Recently, I've been called to task on Facebook by family members who
think that cutting Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and other
so-called 'entitlement' programs is the best way to balance the budget.
The only entitlement I can see is that people who pay into the system
are entitled to expect to see their money come back to them when they
reach the correct age.
Now, don't get me wrong - I
agree that the budget needs to be balanced. That isn't the part I don't
understand. What confuses me is that these people (let's call
them...conservatives) seem to think that it's only about the numbers.
When
they talk about balancing the budget, it seems that they look at the
figures and that's all they see. I look at the figures and I see the
people who depend on that money to...oh, wait, what's it called? Live!
Without that money, these people can't keep a roof over their heads,
can't put food on the table, can't purchase the medications that their
lives depend on.
As far as I can tell, people aren't a
factor for these conservatives. And I don't understand how anyone can
ignore/forget the fact that those numbers represent people. Living
human beings. It's like people don't matter to them.
Yes,
I know I'm being very general when I talk about conservatives. But I
have yet to see one of them say that people matter more a balanced
budget, or any of the other things they're up in arms about these days,
like abortion, gay rights, reproductive and women's right, etc. And
until I do, I reserve the right to generalize.
I love my country, but I'm not blind. It can, and should, do better. But that's never going to happen until the people who are this country become part of the equation.
