It's All in How You Look at It

Had an interesting conversation with someone today. He hates both Democrats and Republicans, but it's obvious which one he hates more. He noted that welfare recipients and minorities are Democrats. And don't get him started on environmentalists. It's sort of strange listening to him. He's angry about jobs being sent to China, but I didn't feel like asking him (and playing Devil's advocate) about the freedoms of business owners and whether or not they have the right to seek out the cheapest possible labor. I made the mistake of asking him shouldn't we reduce the amount of pollution we produce. He sort of agreed, but brushed me off. According to him, global warming is all a scam to make us pay more taxes and exert more control over us. If that's true, okay, but does that mean we can still act like pigs and litter all over the place?

I kinda got the feeling that once he gets enough money, he'll join the Republicans anyway, even though he hates them.  With him, it seems to be all about money. People on welfare or unemployment would probably disgust him, but get this--he applies for any scholarship that's out there. If it's a scholarship for African-Americans, he applies for it. If it's a scholarship for gays, he'll apply for it. Incidentally, this guy identifies as being straight and white. So, is it okay to lie in order to get scholarship money even though you are using it to pay bills and buy stuff unrelated to your education? I kid you not, when this man told me how much he got in financial aid, he bragged about "working the system." It's okay when HE does it, but if someone else did the same thing, and spent the money on drugs, would he be as okay with it?

He's against gay marriage (he's divorced, of course) and I didn't want to be around him more than I had to, but part of me wanted to ask if a lesbian atheist was bound by God's law, or God's word, if she didn't believe such a being existed.

This person gets free software too, and distributes, er, um, "donates" it. Not to everyone, just certain people. Since this isn't shareware, doesn't this sort of count as stealing? I mean, okay, Microsoft has tons of money, but that doesn't make it different. If people got in trouble for uploading music onto Napster so others could download it for free, how is this different?

So I don't know. It's all in how you look at it. Is doing something illegal to make money worse than going on welfare? If I applied for scholarship money and used it to start my own business, am I stealing money from a student who could use it? If I claim that I'm a Mexican-American lesbian atheist and get scholarship money and use it to pay bills and buy things unrelated to school, am I being dishonest, or am I merely "working the system to my advantage?"

I guess it depends on how you look at it.

Comments

Robert Enders said…
If I don't believe in a government, am I bound by its laws? The government would still insist that I do.
Gloria said…
I guess it all boils down to how much you have faith in your beliefs and what you are willing to do in order to support them. I hate corporate retail, yet I work for a corporate retail entity. However, I do not have to shop there if I don't want to.

If people "work the system" to get welfare, is it okay for someone to lie on a scholarship application in order to get money for school? Which is worse?

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