Matthew - I apologize in advance for co-opting your point and adding a lefty defensive spin but...

I agree with Matthew - I also note - if we all chipped in, we wouldn't need to spend so much money on social programs.

However - having said that - when we rely on the kindness of our fellow man to carry each other, we are let down.

And it's easy to see why - each of us can only carry so much.  You know?   Why were social programs started?  Dig up the muckracking books of the late 19th and early 20th century.  Find Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives - look at those photos and ask where were the thousand points of life for those people?  Where was the church? 

Speaking as a pretty far-left democrat, I can say, comfortably, that I don't know any democrat who wants a perminant cradle to grave nanny state.  Ideally, no one would starve, would sleep in the cold with no roof, none would tread barefoot, etc.  And those that did, would be taken care of by their own, or barring that, their neighbors or local institutions. 

And until that day comes, I am 100% behind the government stepping in to carry that load.  Do I want the day to come when the government no longer has to carry that weight?

You betcha.

No one here on this forum, or even that you know (unless you know THE MAN, as it were) is going to change public policy, but why not look around you - feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless.  And if you're lucky enough to not have that in your vicinity, well - first?  Look harder - but even then, then go visit an old folks home.  Those poor people are lonely.  Take some of your comics to a children's hospital.  Volunteer at a school.  Clean up a park.

Anything helps.

It's not manditory - nor should it be - but we should all feel the responsiblity - to ourselves and neighbors to make our lives any slight bit better, no?

Here's the important thing to remember - this is something that Geoff and I seem to really see eye to eye on - the people?  The PEOPLE - not the politicians?  Those folk aren't so concerned about red and blue and left and right - we all want the same thing - to take care of ourselves and our own (families or otherwise) - to have food on the table, a roof over our heads, steady employment to provide that.

And herein lies the evil of cable news, talk radio and our "gotcha" culture: it obscures this truth.  Remember when dealing with someone, even if you vehemently disagree with them, more often than not that they simply believe what they believe because they think it will be better for themseleves, their families and (here's the kicker) you! 

The idea of the liberal is that government is there to assist the individual; to the conservative it is to be limited to allow the individual the opportunity to better himself.  (And I recognize these are woefully simplistic definitions but they serve my point so indulge me!)  In both paradigms there is one constant: the idea that the individual is bettered.  I suspect success lies somewhere in between; I think  almost all americans support some form of government assistance to address social ills, lets use hunger for example.  Does anyone object to schools providing food to kids who wouldn't otherwise have breakfast?  Where government assistance can go awry is when it is in lieu of someone doing something for themseleves to better themselves.  Ultimately the debate, and I wish it could remain civil, is how government can help those in need without creating a welfare state, because, as Mike states, I don't really believe any rational american wants that. 

And let me add to Mike's other point: public service comes in many ways.  For some it means the giving of time.  For others its giving money.  For some its both.  But thinking that doing so, in either case, will not effect change is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Sometimes what seems a small kindness to you is the world to someone else.  

Jodi,

We should never forget the victims of these senseless, brutal acts. And there's a long list of crimes that I wish Captain America could have stopped. Alas, that's fantasy and we have to live in reality.

I wanted to share with you the following remarks because they are really to the point on this whole issue:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/col umnists/jfloyd/stories/DN-floyd_23met.ART.State.Edition1.4b9 5192.html

I previously missed this article when it appeared late last week, or otherwise I would have shared it earlier. It's presented as a modest proposal, but there may be merit to the prospect:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02 /18/AR2010021803978_pf.html

sorry for the delayed response.

Myself and my neice being cancer survivors, most of our volunteer work is around cancer research and children's hospitals.

We volunteer Monday nights at Rainbow Babies and Children's hospital to sit with children receiving chemotherapy or spinal taps whose parents cannot stay for the procedure.

It is sadly more common than you think. The parents run out of FMLA days, and the cancer has become "part of their life." They drop their kids off for chemo for the day so they can go to work.

Since the kid pretty much lays there, we can watch movies, read books and for some play games.

We attend all the fundraisers for the hospital and participate in the radio and telethons.

On Thursday nights is our PTA meeting, which is very important because Cleveland schools are awful, and we are looking at more schools closing. A lot of focus has been on fundraising to save some of the teaching jobs and keep a couple schools opened.

Aside from that, I returned to school to work on an MBA, so that takes up Wed night and half of Saturday.

You're a good man, James. Continued health to you and your niece.

(And on a personal note, I know first hand about the joys of spinal taps AND blood patches when the tap doesn't close properly. That can be a pretty bloody scary thing for a youngster to have to go through without Mom and Dad around. You're making a tremendous impact just on that alone.)

it is the most humbling thing imaginable.

these kids have been through more in a few years than most of us will ever go through in our entire life... and they don't even know it.

Some have had cancer for their entire life... its part of who they are, they don't know any different.

They don't complain. All they want to do is play, watch movies and maybe feel better.

Boyoyboy do I admire those kids.  Unfortunately, we deal with a lot of death, but a lot of success stories too.

Say what you will about health care. Leukemia in children under 5 is 90% curable (A.L.L.) or 60% curable (A.M.L.). From 5% survival decades ago, the basic form is close to a fully treatable disease.... it's a great country we live in.

All we do is have to figure out the cost and delivery methods. The healthcare system, at least, we already have!