Too Clever by Half, who apparently read the same Wall Street Journal articles I read this morning, claims that traditionalist Amish and Mennonites (and, just to salt and pepper the pot, he adds in a n unsupported jibe at "fundamentalist Christians") should, in his infelicitous phrasing, have help getting "their heads out of their own a---es." He bemoans the travesty of a "premodern" people trying to escape their responsibilities in the world and yet "free ride" on the services and protections that the world provides. In other words, Amish and Mennonites should take out health insurance just like everybody else instead of seeking charity care and then complaining when the hospital sends their bills to collections.
Fair enough, but he misrepresents the WSJ article we both read. The article discusses a Mennonite farmer who has already paid over $400,000 of his own money (he is now, according to the article, in debt for about $287,000). That should be mentioned before that blogger writes that "they don't pay their debts." Of course, "seriously, these people have no sense of restraint, shame, or responsibility."
Yes, there are compromises that a traditionalist has to make and he or she should take those compromises in account. But the "progressives" of the world could do without Too Clever's condescension.
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