Veteran Welfare?
Island Dweller puts this on the table for us to consider:
Not far in the recent past some members of our illustrious Senate/HOR (which we shouldn’t knock, since we’ve got the finest Senate/HOR money can buy) seriously defended efforts they were undertaking to place VA benefits (mortgages/education/medical) in the same category as ADC, SNAP, and other public welfare benefits. You and I know the difference regarding how these benefits are earned, but for the enlightenment of the (few, hopefully) mouth-breathers in the audience, I shall explain:
VA Benefits – you earn these by voluntarily putting your name on a piece of paper that legally binds you to die/be maimed/go insane when and where your government tells you to; in the meantime, they get to regulate everything from what you wear and eat and where you live and with whom, to how you cut your hair – and, increasingly, what you can and can’t believe personally;
ADC/SNAP/similar benefits – you earn these basically by consuming oxygen and occupying a physical space somewhere in this country.
There most certainly is a quite fundamental difference in the amount of effort that must be expended to earn these benefits, but I’m not sure an increasing number of Gen X’ers and even younger folks understand this. Contributing to this attitude is the volunteer nature of the military, which has engendered among a significant number of the younger set the idea that, “Well, since they volunteered for that mess, they should have known what could have happened to them, so while that’s too bad about what happened to Mrs. Jones’s kid down the block who is in the Army, he’ll be well taken care of; let’s move on with our lives. And besides, lumping his benefits in with others of the same type makes managing them a little easier anyway.”
I won’t get into a debate about the advantages of a draftee Army, but one thing’s for certain about it – it certainly spreads the “wealth” around and everyone gets a chance to share the pain.
ID
Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.