From: laelth@yabbs
To: maedhros@yabbs
Subject: Egocentrism
Date: Tue Feb  1 01:26:09 1994

Maedhros:
    In the most friendly of terms, :-} , I want to accuse you of a bit of 
egocentrism in your post #268.  By that I mean that you missed a point 
that I was trying to make, because you refuse to look at the world through 
any set of eyes but your own.  Egocentrism, an obsessive concern for the 
individual, prevents you from looking at the world from the perspective of 
a group.  Let me explain by analysing your post.  You wrote:

>I just don't take the socialistic view you present which seems to imply 
that I have a moral imperative to help others.

    No.  I never implied, nor did I mean to imply that you had any 
obligation to help anyone. I implied that WE as a society have an 
obligation tho help those that WE see around us who are suffering because 
or while WE enjoy the fruits of our society.  There is a big difference 
between YOU and the Federal Government (the agent of WE the People).
YOU have an obligation to pay your taxes, and to elect the people who YOU 
want to represent you.  Beyond that, you have no obligation.  The 
obligation of the Federal Government is another matter. 
    I would argue that WE, as a society, DO have a moral imperative to 
help those that our society CAUSES or ALLOWS to be poor, homeless, 
destitute, whatever.  YOU, no doubt, disagree with this assertion.  In 
your post you said:

>I've been eligible for both Medicare and Unemployment in the past and 
I've flat out refused it.

    The implication of this statement is that everyone else should shut 
up, grin and bear it, tough it out, or "get a job" and solve their own 
problems.  While I admire your conviction, I must again accuse you of 
a kind of egocentrism.  You seem to argue that the solution to poverty, to 
unemployment, to the health insurance crisis, and everything else in the 
world, is that everyone should be just like YOU!  They should all do what 
you did, tough it out, grin and bear it, get a job, etc.  I just can't buy 
that Maedhros is the model citizen that everyone should be taught to 
emulate.  It seems quite arrogant (to me) for you to suggest that everyone 
else in America should live up to your standards.  That's just not 
reasonable, nor is it advisable.  We need a more realistic answer for the 
people who suffer from these VERY REAL problems.

In calm reflection,

-laelth