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TWENTY HOUSES MAKE A VILLAGE: A CONUNDRUM.

(A) It was reported recently that a single woman in the U.S. read about two severely handicapped children in an orphanage in Roumania, so she flew there and brought them back to this country in order to adopt them. The only problem was that she did not have the finances to do so on her own, so every cent for their medical care is now paid by the County she lives in. The children will never be able to work, so the cost will be born by the taxpayers for the rest of their lives. Needless to say, it will be astronomical because of their specialized needs.

B) How do you feel about this? Does she have the right to obligate the rest of the community (County) to a burden which was not theirs originally, because of her own compassionate nature?

Should this be OUR responsibility, when it is she and she alone who make the decision to bring these children from abroad and in doing so obligated us to take on their care for the rest of their lives?

Is this fair to rest of us, as citizens, that we be forced to take on this financial burden? If you believe we need to have compassion and that this is something we should jointly undertake, then consider this:

(C) Supposing that every city and town was divided into units or blocks of twenty houses (families) each and that all problems in each group of homes became their sole responsibility. If two families were indigent, then the wage earners in the other 18 homes would have to support them directly and be taxed to cover all their expenses.

If a single woman went to Roumania and adopted two severely handicapped children, then the other 19 families would bear all the costs, no matter what they were. If the expenses ran $6,000 a month, it would be divided by 19 and each family would have to contribute $315 to the family's support.

If one breadwinner decided to quit his job and loaf, the others in that Unit would be responsible for his support.

If a dozen illegal immigrants moved into one of the homes, then any hospital bills they incurred would become the responsibility of the other 19 homes.

What would you think about such matters then? Has reading this changed your mind about the woman's right to adopt those two children and obligate YOU for their care? If you were charged directly for the hospital bills of illegal aliens, would this change your outlook on the way our government handles such things?