Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Entitled to your money: Day care protests

Entitled to your money: Day care protests

Did you know that you are responsible for paying to take care of other people's children? A group of families in Albuquerque want you to know that they believe you are, and they are protesting to make their point.

Budget problems have caused the state to reduce the income eligibility for state-subsidized day care by half, and some parents are upset.

This isn't about "day care"; it's about day care that is paid for by someone else. When did this become any business of the government at any level? "Never" is when. Either these parents forget, or never understood, that nothing from government is "free". If government gives it to you, government stole it from someone else.

If you hand your* children over to the government, which is what this amounts to, then don't be shocked when that government acts as though it owns them in other circumstances. This "free day care" has strings attached, as do all government "hand-outs". It costs you your self-ownership, your dignity, and your liberty. It would surprise me if it didn't cost you every last scrap of your self-respect, too.

I'm sorry that some people don't feel they are able to care for their kids (and yet have them regardless). I make "sacrifices" and stay home to raise my daughter. No one can love her or care for her better than me. Sometimes, because of my choice, I can't afford things I think I "need". I would like the luxury of having more money, but I am not under the mistaken impression that it is your responsibility to pay for day care for my daughter so that I can hold a job outside my home. Of course, if you have a job offer for me that fits with my "talents" and circumstances, please let me know. I could definitely use the money.
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*"your" and other words like it, in this case, do not denote ownership, but relationship. Such as "your friend" or "my sister" or "her daughter". Some people get a little twitchy about that distinction.

Rodent fun.

Here is a video I made today of a thirteen-lined ground squirrel at a park in Clovis NM. Posted for no particular reason, other than I enjoyed watching it.