JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum America's Watershed Election.

No I doubt many minds changed here....

I forget who but someone once said "All politics are personal".

I suspect few of my beliefs are due to intellectual thought - They're probably overwhelmingly based on personal experiences. I'm thinking it might be the same for most of us...

When I sat down and asked myself why I believe in social security, I found it is almost entirely because of my personal experience with it.

My father died suddenly 6 months after he retired. I was still a minor (I was a late, late baby) and was able to collect social security for several years. Should I have been able to? Probably there's split opinion on this here. What I told myself at the time was, "Look your old man paid into it every day of his working life and didn't get to collect a penny". But then, humans can rationalize anything.

What it did for me though was that I could work part time and continue my education, as opposed to having to take a full time job. I devoted myself to my studies through college, did well in my classes, and got started down a path that has led to a wonderful career for me.

Would I have done ok if I hadn't gotten social security? Sure I would've - I probably would have ended up on a line somewhere, possibly making it to shift supervisor someday. Would have been a good life.

But instead of telling myself how lucky I am every night, I would have been always wondering what could have been.

So yeah, my politics are personal....I think government does well because it has done well for me....

I doubt anyone is going to change anyone else's mind here - because how can reading about someone else's experience trump your own personal ones? Nevertheless, I read these threads because when I read about Mike's friend Crazy Eddie, or Jim's whacky chromo, or Sub's medical problems, or Bill having his instruments stolen, you all become a bit bigger to me - whether I agree with your politics or not. I find that more fun and interesting than politics....

EDIT: Bad wording there - The concept that you all become bigger to me by sharing your experiences is what is fun - not the fact that many of them are misfortunes...

Scott