Why?

"You know, there's a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit - the ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes; to see the world through the eyes of those who are different from us - the child who's hungry, the steelworker who's been laid-off, the family who lost the entire life they built together when the storm came to town. When you think like this - when you choose to broaden your ambit of concern and empathize with the plight of others, whether they are close friends or distant strangers - it becomes harder not to act; harder not to help."

— Barack Obama

My community is full of conservatives who don't get why I am a liberal. Maybe not me specifically, but anyone, really. Why I like our president. This quote pretty much sums it up. Whenever I post something like this, usually on facebook, which I usually regret later, I hear the naysayers in the back of my head. They have an answer for everything. They say, "But we care about the poor and the hungry too. When you force us to help others you take away our free agency. (It's Satan's plan.)" Yes, that's what the conservative voices in my head say. What, you don't have conservative voices in your head? I hear them because that is always the answer I hear or read. But I don't agree with it. I do agree that we should all help those who are less fortunate on our own where we can. But it isn't enough. There aren't enough charity organizations to help all of those uninsured people who get struck down by a disease that costs them thousands of dollars in treatment and causes them to lose their jobs. There aren't enough charitable accounts set up at banks or enough fundraising dinners to cover it all. There aren't enough anonymous donors to help everyone. I don't think it is stealing, I think we have an opportunity to make our society a better place where we all work together in the most expansive way possible to help the most people. No, it's not perfect. There is still a lot of wasted money and bureaucracy that doesn't always get it right but it is the best way we have to help the most people. I do not believe God has a problem with that and I like having a president who understands the problems of the less fortunate, is willing to fight for them and really knows empathy. That is a good thing in my opinion.