THE OTHER BROTHERS (AND SISTERS)
I think it's great we've just had a holiday where we celebrate my brothers and sisters who have given their last full measures. Oh, how I miss and love some of them.
Maybe we should use the traditional Memorial Day for something we can do more about: The brothers and sisters living in culverts, cardboard boxes and heating grates. They need an outreach, not a speech and not a reduction in VA services.
posted by UMRBlog @ 00:14
4 comments
4 Comments:
I agree with you UMR. There are 554 people in Washington including the Supreme Court who hold the keys to fixing the ills of America. The 554 people out of 300 million people. The 554 people who choose everyday to NOT fix our problems. They choose to gather their power unto themselves. They choose to ignore our brothers and sisters who have given their all. They choose to hand down a paltry sum to the injured and the survivors while THEY line their pockets. While THEY secure their own enormous pensions. And some do this whiel calling our brothers and sisters who have served nazis.
THEY, the 554 are the problem!
They choose to have us held hostage to Middle East oil cartel. THEY, the 554 have had years to fix the problem. Finally, WE are part of the problem because we don't throw their collective asses out. We should vote on past performance vs empty promises. We let them suck us into this silly game of politics of who will do the most for us, who can promise the most and deliver the least. WE are like an Alzheimer sufferer when it comes to remembering their empty promises every two, four or six years. Shame on us for playing the game! Shame on us for being so selfish! It is time to clean house! It's time to vote for America for a change
THEY are not held accountable.
Yes, there are some of these people that can be helped, some choose their life.
We need to understand the difference and we need to understand that some people cannot be saved from themselves.
"Heartless, heartless" - I hear the cries already.
However, since the beginning of the 'Great Society/ War on Poverty' under LBJ in 1963, the United States has spent almost 5-TRILLION DOLLARS on making the lives of those who need a helping hand better.
Guess what? $5,000,000,000.00 later - the numbers of these people have actually INCREASED!
This is not a,
"I feel compassion, so lets throw money at the problem" issue.
This is a teach people,
Integrity
Character
Vision
Work Ethic
issue.
I agree with the premise of the post - that we need to assist those who (by their own choice, or bad choices) have fallen through the cracks. However, I disagree that increasing government programs and handing out money is the answer.
And I can provide 5-trillion examples!
Eldrick,
A man or woman suffering from untreated PTSD (just one possible disorder) doesn't "choose" his or her life. Without treatment, his or her life is an endless loop of failure, fear and frustration.
The insidious part of PTSD is frequently that the sufferer does not know he or she has it. Without a break in the loop, he or she continues to see him or herself as the loser you are now describing and then the whole thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The only way the VA can serve these people is with outreach and outreach costs money. You can sit in whatever comfortable life you may enjoy but you won't find any expert in this area who will tell you any different story.
People like you who say there are some of these people who just won't try or lack ambition are not merely ignorant (most ingnorance is harmless) but essentially part of t he problem. You give national leadership an excuse not to address this national shame in which real people are being really hurt. Just to double the fun, these are people, who, for the most part, gave away their sanity in service of their country.
If that view makes you comfortable, you enjoy it. Just know you're enjoying it at a substantially increasing cost. Every planeload of Iraqi war veterans that lands back here brings us more potential box-sleepers and suicide attempt ambulance runs. Did you know that the fastest-growing category of homeless people is female Iraq war veterans?
Outreach for these people is just part of the cost of the national defense you advocate so frequently.
My point is unchanged. We cry for the brothers and sisters in arms who gave the last full measure, as we should. The ones who are alive but in Hell, we ignore or, like you, disparage.
Not buyin' it, brother. Not for one minute. Seen it up close and personal too many times.
TYFCB
Again, certainly there are those real cases that require real assistance - I agree with you entirely.
The problem come in when we have a sysytem in place that makes everyone the victim and feels that the only way to assist anyone is to throw money at the problem.
Of course there are real cases of PTSD, but there are as many, likely more, cases where people get labeled (or are allowed the label) PTSD for little reason other than its good for the psychiatric business.
If we are honest, diagnosing issues with initials is big business!
But, please do not overlook my agreement with you - there are cases that are real and require real assistance.
Maybe if we had a coherant social services/ welfare system in this Country, one that did not reward people for doing a lifetime of nothing, or a lifetime of having kids, or a lifetime of having kids and abandoning them, etc. there would be sufficient funds for doing the work that is truly needed.
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