thread about Socialized medicine and socialized eduation

[Irving]

It has to do with the way that everything else in society is compartmentalized and specialized. People become trained to specialize in one area, then use their money to purchase things they can't produce on their own. The only difference with schools, is that the government has decided that it is so important that they will pay for it (by taxing YOU for it).

So, the question is, are you more curious about why institutions that just specialize in education exist? If so, you might as well pose the question "why don't you grow your own food and build your own homes?"

Or, is your question more along the lines of why people have settled for mediocre government run schools? I suspect the answer to that is because they are abundant, convenient, and cheap.

[WillysWagon]

For VA Health Care, someone had to serve in the Military to get it, either you're parent if your were a youngster or yourself. This type of healthcare was something someone 'earned' by serving. Now take someone who's an 'illegal alien' going to the ER for free healthcare. I have a problem with that, as they've not contributed to the system and therefore should not get any benefit that others pay for, not to mention the "illegal" part of them being here. My sister-n-law is a US citizen now (she's from Romania) and she went through all the mess to get it, why can't others.

Education (public & private) is something that's for the 'common good' of all Americans. I feel it's the parents responsibility to raise & teach their younsters. I homeschooled my step-son for several years and paid my own way for it, but was paying for others to send their kids to public schools through the taxes I pay. Essentially, I was paying twice. I like the idea of parents paying more for their kids to go to school and me paying nothing, cause I don't have any kids. You want kids, you pay for their education. Illegal aliens get the benefit of their kids going to school on your/my dime and they pay nothing for it because they get paid under the table, no taxes and what not. Again, I have a problem with that.

Just my .02, YMMV

[HBARleatherneck]

i am combat disabled veteran. 100% so i hope i earned my VA care. (maybe there is a starting point, everyone serves in the mil, everyone gets medical

one problem with all gov programs is size. going off the thoughts of WIllysWagon. we all pay into a system, and some(illegals) take advantage. but, the other problem is budgets grow exponentially each year. what does it really cost to educate our children? what do we(as a collective) pay per child. i think we pay much more than we should, and i think more than we get in return.(in most cases)

and i am talking about costs like building upkeep, utilities, upgrades, new structures, etc. also.

[WillysWagon]

i am combat disabled veteran. 100% so i hope i earned my VA care.

one problem with all gov programs is size.

Yep, you're healthcare is 'earned', just like mine was. The slippery slope is deciding what do we pay for as a whole society vs what do we have people pay for seperately. We pay for streets to be maintained, street lights to work, etc..because it benefits us as a society. But where do we draw the line and say, "You want that, you gotta poney up for it yourself".
An example is healthcare, let's say I pay the same amount for gov healthcare as "Joe Citizen" over there. I don't use it cause I'm healthy, but "JC" is there once a week cause he smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, whatever and is using/abusing the system to the fullest. Is it fair he pays the same as me even though he uses it more than I. Good question I think. We can't be a 'pay as you' go society, cause that just would never work. I'll only pay for the streets I drive on, not the ones I don't use, etc... How do we decide whats for the "Common Good" ?? This part scares me as the gun grabbers say, "We want gun restrictions for the common good", but who's common good is it for ??

HBAR, this is the type post that we can talk about forever and not come to a conclusion on much, hahaha. Good stuff to think about though.