I have said for years that we have too much emphasis on personal freedom in this country and not enough emphasis on personal responsibility. Freedom without responsibility is anarchy. Responsibility without freedom is tyranny. When both are in balance, we have a good society.
We have a Statue of Liberty on the east coast. I’m thinking we need a Statue of Responsibility on the West coast. We could even put it on Alcatraz Island. I think that would be appropriate.
Now I remember why I left.
Comcast came and installed our new cable TV service on Thursday. On Friday it glitched, but started working again. On Saturday it started doing this thing where every time we turn on the TV the audio works but the video doesn’t (it’s just a blue screen) until we unplug the HDMI cable and plug it back in. I called Comcast and they said that after everything I told them (the HDMI cable isn’t the problem because it does this with different cables, the TV isn’t the problem because it does this no matter what port, and no other device does this), they’ll send someone out Thursday.
Thursday.
You’d think that, upon finding out that a brand new customer is having a problem with their service that is less than 48 hours old, you would want to make sure that their problem was fixed right away. But that’s not how Comcast works.
So tonight we are watching TV. We select one of the shows that we have recorded, but it doesn’t let us fast forward. Every time we try to fast forward through the commercials, it restarts the program at the beginning.
I am this close to canceling the service and going back to Direct TV, even if it costs $40 more per month. I guess it’s true what they say, “You get what you pay for.” And now I know why Direct TV wasn’t trying hard to keep me: there’s no competition.
EDIT: Aaaaand now it is cutting the end off of shows. This one show we were watching is an hour long, and we could only watch the first 35 minutes before it inexplicably shut off. Frustrating.
I was near a television the other day, but I wasn’t watching it. I overheard a commercial that referenced Obamacare. I think it was some insurance company trying to get people to sign up on their exchange. I wasn’t really listening, until I heard this quote. It struck me as indicative of the problem in this country, so I wrote it down. The commercial spokesperson said, “Health insurance is finally here! Call now to find out what you’re entitled to!”
What you are entitled to.
Entitlement is defined as “the condition of having a right to have, do, or get something.” The statement “I am entitled to health care” means “I have the right to be cared for medically.” As I have said before, I do not believe health care is a basic human right. For a better explanation of this, read this article.
People in our society believe that the world owes them things. They believe that the government is supposed to take care of them and solve all their problems. But that’s just wrong.
Nobody owes you anything. You don’t deserve your own car, your own job, the best health care, the finest food, the best entertainment, etc. The word “deserve” means “to do something or have or show qualities worthy of reward or punishment.”
In a recent viral video, we saw a man in a large black truck driving erratically and being a jerk, and then he loses control of his truck and crashes. He deserved to crash, based on his behavior. When we watch a performance of music or drama that is exemplary, we applaud and show our appreciation, because the performer is worthy of the recognition.
Nobody deserves health care. They have to show themselves worthy to receive it.
That is not to say that I as a health care professional would ever refuse service to someone because they had no insurance: I would not. But I also state that the word “professional” means that I should generally be paid for my services.
And even if we state that health care is a basic human right, does this mean that it should be free? To answer that question, let me ask another. Would you not agree that overall food is more important than health care? What’s the percentage of people who have cancer? Heart trouble? Now what’s the percentage of people who need to eat? Yes, it’s 100%. And yet food is not free. So should healthcare be free? No.
So you aren’t entitled to health care. You have to work for it.
No More.
I have used Firefox for many years. I think I first downloaded it around 2006. It has been a great alternative to the train-wreck that is Internet Explorer.
However, as a Bible-believing Christian, I have been watching the events in your company with concern. Last week, right after you forced Mr. Eich to resign, you said, “We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better.”
What you fail to note is that whenever there’s a controversy, there are at least two sides to it. By taking the actions you took, you have shown exactly where you stand on this issue. You have told me (and the millions of other Americans who believe as I do that marriage is between a man and a woman only) that my beliefs don’t matter.
What’s more, you told the world that you believe it’s wrong NOT to make sure that people toe the party line insofar as their personal beliefs go. By attempting to show that your company doesn’t discriminate, YOU JUST DID. You showed that you are perfectly willing to discriminate on the basis of personal beliefs. What makes this so ironic is that in the same press release, you said that you support equality for all. You forgot to add “…except for those who disagree with us.”
Do you recognize how absurd that is? It’s like saying “We are tolerant of all people who agree with us.” That’s not tolerance at all!
What did Mr Eich do that was so terrible? He legally donated money to a movement attempting to defend the institution of marriage. What’s more, he did it SIX years ago. And now, as a result, he is seen as unqualified to run your technology company. Let’s think about that. The inventor of Javascript is unqualified to run your company. That’s a tough sell.
What SHOULD you have done? You should have realized that this is a divisive issue, with good people on both sides. You should have realized that by taking a stand on gay marriage, you were going to alienate a large percentage of your customer base. You should NOT have used a person’s private beliefs as a litmus test for employability.
You have the right to take a stand for homosexuality and against Christians. You have the right, just as much as Chick-fil-A has the right to stand with Christians against homosexuality. But just as they received criticism and lost support from the homosexual lobby, so you must expect to lose support from Christians.
As a result, I am deleting your browser. I will no longer recommend that others use Firefox, because now Firefox stands for oppression. Firefox stands for groupthink. Firefox stands against God.
That is not a position I am willing to take.
Words of Truth 