), a question. What personal sacrifice in time and money are you willing to make (or do you make) to personally care for an individual in need (please don't respond with a political, snide remark), where the sacrifice actually hurts a little (it's easy give things we don't care about but it means more to our humanity when we sacrifice what we really want)? I really want this to be a connective tissue among those who otherwise may vehemently disagree here to show that we all care about each other and our human kind not from a political or philosophical aspect but in a real, tangible and personal way.
