tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961036239783987473.post4701051512854995759..comments2012-11-30T23:49:35.758-05:00Comments on Adventures in Candyland: Blog Challenge #8~Candi~http://www.blogger.com/profile/10970037589364029341noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961036239783987473.post-20687691323695608852012-11-30T23:49:35.758-05:002012-11-30T23:49:35.758-05:00TESTING FOR PARENTING:
Absolutely, unequivocally u...TESTING FOR PARENTING:<br />Absolutely, unequivocally unconstitutional. The right to have and raise children, unlike fishing, owning a gun, or owning a dog, is a fundamental right under our constitution, and in my opinion, one of the most essential human rights that exists. Did you know that there used to be forced sterilization for people deemed mentally incompetent? I find that horrifically shocking. Now imagine for a moment the difficulties the government might encounter in setting up such a test. Is it in English? Are other languages available? What if the current governmental administration views either liberal or conservative qualities important in fitness to parent? And when it's your turn to take the test, your views are opposite of those of the administration in power? Less nefariously, what if the test INADVERTENTLY was biased in favor of people with certain cultural backgrounds? How do you test people with disabilities for whom the standard form of the test was inaccessible? Is there an appeal process? What if the appeal process took longer than the woman's remaining fertility? What if someone got pregnant but failed the test? Forced abortion? How do we decide what makes someone fit as a parent? Majority vote? What if the majority of people find that qualities such as amount of education, ethnic origin, weight, hair color, eye color (or insert some other ridiculous thing) is important? (And I'll remind you here that a majority of people voted for the presidential candidate that I'm pretty sure you didn't support in the last election, lest you think it unlikely that a majority of voters would disagree with what YOU think is important in a parent). Again, I respectfully disagree with you on this, but on this issue, there is no question in my mind that this couldn't (and wouldn't) EVER be a workable solution to the problem of "dumber and dumber" people "breeding." CHammerlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12181003754385419120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961036239783987473.post-58223163321688258052012-11-30T23:48:47.313-05:002012-11-30T23:48:47.313-05:00DRUG TESTING:
I also feel very strongly about this...DRUG TESTING:<br />I also feel very strongly about this, but I have the opposite opinion. Florida drug tested its welfare recipients, and it ended up costing the government more than $45,000 dollars--the opposite of resulting in savings to taxpayers. In fact, a LOWER percentage of welfare recipients used drugs than the general population (2% compared with an estimated 8-10%). That figure isn't surprising to me--because I assume if you have low income, you're less likely to be able to afford drugs--but I think that is surprising to a lot of people. I think in our culture it's a common misconception that people who receive government assistance are lazy or greedy. There are absolutely abuses of the system, but stories about abuses--true and false--are far more likely to be shared than stories about people using it for its intended purpose. Largely, people use it precisely as what it's intended for, which is a stopgap measure to keep individuals from falling through the cracks when they fall on hard times. You may not believe that, but if you feel strongly about the subject, look at the statistics from an unbiased source. And you know what's especially interesting to me? Many welfare recipients ARE working. They work full time for wages that people just can't survive on, or work part-time but WANT to work full time and can't get the hours. That's not lazy in my book. I know that's not the picture that our society paints of the typical "welfare queen," but it's totally true. So to summarize, it's unnecessary, costs taxpayers more money, and is based on a largely false stereotype of the work ethic of the individuals needing assistance. Finally, requiring drug tests for welfare recipients is probably unconstitutional. I could go into the specifics of that, but the short of it as that you can't force people for forgo their constitutional with respect to privacy and search and seizure as a condition to a receipt of public benefits. One could argue that it shouldn't be unconstitutional, but that's an argument for a different day. So I respectfully disagree. I don't expect to change YOUR mind, but maybe someone who's on the fence about the issue and doesn't have all the facts will look into based on our discussion.CHammerlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12181003754385419120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961036239783987473.post-75972367407564335812010-04-27T20:38:08.816-04:002010-04-27T20:38:08.816-04:00Couldn't agree more!
Did you ever watch '...Couldn't agree more! <br />Did you ever watch 'Idiocracy'? We LOVE that movie. It's a movie by mike judge on what the world will be like if we continue reproducing at the rate were going. Watch it! Let me know what you think!Kellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02265119634397184903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961036239783987473.post-12158204419803647342010-04-26T10:20:18.972-04:002010-04-26T10:20:18.972-04:00Completely Agree!Completely Agree!~Katey~https://www.blogger.com/profile/06259830419911502873noreply@blogger.com