As a member of a very large extended family, I have seen the problems all families encounter with children who either lack the ability to care for themselves, or are unwilling to be responsible for themselves. Sometimes the problems of the younger people can be traced to laziness. Sometimes there are actual problems with the mental health or abilities that inhibit growth. Sometimes there are health issues that keep the family members from achieving all their talents would otherwise allow.
Republicans see themselves as the party of individual responsibility. Nothing could be further from the truth. Individual responsibility requires that we protect the future of ourselves and our families. It means we have insurance that we won’t end up in the hospital unable to pay our bills. It means we won’t end up after retirement without the means to care for ourselves without depending on the charity of our children. It means we won’t have to end up in a hospital, dying and leaving all our medical debts for our family.
The Democratic Party IS the party of individual responsibility. By financing Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, the citizens of our nation, the members of our families, are required to contribute to the plans which ensure that when they are elderly, when they are sick, when they have accidents, they will not be a burden on others. It demands we pay our way as we go.
The so-called “self reliant” Republicans that oppose these programs are not making anyone less self reliant. What they are doing is letting the lazy and indolent and reckless among us pass their expenses off to Emergency rooms and hapless family members rather than demanding that we take care of ourselves as we go. Government safety net programs are not charity. They are the cost of caring for ourselves so we don’t become the wards of the state and our families.