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Zoltan_Cobalt
Guest
Beverly Hills, CaliforniaWhere exactly are you located?
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Mickey_Finn
Guest
Weāll look into it.
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Taavin
Guest
I live in one of those countries Americans think as being āSocialistā - almost a dirty word. We value our Social Services. It means that I never have to pay the kind of bill - $150,000 - I received when I was taken ill on holiday in Florida. That was enough to produce a heart attack which sent the bill higher still.
In the UK, Spain and other European Countries, medical care is entirely free; in Finland, where I live, we have to pay something for doctors, but we only have to pay for our food in hospital.
Why we donāt resent paying into the Social Services scheme is because some of us can remember the days when our parents couldnāt afford a doctor. Dreadful worry. Today,I can have piece of mind if my wife or I are ever taken ill. We pay our taxes because we think it is grossly unfair, even wrong, to allow others less fortunate than ourselves to suffer unnecessarily.
Some of you seem to argue that the Constitution doesnāt say that money should be taken from the rich and given to the poor. Fair enough, if everyone voluntarily ensures that the poor donāt starve and endeavour to abolish poverty. But, weāre mostly selfish and we hide behind the mistaken notion that itās their own fault that the poor are poor. Donāt believe the Right Wingersā gossip that what benefits you do have are just perpetuating a nation of scroungers. They do this is Europe too. But the truth is that most of the poor hate having to rely on benefits; they are proud too, and feel ashamed to have to use food stamps.
Please. Think and remember what Jesus said.
In the UK, Spain and other European Countries, medical care is entirely free; in Finland, where I live, we have to pay something for doctors, but we only have to pay for our food in hospital.
Why we donāt resent paying into the Social Services scheme is because some of us can remember the days when our parents couldnāt afford a doctor. Dreadful worry. Today,I can have piece of mind if my wife or I are ever taken ill. We pay our taxes because we think it is grossly unfair, even wrong, to allow others less fortunate than ourselves to suffer unnecessarily.
Some of you seem to argue that the Constitution doesnāt say that money should be taken from the rich and given to the poor. Fair enough, if everyone voluntarily ensures that the poor donāt starve and endeavour to abolish poverty. But, weāre mostly selfish and we hide behind the mistaken notion that itās their own fault that the poor are poor. Donāt believe the Right Wingersā gossip that what benefits you do have are just perpetuating a nation of scroungers. They do this is Europe too. But the truth is that most of the poor hate having to rely on benefits; they are proud too, and feel ashamed to have to use food stamps.
Please. Think and remember what Jesus said.
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Zoltan_Cobalt
Guest
Finland, like the other Nordic Countries, is unique. These societies function well for those who conform to the collective median, but they arenāt much fun for ambition. Schools rein in higher achievers for the sake of the less gifted; āeliteā is a dirty word and displays of success, ambition or wealth are frowned upon.
Since Nokia was acquired by Microsoft, Finlandās once robust economy is more dependent than ever on selling paper.
Taavin states:āWe pay our taxes because we think it is grossly unfair, even wrong, to allow others less fortunate than ourselves to suffer unnecessarily.ā
That is noble and benevolent. But it is probably the reason there are more Russians in Finland than Fins. The Social Services have made most of the poor comfortable in their poverty.
As the great American, Ben Franklin said:
āI am for doing good to the poor, butā¦I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observedā¦that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.ā
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Illmatic15
Guest
The problem with Catholic liberals frantically asking for more and more government programs and services and saying that Catholics who oppose these are going against Church teaching is that they donāt realize that one of the most important aspects of Catholic social teaching is subsidiarity, which states that no higher authority should perform a function that can be completed by a lower one, but should instead support it in case of need and coordinate its activities with others, rather than consuming it. That is, the federal government should not be performing tasks that can be done by local government, as local government should not do things that can be done by individual initiative or private, voluntary means. This is why Iām sick of these Catholic groups that lobby the government for help, rather than performing these actions themselves. Of course government funding is needed if these services cannot be provided voluntarily, but we must find it in ourselves to help those in need, rather than immediately asking for the government to do it. This is why I admire the Catholic Worker Movement, because they are a political group that can also truly be called a charity because their vision of social justice starts with themselves as the helpers of the poor, rather than letting the state immediately assume this responsibility. So in a way it should be a good thing that public services slack, but only if the reason for this is because private, voluntary charities have successfully replaced it. The state must be the servant of man, not the other way around.
Peace.
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Taavin
Guest
Iām afraid that while Zoltan is right in saying that Finlandās economy has taken a bad knock with the decline of Nokia, he is quite wrong to say that there are more Russians in Finland than Finns. Wherever did he get that idea and however could he believe that rubbish?
And I hope he doesnāt think that many should be allowed to suffer while entrepreneurs have fun making money! Surely not.
And I hope he doesnāt think that many should be allowed to suffer while entrepreneurs have fun making money! Surely not.
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Zoltan_Cobalt
Guest
I visited a web site with a graph showing that the Russian language was the most prominent spoken language in Finland. I made the incorrect assumption that therefore there were more Russians living in Finland. I suppose there are a great number of Fins who speak Russian.
No one should be allowed to suffer.
Let us remember that it is the Entrepreneur who provides the jobs that keep many people from poverty. Also, no one is more cognizant of the poor than the Entrepreneur. He wants fewer poor people because the poor cannot buy his products.
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Mickey_Finn
Guest
Finland, a great nation by any account, has a Russian population of 0.5%. Their official languages are Finnish which just under 90% of their population speaks. The second official language is Swede. Their median age is 43 which is a little older then ours and something they should look into in the near future. Their GDP is 6.8% (2011) where the USAās is 5.2%(2011). They are not as fat as we are either.
ATB
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Zoltan_Cobalt
Guest
I am sure the Fins are fine people. But I worry about them. Finland has the highest murder rate in western Europe, double that of the UK; and by far the highest suicide rate in the Nordic countries.
The Finns are epic Friday-night bingers and alcohol is now the leading cause of death for Finnish men.
Their tax rate is 60% and the highly educated young people leave the country upon graduation to find work and opportunity in other countries.
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