Reply #140: OK, I'll wade into the stew. [View All]

[blackspade]

I have read multiple threads on this poor families loss and I'm pretty appalled at the petty three stooges eye poking going on on this site.

There are some things that are bugging me about this whole deal.
1) A family is homeless. All of their stuff is burned up. We should all empathize with them over their loss. It is tragic that supposed progressives here are so hard hearted that they would be consider this families house burning down 'just desserts' for presumed libertarians.
2) I keep seeing references to this guy being part of the 'rich' county crowd. The man was living in a double wide, not a mansion. He also is not personally responsible for the crappy state of the county government in which he lives. To paint him as a rich freeloader on the poor city government is dishonest.
3) The $75 fire subscription is inherently regressive. Does the man with a 15 room house only pay $75? Does the man making $1 mil have a problem paying this fee as opposed to a guy on welfare/SS/unemployment?
What happens if there if you are a renter? Is it your responsibility to pay the fee? If the owner doesn't pay should the FD watch as all your shit burns up?
4) If I'm driving through the county and my car catches fire, will I have to watch it burn up with the FD watching? I didn't pay the city fee, so am I a freeloader too? The whole problem with this is that we all pay taxes and expect that basic public services are there to help us in our time of need no matter where we live or travel to.
5) The animals. None of us know what the owner was doing, but I suspect that putting the fire out was his main concern. If you have ever fought a fire, you would know that if you let it go for even a minute to do anything (like run into the house for valuables and animals)the fire will be beyond your control. As it happens, it spread despite their efforts to fight the fire with garden hoses. The animals dying is tragic icing on a horrible situation.
6) The fact that the FD would have been payed on the spot for their efforts by both the homeowner and even the neighbor underscores the punitive nature of the whole episode. They wanted to make an example of this guy and no amount of money was going to prevent them from using this event to scare the rest of the county residents into paying the $75 fee. That is extortion of the worst kind.

Anyway, I've said my piece.
L8R