Personal Responsibility

Personal Responsibility. These words no longer seem to be part of our lexicon.
A full page of the Herald on Sept. 11 was devoted to the heroin epidemic in Cape May County. The article was written to elicit sympathy for the addicts. However, I am more sorry for the victims of those addicted—the people preyed on by the addicts who steal and burglarize to support their habit. These addicts are one-man crime wave-vampires who must feed off the living, working people to keep going until their next fix.
I found it very telling when one of the speakers at the county meeting joked “I know the prosecutor.” Now, we must spend more tax dollars to rehab these individuals who, by their own choice, start to use. It may not be a choice to become addicted, but it is a choice they made to knowingly start abusing a highly addictive substance. As for it being a disease, it is a self-inflicted disease. They had a choice to use the first time. They could have refused-they didn’t. When the opportunity presented itself again, they could have refused. Again they didn’t. And the third and fourth time they chose to get high instead of walking away. They knew the risks they were taking and what they were getting into. And now it is the taxpayers who must foot the bill for expensive rehab or the many times these people will go through the justice system or for private insurance, other policy holders will pay increased premiums. What a waste of money because these people couldn’t control themselves.
Then, the unnamed woman with her daughter. The daughter is 20 years old and has two kids, 2 and 3-years-old. Who paid the hospital bills for the births and healthcare since? Who’s on the hook for healthcare and education for the next 15-16 years? Addicted at 20 and has a mere 27 days sober “no thanks to anyone (present at the meeting representing taxpayer funded services).” The mother then complains that parenting skills “should be taught in school.” What about the addict’s mother’s parenting skills to allow all this to happen? Where is the addict’s father and the father of her children. Nope, it’s easier to blame the taxpayers and society.
It’s not just poor individuals because next, we have Sandy damage and the boardwalk fire in Seaside. Gov. Christie has already pledged $15 million in state money. This is on top of the taxpayer money for Sandy flooding. I understand why the government should be responsible for paying to repair and replace government property like roads, infrastructure, government buildings and even the boards on the boardwalk but why are taxpayers funding homeowners? Shouldn’t they have had the foresight to purchase sufficient flood insurance (living next to the ocean) or fire insurance (owning a business on a wooden boardwalk)?
Taxpayers are already strained and the deficit is growing by leaps and bounds. I know we have a tourism-based economy. But if these private owners can’t rebuild themselves, some other private enterprise would step in to fill the gap. If Morey’s or the owners of FunTown Pier went out of business, leaving all that tourist cash on the table, another private enterprise amusement pier would spring up to take its place. Instead, government is taking the place of private insurance companies. If you can’t afford to buy insurance yourself, don’t own property in high-risk areas. The government will simply turn around and raise everyone’s taxes to pay for it all.