Ron,

Hello, the way things work in the United States of America may not be the best way to go. I understand that you work for money, but in Israel every Tenth grader is expected to to do something for his community, to do "help with a day nursery, go around the night patrol, in short show some concern for what's goin' on. I know of one kid you organzed a football/siccer league based on the local basketball courts around the neighborhoods.

Yes, money makes the world go round but you gotta give something of yourself to make the place you live a community. Who pays the neighbor who runs up to City Hall to speak up for the concerns of the block? Who pays the woman who goes around when someone is in seriiously ill collecting for them. There are things for which money is not a value, but caring for others, takin' care of business becasue it has to be done without asking for renumeration.

Your skepticism sounds more like the Neo-Cons who would let, for instance, those people who are unable to achieve decent medical services. That, in effect, brings the level of those issues down to the point that for instance if there is an epidemic, the population that is most vulnernable is still walking around, putting the rest of the populaiton at risk.

Once upon a tome even Republicans believed something called Volunteerism, the willingness to help others. That was Herbert Hoover's idea until he discovered it wasn't working, so he dipped into the Treasury and created the Civil Conservation Corps. So . . . your Liberarian mode reflects a point of view closer to Ayn Rand than to what you seem to promote on Air America.

There is no such thing as rugged individualsim--you need somebody to "do for you", to get by. Either you pay for it, or the service you recieve is there because someone has paid for it. In fact, someone may have volunteered their time, or their money to enable you to have what you require. The bottom line is serving your community is a good thing to do, a good thing to learn, it connects you with the people who live around you, opens up your horizons.

Zev Davis