What happened to taking personal responsibility?

[aljdewey]

Lara, it's probably better that you did miss that conversation. It wasn't a shining moment.

I completely get what you're saying about feeling heartbroken every time you witness people drowning by fleeing in unsafe boats; it literally breaks my heart too.

But repelling them in the name of trying to save them (discouraging them from drowning in unsafe boats) doesn't really save them, does it? It doesn't really change or improve their situation; if they stay put, they face abuse, persecution, and likely death anyway.

Discouraging them doesn't help them at all; all is does is make you (us) feel better because we don't have to witness it, and if we don't see it, we aren't morally obligated to do anything to help.

 

[LaraOnline]

No I agree that it perhaps doesn't help them as individuals (in their former life) particularly, although presumably they wish to live rather than die, so in that sense I feel reduction of their likelihood of spending all their money and taking an absurdly risky boat trip is the morally correct thing to do.

But also a country's refugee policy is surely a numbers game as much as anything else and the money that is spent in housing and having unidentified arrivals prove their refugee status is surely money from our refugee budget that could presumably be spent more efficiently helping pre-identified refugees.

I'm not talking the costs of rescue here, that must come from another pot one must presume??

But let's face it, there are no shortage of desperately needy people to be helped. As a group, the number of people being assisted may actually be more if we taking refugees from established intakes such as refugee camps. ETA: although come to think of it, they talk in terms of a number of people each year, rather than a budget. So it may mean the number of people brought in is not affected.
But it does mean that those in refugee camps must wait, sometimes for many many years. And the needs of those people are easily just as great, if not greater.
From memory, there have been some increases in overall numbers of refugees taken in recent years.

But ultimately, it is a topic for another day, is it not? :p
Should we get back to cheeky or political law suits lol.

 

[packrat]

Open borders for everyone! We should all just be like the Sandals resorts. Swim up bars galore.

 

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="LaraOnline|1403011813|

Americans know a lot about migrants, and illegal migrants. There are many that make the attempt through Mexico every year.

[/quote]


I'm all for giving illegal aliens a chance to become a U.S. citizen, but they must prove they have been working in this country for many years and have not committed a felony. They must get in line to apply for citizenship like legal aliens with green cards and passes the interview about U.S history.

 

[aljdewey]

Packie, I hear ya.....but there's a huge gulf of possibility and reasonability between the two extremes of 'open the floodgates' and 'screw everyone else, as long as I have mine.'

Are we legally obligated to subsidize everyone? No. Does that mean we shouldn't try to help where we can? For me, no. If someone is willing to pitch to the greater whole instead of expecting a free ride on others, I'm all for trying to find a way to help. If they need some help to get to that point, and I'm capable of helping, I do feel that's a worthwhile thing to do.

 

[packrat]

Oh I know, alj! I was being silly! (another one of those "easy" solutions yanno)

 

[Sparklelu]

True story at Florida State University in the late 90s in the middle of the night after a night of boozing, a pretty drunk coed and her equally inebriated friends drove across campus, opened a closed gate in the parking lot, climbed a 7 foot chain link fence. Once over the fence she staggered to the ladder of the tightrope. She climbed that and attempted to walk the rope. She failed. She fell, as it was closed site, the net below was not tied tautly. She was injured, paralyzed from the waist down. Parents sued FSU for negligence and ultimately the suit was settled out of court.

Negligence??? On the part of FSU? Not in my book... But it's always some one else's fault!

 

[dk168]

For those who are able to make their own decisions,they must live with the consequences and not blame other people or whatever if things do not go according to plan.

I have no time for this selfish blame culture that we seem to be living in at the mo.

DK