Here in our very bluest of blue states, I was in conversation with a brilliant, idiot-savant-type character about my age (25) when I heard him refer to someone as a "son of a Republican".

Now I know there are Yankee Republicans. But I prefer the Yankee Democrats, and the not-so-Yankee Dems who recognize that to be the "City on the Hill", a certain amount of Civilization is required of society.

We are finding ourselves more and more in social situations where it seems we have to "give somebody (or a bunch of somebodies) something for nothing*.

At first blush, some of these situations seem that cut-and-dried. Of course, like most of life, they are not. The people in need of social services is growing as society re-values work, and workers.

I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.”

― Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

And here is where Shakespeare would say, "Aye, there's the rub".

Or something close. Because I believe it is our common duty to see that the weakest and neediest of us are cared for in a way that we would desire care for ourselves. No "ifs", "ands", or "buts".

Part of successfully caring for all our citizens will involve "outside the box" thinking like giving housing to homeless people. It's counter-intuitive, but with ER visits, Public Service Employees (cops, EMT, Fire), hospital stays and services, it is cheaper by 2/3 to 1/2 to put people in low-cost housing. Fact.

Now you may not like the fact that it has been demonstrated-on the ground, in the real world that paying for housing for the homeless is the best, most dignified and efficient way to minimize, by a large percentage, the costs of homelessness borne by municipalities. But it is the truth.