My parents always taught me to respect my elders, but elders who do not give out respect are not worthy of the same in return. It appears that certain members of our community feel that, as a society, we have no obligation to each other and everyone should take care of their own interests a la carte. I am of course referring to the letter to the editor entitled “Childcare: the other side of the coin” (June 13) in which a community elder (or so I assume) wrote about efforts to make childcare more affordable in and around Park City and Summit County.
The central thesis of the letter was why should she have to subsidize childcare when she herself has no children? Well, let’s flip the script and talk about the ways the rest of us support her and her lifestyle. Does the author take advantage of the SALT (State and Local Tax) Deduction? That’s a subsidy to homeowners. Does the author take Social Security? That is the biggest subsidy for older people we have! Medicare? Why should I have to subsidize healthcare for older people when I am not old? Can’t afford your meds? Should have thought about that before you got sick, grandma!
We do not live in an a la carte society where I get to personally earmark where my tax dollars are spent. I would prefer it if my tax dollars weren’t spent on programs I don’t personally approve of, and even if I did, I would 100% check the box to support children and families. I would even choose to support old people because my parents raised me right, a lesson I am passing on to my kids.
Maybe if we had more support for children and families, folks like the author of that letter would have learned better manners at a younger age and wouldn’t have grown up to be the selfish person that they are.
Micah Kagan
Kamas
What do you think? Should the city pay for child care? Should a tax increase? Send your thoughts to [email protected], include your name, your neighborhood/address, and we’ll publish them as soon as we can.