[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Cainehill:
When there are people, who are capable of working, who _refuse_ to work even when offered a job - let them starve.

I am unable to understand how people can feel this way.

Starvation isn't much of an issue in the USA, at least not in urban areas.

Which is why I didn't want to even bring it up in the first place. The social safety net in the U.S. is adequate in most ways.

Again - what world are you living in? The sewage in the river would hurt _everyone_.

As long as you have a nearby river your sewage only hurts people other than yourself. At the very least, universal medical coverage would help to keep people healthy and on the work force.

Who determines the bare minimum? The people who chose to live at the bare minimum?

The bare minimum is the point where a person has enough food to eat without being malnourished, shelter to prevent them from freezing to death, and medical care so that the simple preventable and treatable illnesses can be dealt with. The only one there that's hard to define is the medical care one.