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Subject: 
Re: Liberty vs. Socialism
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Thu, 18 Sep 2003 20:41:43 GMT
Viewed: 
249 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Fredrik Glöckner <fredrigl@math.uio.no> wrote:

"David Koudys" <dkoudys@redeemer.on.ca> writes:

And if i hurt/kill myself because I didn't want to wear a seatbelt is
my business, whether we all pay into the health care system.


In some parts of the world, committing suicide, or trying to, is
illegal.  What do you think about that?



I think attempted suicide is illegal here in Canada.  Suicide can't have the
same type of law 'cause if you're successful, well then you're dead and can't be
there for a trial.

I've been around for 36ish years and I've talked with many different folks, a
very few (thankfully) of whom have been pretty close to 'ending it all'.  I've
had a close friend who jumped off a laker one night and whose body wasn't found
until 6 months later by a fisherman.  It's heartbreaking to lose someone,
especially like that.

In the final analysis, it's obvious that people who attempt suicide need help,
not punishment.  My tax dollars pay for medical help, and that includes
counsellors and the like.  I've once driven a close friend to the hospital so
they could 'discuss issues' with a doctor and I didn't have to worry about money
or medicare.

I think there is a large difference between a sudden event, like a car
accident, and a long term bad habit, like smoking or poor diet.


And yet, both the sudden injuries and long term issues we do to ourselves are
looked at when and if I walk into *any* hospital in Ontario, with nary a
problem.


[...]  As long as the system's there when I need it.


Who's going to pay for the cost of the social security system if
everybody are injured after a traffic accident?  Usually, social
security systems are "pay as you go"-systems, meaning that the money put
in is taken out at once, rather than having a large fund which is
sufficient to cover all the future expected costs.  Hence, the money you
have put in is most likely taken out as we speak.  You can't expect to
have the same amount of money back, if the amount of people working
changes.  (Unless the taxation level is changed as well, of course.)


That is a good question--if we're all injured, who would pay for it?  On the
other hand, unless there's an 'act of God', I don't forsee that scenario
happening.  Yes there will be crises when the 'baby boomers' get to the
retirement age (as some are getting close to) and my generation ahs to pick up
the slack.  I'm listening to politicians closely and seeing what they have to
say about that--what's going to change for the intervening years when there is a
large aged, retired population and less workers in teh workforce.  We shall see.

Dad was pre-babyboomer (born in '40).  I'm post-baby boomer ('67).  Sucks to be
me.


Fredrik

Dave K



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Liberty vs. Socialism
 
(...) In some parts of the world, committing suicide, or trying to, is illegal. What do you think about that? I think there is a large difference between a sudden event, like a car accident, and a long term bad habit, like smoking or poor diet. (...) (21 years ago, 18-Sep-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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