As Desrtopa and dlthomas pointed out below, your summary of this guy’s situation is incorrect; I think that your wetware-based data collection policy may have something to do with this.
Speaking more generally, I am not sure I understand your “big picture” view. You say:
...and then when he gets sick with a non-acute ailment expects everyone to drop their shit and make his life better as a free ride...
Does this mean that you’re against the very idea of having a social safety net ? Or are you merely saying that, while a safety net is a good idea, this particular person’s expectations are unreasonable ?
As Desrtopa and dlthomas pointed out below, your summary of this guy’s situation is incorrect;
In that I misread where he stated he was earning minimum wage, yes. I acknowledge this.
I think that your wetware-based data collection policy may have something to do with this.
It’s not exactly as though I planned to publish research papers on this topic. I expect that my own personal observations are replicable but they are not directly share-able.
This is no more unusual a “policy” than for anyone else who uses his or her own direct observations of a class of event to make judgments of said event. Please try not to use such loaded language.
This is no more unusual a “policy” than for anyone else who uses his or her own direct observations of a class of event to make judgments of said event. Please try not to use such loaded language.
Fair enough, you’re right, I shouldn’t have used such a loaded word.
Does this mean that you’re against the very idea of having a social safety net ? Or are you merely saying that, while a safety net is a good idea, this particular person’s expectations are unreasonable ?
I make no statements whatsoever about a social safety net. Which, by the way, according to that same posting has now “caught” him, although it has done so only once he was “officially” disabled. We can talk about the moral justice or expected social utility of that history some other time—because right now, in this world, it is a matter of truth that it is irrational to expect private institutions to pay for your ailments without a vested interest in doing so.
So where, precisely, is his justification for the claim “despite what you were told”? Nobody was saying that.
because right now, in this world, it is a matter of truth that it is irrational to expect private institutions to pay for your ailments without a vested interest in doing so.
I believe that the OWS crowd explicitly wants to change this situation; this is one of their long-term goals. Of course, they would probably prefer it if public institutions achieved this task, not private ones. We could argue whether this is a worthy goal or not, but hopefully we can both agree that it’s an achievable one, at least in principle.
So where, precisely, is his justification for the claim “despite what you were told”? Nobody was saying that.
There’s a general perception in our culture that hospitals are obligated to heal the sick (I used to believe it myself until relatively recently), and that the churches provide charity and support for the same purpose. In fact, churches actively market themselves based on this latter notion.
As Desrtopa and dlthomas pointed out below, your summary of this guy’s situation is incorrect; I think that your wetware-based data collection policy may have something to do with this.
Speaking more generally, I am not sure I understand your “big picture” view. You say:
Does this mean that you’re against the very idea of having a social safety net ? Or are you merely saying that, while a safety net is a good idea, this particular person’s expectations are unreasonable ?
In that I misread where he stated he was earning minimum wage, yes. I acknowledge this.
It’s not exactly as though I planned to publish research papers on this topic. I expect that my own personal observations are replicable but they are not directly share-able.
This is no more unusual a “policy” than for anyone else who uses his or her own direct observations of a class of event to make judgments of said event. Please try not to use such loaded language.
Fair enough, you’re right, I shouldn’t have used such a loaded word.
I make no statements whatsoever about a social safety net. Which, by the way, according to that same posting has now “caught” him, although it has done so only once he was “officially” disabled. We can talk about the moral justice or expected social utility of that history some other time—because right now, in this world, it is a matter of truth that it is irrational to expect private institutions to pay for your ailments without a vested interest in doing so.
So where, precisely, is his justification for the claim “despite what you were told”? Nobody was saying that.
I believe that the OWS crowd explicitly wants to change this situation; this is one of their long-term goals. Of course, they would probably prefer it if public institutions achieved this task, not private ones. We could argue whether this is a worthy goal or not, but hopefully we can both agree that it’s an achievable one, at least in principle.
There’s a general perception in our culture that hospitals are obligated to heal the sick (I used to believe it myself until relatively recently), and that the churches provide charity and support for the same purpose. In fact, churches actively market themselves based on this latter notion.