Rural Tennessee fire sparks conservative ideological debate | The Upshot Yahoo! News – Yahoo! News
This is just plain old wrong. Morally it’s just reprehensible that the fire fighters would stand there and do nothing even after the owner assured them that he would compensate them for their expenses.
Kevin Williamson of the magazine “National Review”stated that it was perfectly ok for the fire fighters to not do anything because the owners hadn’t paid. And, since fire fighting for the rural area wasn’t even available until 1990, that was a natural expectation.
Huh???
So… let me get this straight… Dood forgets to pay his bill. His house starts to burn down. He calls 911, but they won’t come out. They come out after a neighbor who HAS paid his $75 bill calls, but do absolutely nothing but WATCH until the fire spreads to the area of the owner who has paid for the services. And… it’s perfectly moral, because you see these services weren’t even offered until 1990.
This is the USA not some over controlling dictatorship where there is only black and white, no gray.
I’m very disappointed in these folks… very disappointed… Would they watch someone be murdered because they didn’t pay their “protection” fee? Because this smacks of that little gem…
There are so many things I want to say about this, but it’s all swearing like a sailor.
© ‘Fizz’ 2010
Michigan Dreaming --> Texas Tortured 
Tennessee fire sparks conservative ideological debate
October 7, 2010, 6:32 PM
I’m no bible thumper, but I’m sure if there WAS a God out there, he would be preaching the respect of ALL his creations, not just the ones that can talk, walk, and chew gum at the same time. We cannot condescend to know this man’s situation. Maybe this man WAS a lazy bastard who really just didn’t want to pay, maybe he had a damn good reason for not paying, maybe he saved those animals from a bad situation and knew he couldn’t afford them…but housed them anyways. But those maybes don’t really matter. What DOES matter is a simple question:
IS THIS THE WORLD YOU WANT TO LIVE IN?
Where morality and compassion can’t even touch the price tag of $75? With all our collective wisdom as human beings, have we learned nothing..that if there is a will, there is ALWAYS a way? That’s the problem, the city was not looking for a solution, but someone to make an example of. I’m sure if those city scum, pencil-pushing A-holes had just stopped to open their minds for even a little bit, they would have had more than “standard procedure” and a gleeful, “tough shit” to offer this man.
The simple fact remains that if this man’s neighbor(who HAD paid) had not been home, or God forbid was asleep, he would never have made that call and more important HUMAN lives would have been at stake. The firefighters should have answered the call simply because it posed a threat to the neighborhood as a whole and had the ability to endanger more than just animal life. Just because he didn’t hold up his responsibilities in paying his taxes didn’t make it any more right to stand by and do nothing. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Repossess his car for collateral, take his belongings to auction…SOMETHING could have been done to remedy the situation but ALSO discourage A-holes out there who use other peoples’ laziness to justify their own. “But HE did it, why can’t I?”. Are you kidding, are we in preschool still?
By letting that mans’ house burn to the ground, I can guarantee it’s caused more money than it would have to simply put the fire out, and look for another way to solve the money aspect of the situation. Now unnecessary tax dollars will go the man who cannot house himself or his son. Food stamps, government assistance, etc. And what about the depreciation of the land? Even with a shitty economy, your sell value isn’t too good with charred remains sitting next to your perfectly manicured lawn. If there are things in this world that need changing, it’s starts with the realization that it begins today, with the choices we make and the manner in which we carry ourselves. Do we want to be honorable, or sustain a cold, free-for-all mindset
that gives no room for human compassion…
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you have to pay for emergency service before you get help in rural areas? jeez! that poor man!
k☼
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Ooooooh this is stoooopid! Firefighters, even volunteers, fall under the description of public safety as far as I can tell. Some people just deserve a swift boot in the butt, repeatedly. Wonder what would they say if I told them “Give me $75 and I’ll stop shooting holes in your shiny fire truck! Don’t bother calling the cops unless you’ve paid your police protection fee!”
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This makes absolutely no sense to me. What is happening to our country.
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