senior pass

I like to avoid religion and politics here but this one statement applies to both equally.

If you are in a room and the man standing up front "preaching" to the faithful, be it a church or a political rally or another type of meeting. and he's preaching: Those people are just animals, and those people do not deserve to live, and those people should just starve to death, and those people should just die.

YOU ARE IN THE WRONG ROOM.

For the commandment is to Love thy Neighbor.
And when it comes to Police, Fire, Military and so on.

Well it is written that No Greater Love has any man than to lay down his life for a friend.

And though that is in the Bible. it's not true.. because Police, Fire, Military and the like. lay their lives on the line for people they do not even know.. Myself included. and for that reason folks.. And that is perhaps an even greater love.. And the commandment is to love they neighbor.

And before you ask EVERYBODY is your neighbor.

How about this as a solution.

Eliminate all discounted passes as everyone in the USA feels they have contributed in some form or another to everything they feel they are entitled too. By eliminating theses entitlement passes, everyone is equal, everyone pays equally, everyone can complain equally.

I have both the Senior and Access pass. If they were taken away from me, whoppdy-do. It won't stop me from visiting. I probably donate more to the National Park Foundation than all the entrance fees I didn't have to pay or all the discounts I received. Gimme-Gimme-Gimme, the cry of the baby boomers!

RGar974417 wrote:

GDS-3950BH wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

jplante4 wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I can make a case for "duty and honor" in almost all professions. Heck, the guy who drives the trash truck fulfills a duty of keeping our cities and towns free of garbage.

And if there was an explosive hidden under one of the streets this guy was collecting garbage on, then this would be a reasonable comparison.

The clerk at the local 7-11 risks being shot by a crack head every day all the interest of selling someone a Slurpee. Do they deserve a discount for their service? A good friend of mine was electrocuted and permanently disabled while working as a lineman for the power company. I can make a very good case that his service (keeping the power on) is a much greater need than a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Does everyone who works for the utility companies deserve special discounts?


Both fishing and logging have higher death rates than military service. And over that last 40 years only in 5 years were the deaths in military service higher for combat than for accidental deaths. That means even in military service you are more likely to die or be injured by a bad driver than a bomb.
I guess that over the years the number of people who claim to deserve special treatment has jaded me. I am tired of every group claiming they deserve special treatment because what they chose to do is somehow special. My solution is to treat everyone the same. And isn't equality the fundamental value the founders of this country used to justify it's existence? For those of you who have forgot, the first line of the Declaration of Independence goes: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal". No mention of special groups or services.

Hallelujah. Well said.

Treat everyone the same? My 95 year old Uncle was part of the invasion force on Okinawa in 1945.Next time we are attacked you go.

I did go, did you?

When I went I was not thinking about discounted campsite fees or 80 cents off of a $5 breakfast.

westernrvparkowner wrote:
The clerk at the local 7-11 risks being shot by a crack head every day all the interest of selling someone a Slurpee. Do they deserve a discount for their service? A good friend of mine was electrocuted and permanently disabled while working as a lineman for the power company. I can make a very good case that his service (keeping the power on) is a much greater need than a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Does everyone who works for the utility companies deserve special discounts?
Both fishing and logging have higher death rates than military service. And over that last 40 years only in 5 years were the deaths in military service higher for combat than for accidental deaths. That means even in military service you are more likely to die or be injured by a bad driver than a bomb.

And any one of those people could walk away from any one of those jobs if they felt the risk was too big. If the owner of the 711 told that clerk when he/she was hired that they'd probably get shot doing the job, do you really think they would take the job anyway?

Well before the number of deaths in any of those professions reach the 58,000 lost in southeast Asia, the government will step in and take measures to stop the carnage.

I notice you didn't bring up police and fire fighters in your examples. Maybe you just have a problem with people who are wiling to risk their life for you.

Like a recent Facebook meme said. If you want to thank a vet for their service, be the kind or person worth dying for.

GDS-3950BH wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

jplante4 wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I can make a case for "duty and honor" in almost all professions. Heck, the guy who drives the trash truck fulfills a duty of keeping our cities and towns free of garbage.

And if there was an explosive hidden under one of the streets this guy was collecting garbage on, then this would be a reasonable comparison.

The clerk at the local 7-11 risks being shot by a crack head every day all the interest of selling someone a Slurpee. Do they deserve a discount for their service? A good friend of mine was electrocuted and permanently disabled while working as a lineman for the power company. I can make a very good case that his service (keeping the power on) is a much greater need than a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Does everyone who works for the utility companies deserve special discounts?


Both fishing and logging have higher death rates than military service. And over that last 40 years only in 5 years were the deaths in military service higher for combat than for accidental deaths. That means even in military service you are more likely to die or be injured by a bad driver than a bomb.
I guess that over the years the number of people who claim to deserve special treatment has jaded me. I am tired of every group claiming they deserve special treatment because what they chose to do is somehow special. My solution is to treat everyone the same. And isn't equality the fundamental value the founders of this country used to justify it's existence? For those of you who have forgot, the first line of the Declaration of Independence goes: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal". No mention of special groups or services.

Hallelujah. Well said.

Treat everyone the same? My 95 year old Uncle was part of the invasion force on Okinawa in 1945.Next time we are attacked you go.

westernrvparkowner wrote:

jplante4 wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I can make a case for "duty and honor" in almost all professions. Heck, the guy who drives the trash truck fulfills a duty of keeping our cities and towns free of garbage.

And if there was an explosive hidden under one of the streets this guy was collecting garbage on, then this would be a reasonable comparison.

The clerk at the local 7-11 risks being shot by a crack head every day all the interest of selling someone a Slurpee. Do they deserve a discount for their service? A good friend of mine was electrocuted and permanently disabled while working as a lineman for the power company. I can make a very good case that his service (keeping the power on) is a much greater need than a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Does everyone who works for the utility companies deserve special discounts?
Both fishing and logging have higher death rates than military service. And over that last 40 years only in 5 years were the deaths in military service higher for combat than for accidental deaths. That means even in military service you are more likely to die or be injured by a bad driver than a bomb.
I guess that over the years the number of people who claim to deserve special treatment has jaded me. I am tired of every group claiming they deserve special treatment because what they chose to do is somehow special. My solution is to treat everyone the same. And isn't equality the fundamental value the founders of this country used to justify it's existence? For those of you who have forgot, the first line of the Declaration of Independence goes: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal". No mention of special groups or services.

Hallelujah. Well said.

jplante4 wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:
I can make a case for "duty and honor" in almost all professions. Heck, the guy who drives the trash truck fulfills a duty of keeping our cities and towns free of garbage.

And if there was an explosive hidden under one of the streets this guy was collecting garbage on, then this would be a reasonable comparison.

The clerk at the local 7-11 risks being shot by a crack head every day all the interest of selling someone a Slurpee. Do they deserve a discount for their service? A good friend of mine was electrocuted and permanently disabled while working as a lineman for the power company. I can make a very good case that his service (keeping the power on) is a much greater need than a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. Does everyone who works for the utility companies deserve special discounts?
Both fishing and logging have higher death rates than military service. And over that last 40 years only in 5 years were the deaths in military service higher for combat than for accidental deaths. That means even in military service you are more likely to die or be injured by a bad driver than a bomb.
I guess that over the years the number of people who claim to deserve special treatment has jaded me. I am tired of every group claiming they deserve special treatment because what they chose to do is somehow special. My solution is to treat everyone the same. And isn't equality the fundamental value the founders of this country used to justify it's existence? For those of you who have forgot, the first line of the Declaration of Independence goes: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal". No mention of special groups or services.

westernrvparkowner wrote:

jdb7566 wrote:

RGar974417 wrote:
I'm a veteran. I never took anything from our government. Didn't use the GI Bill or a VA loan. I couldn't get into the VA. So now I get a discount on camping and free entrance into National Parks. How about our government stop spending billions on illegals. How about congress cut their own pay and benefits? How about cutting back on welfare? Those of us who worked our butts off,stayed out of troubleand served our country deserve a break.

Thank You for your service. I too am a Veteran. IMO, the only Vets who "deserve a break" are the draftees, the rest of us "volunteered".

You are sure touching the third rail here, and I agree. Joining the military today is a voluntary choice, no matter what the motivation. Yes, many join because of a sense of duty, honor etc., but others join for a job. Remember the old recruitment campaigns of "see the world" and "learn a Skill"? Not much appeal to honor and duty in that.
I can make a case for "duty and honor" in almost all professions. Heck, the guy who drives the trash truck fulfills a duty of keeping our cities and towns free of garbage. When I am unclogging a sewer line in the park I am honoring a solemn commitment to provide my guests with the best vacation accommodations I can. I respect the job everyone does, not just the job of those in the military.

The other third rail for veterans now is the combat versus non-combat veteran. I've seen a few facebook sh*tstorms in veterans forums about the combat versus non veteran.

jdb7566 wrote:

RGar974417 wrote:
I'm a veteran. I never took anything from our government. Didn't use the GI Bill or a VA loan. I couldn't get into the VA. So now I get a discount on camping and free entrance into National Parks. How about our government stop spending billions on illegals. How about congress cut their own pay and benefits? How about cutting back on welfare? Those of us who worked our butts off,stayed out of troubleand served our country deserve a break.

Thank You for your service. I too am a Veteran. IMO, the only Vets who "deserve a break" are the draftees, the rest of us "volunteered".

Us volunteers deserve it even more.We weren't forced to go. Having said that, we all served and we all sacrificed, some more than others.

olfarmer wrote:
I think it stinks, they just keep taking away more things we have paid for! You an not believe anything that the government promises!

Mine was free when I got it 20 years ago. The rationale at the time was that many senior citizens were on lower fixed incomes and this was a to help them visit our National Parks. Perhaps a fairer method using IRS data could be used, but there is also an additional clerical cost with this. Usually such differences in opinion comes down to "whose ox is being gored".