America is sick. Our government is sick. Our people are sick. Did I mention that our government is sick? Our disease is a sense of entitlement and the notion that we can (and should) depend on the government for our basic needs. I like Mitt Romney. I'm not sure he's going to have an easy job playing the part of a true conservative in 2012 given his history with mandating health insurance as governor of Massachusetts, but I like him well enough to consider voting for him. He didn't give great speeches as a candidate in 2008. They always came off too polished, too manufactured. His one moment of greatness unfortunately came too late. In his withdrawal address he spoke from the heart and said things that a candidate would not be able to get away with. He summed up America's cultural sickness this way:
"The threat to our culture comes from within. The 1960’s welfare programs created a culture of poverty. Some think we won that battle when we reformed welfare, but the liberals haven’t given up. At every turn, they try to substitute government largesse for individual responsibility. They fight to strip work requirements from welfare, to put more people on Medicaid, and to remove more and more people from having to pay any income tax whatsoever. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity. Dependency is a culture-killing drug—we have got to fight it like the poison it is!"
Dependecy is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity. I love that line. I think the social welfare programs that are currently in place in this country were most likely initiated with pure intentions - help the poor. But what was intended as a hand-UP has become a hand-OUT. As government found that it can control votes and voters by promising more and more freebies the programs ballooned into the out of control state that they are currently in. This is not a good thing. These programs are addictive to too many people. They are drugs. They destroy self-respect, they destroy the will to work and provide for yourself and they destroy the culture of a once-great nation. A nation that valued work. A nation that permitted failure because we understand that failure made you stronger. A nation that understood personal responsibility. Now I'm not opposed to the idea of welfare and WIC and medicaid and food stamps. I'm really not. I don't want congress to completely deep six these programs. I think there is a role for government in seeing to the basic needs of our poorest citizens. But it's out of control people. The systems are abused. There are food stamp recruiters for heaven's sake encouraging people to apply who, although not wealthy by any means, are getting by on their own. And now we've got Nancy Pelosi saying this in speaking about the recently passed health care bill:
"We see it as an entrepeneurial bill. A bill that says to someone if you want to be creative and be a musician or whatever, you can leave your work, focus on your talent, your skill, your passion, your aspirations because you will have health care."
This is Nancy Pelosi!! This is the leader of the United States House of Representatives?! This woman, God help us, is third in succession to take over the presidency if something awful happened to President Obama and VP Biden! This is one of the most politically powerful women in the world and she's telling you to quit your job and focus on your creative passion, it's okay, we'll take care of you. (Ammon, you might want in on this. Nancy Pelosi is willing to pay your way while you write your novel.) I'm disgusted at where our country is. Her words disgrace the men and women who worked their tails off to make this country great. The men who came home from WWII and worked to make this country soar out of miserable debt are dishonored by what Pelosi is saying here. In fact, what Pelosi is saying here is about as un-American a thing as I have ever heard. Quit your job and focus on what you really love and we'll take care of you! Quit producing for this country and let us shoulder the weight! These are our leaders? I don't know which emotion this makes me feel more: sadness or anger.
And this is why we have a generation of Americans who feel they are entitled to everything from the government. It's because we have a government that has been telling Americans for an entire generation that we should be able to have everything that we need and that they will provide it.
I love working. I love my job. I love contributing. I love producing. I love paying my own bills with my own money. I love paying my private health insurance premium with my own money. I love paying for my own food with my own money. I love taking my car to the mechanic and paying for the repair. I love paying my own energy bills. I love paying my own phone bills. I love it. I love it. I love it. Herein lies true liberty. This is true freedom. I know that there are people who can't do all of that on their own. I might be right back in that position again someday who knows. For those people I'm glad there's a fail-safe in the government if necessary and I don't mind contributing to it. I think government programs should always be the last resort. Always the last resort, but I'm glad they are there. But America had better wake up and realize that we are degenerating into a culture that doesn't value work. A culture that doesn't see a need to put forth the effort because there's a government telling you they will take care of you.
Now if you'll excuse me I've got to go tell St. Jude that I'm quitting to focus on my lifelong dream of being a big league baseball player. I hope you don't mind picking up the bill for my family's health care. Thanks. I appreciate it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
ReplyDelete- Thomas Jefferson
Interesting. I'll admit I haven't read everything. I just read bits and pieces, so if something I say is redundant or doesn't fit, it may be because i didn't read the whole post. But, here are two thoughts:
ReplyDeleteI also think America's welfare system is sick. Yup. You heard me right. :) From all I've seen and heard, I think there are many things that can and ought to be changed and improved. I definitely think that there is a big problem with welfare not being designed in a way to get people self-reliant, and I definitely am not a fan of that. In Germany, welfare benefits, though available in many various forms, aren't that easy to get, and definitely don't come in the large amounts I've heard of and seen here. My father-in-law, who was laid off at age 64 got his unemployment benefits simply by reporting each week that he's made efforts to find a job. Ok. Sounds reasonable. However, simply talking to a neighbor or friend, for example, would count as making an effort. That would never fly in Germany. There, you have to send out resumes, and the like and show some REAL effort of finding work. Also, after a certain amount of time, you have to undergo training to prepare for another job field etc. if you want to keep benefits.
Now, don't get me wrong. I also think Germany's system has problems, but I definitely think the focus should be on enabling people to be self-reliant. And I don't necessarily see that. However, I also don't like the approach often taken to fix this by simply cutting benefits - period, or to simply cut off the benefits after a certain amount of time. Those things, in my opinion, don't fix the problem (which of course, is far deep reaching than any legislation can reach).
Now, Nanci Pelosi's quote. I actually kind of agree with her. I think we have a problem in America with quality. I think quality suffers in so many places, and often, I think, because people are forced to go for jobs they don't actually want to be in. Now, hold on! Don't get me wrong. I think we all have to occasionally 'suck it up' and just deal with life, and do an unpleasant job, because bills need to be paid. But, I also think it's a tragic loss when a man for example, who'd love to be a high school teacher, opts to be something else because it's more lucrative. We could have had a great teacher, but now we lost him to something else. Similar things are certainly true for jobs in the fine arts, like music. Of course, you can always pursue those things if you want to, and just deal with the consequences. But I think it's an atrocity that some of the great talents and potential given by our Heavenly Father is coming to full use because of financial things.
How is it that professional athletes can make millions, while nurses and teachers - some of the most important professions in our society I'd say - make nothing? You get the idea.
I think if there are small things we can do to make it more realistic for someone to pursue a career he really wants to be in, and not have finances be the biggest issue - that'd be great. And I think we'd all benefit from that. I personally would rather have you try and be a baseball player if that's what you really wanted than something else that you couldn't reasonably be happy with and do reasonably well.
But of course, you can also take that quote to mean that now any lazy butt can just go quit on hard work and just pursue some fantasy. Maybe that's what Nanci meant, but I actually doubt it.
TROY! I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU POSTED ABOUT THIS! Oh, the nights in my basement when we tried to murder each other with super fast ping-pong balls and discussed this topic and solved the worlds problems. I don't have time to respond now, but I WILL. Keep your eyes peeled!
ReplyDeleteOK, I think i may have waited too long to post on this topic. But, here are my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI think that history can teach us nearly everything we need to know to solve our problems. Let us take Rome, the main sample or government that our forefathers used when creating the Constitution, as an example. Keep in mind that this is an EXTREMELY birds-eye view of this situation.
Between 158-122 b.c. Rome's Senate instituted a grain dole (sometimes called a corn dole or bread dole). Most of the grain was shipped from Egypt. Initially this was created to help the poor and to regulate the cost of grain to the population of Rome.
Eventually, because of promises from an aspiring senator, the grain was given away for free. Not surprisingly, the man was elected.
What is worse? The dole eventually also included oil, wine, bread and meat. This spread slowly throughout all of the major cities of the Empire.
Now the result.
"the dole became an integral part of the whole complex of economic causes that brought the eventual collapse of Roman civilization. It undermined the old Roman virtues of self-reliance. It schooled people to expect something for nothing. "The creation of new cities," writes Rostovtzeff, "meant the creation of new hives of drones." The necessity of feeding the soldiers and the idlers in the cities led to strangling and destructive taxation. Because of the lethargy of slaves and undernourished free workmen, industrial progress ceased." (http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/poor-relief-in-ancient-rome/# -This is a GREAT overview of the situation)
Once again from thefreemanonline.org
"The growing burden of the dole was obviously responsible for a great part of this chain of evils, and at least two lessons can be drawn. The first, which we meet again and again in history, is that once the dole or similar relief programs are introduced, they seem almost inevitably—unless surrounded by the most rigid restrictions—to get out of hand. The second lesson is that once this happens, the poor become more numerous and worse off than they were before, not only because they have lost self-reliance, but because the sources of wealth and production on which they depended for either doles or jobs are diminished or destroyed."
He has summarized my feelings well. Do we still need to have some sort of social program for the poor? YES! But it has gotten wildly out of hand. The new Healthcare bill is a new symptom of the debilitating disease of entitlement that our country currently has. How to fix it? I am not sure, but it will need to start by once again teaching our people to work. WORK is a God-given right and a commandment.
There is no such thing as a "Right" or blessing that does not have an associated law, requirement or task. We earn our rights. We work for our blessings.
I'm giving you a standing ovation right now Ammon. I agree whole-heartedly and love the analysis that you include of Rome.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I read a story that suggests we are, indeed, headed right down the same road.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100525/bs_ynews/ynews_bs2230
The story says that currently ~18% of the average American's income is coming from government benefits. This is an all-time high. Meanwhile, the percentage of income coming from the private sector is at an all-time LOW at ~42%.
It is shocking to me that the average Joe has 18% of his income being met by government programs. University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes says that this trend is not sustainable. No kidding. Because less income from private companies means fewer jobs and fewer taxes being paid on that income. Government subsidies are often not taxes or taxed a lower rate than private income. Do some forward thinking and figure out what happens to government programs if more people are becoming more dependent on them? Where will the tax money come from to fund them? We're headed to total collapse.
Obama is fond of talking about the recession he inherited and about how he acted quickly to calm the markets and stave off another great depression. The only problem is, he's doing the same things that prolonged the depression. You've probably never heard of the depression of 1920-1921. Look it up. In many regards it was worse than the Great Depression. So why did it last only 1 year? Because Calvin Coolidge made deep cuts in federal spending. Spending was cut 65% in the first year!! The exact opposite of what Herbert Hoover and FDR did in the Great Depression. We all know that FDR created the New Deal - a slew of costly government programs that threw lots of money at the problem. Many economists argue that this actually delayed economic recovery. Were FDR to have taken Coolidge's response the great depression may never have happened. Obama is throwing lots of money at our current recession with jobs packages, stimulus packages, and bailout packages. We're told by the White House that the worst is over but I say that the worst is yet to come. All we're going through now is a temporary stabilization of shakey markets because there's been enough money thrown at it to delay the inevitable. There's too much money out there right now and it's going to come back and be real bad when the inflation hits. There are alternatives to the liberal method of combating a recession. It involves a big cut in government spending and it hurts but the problem gets fixed and recovery is faster. 1921 was a painful year with unemployment peaking at ~12%, but by 1923 unemployment was down to 2.3%. If markets are allowed to self-correct there's pain involved but recovery is faster. Makes you wonder why we never hear about the response to the depression of 1920-1921 doesn’t it? It’s always FDR who is made out to be the hero. Well, now you know.
Great comment. I am always a fan of cutting spending. The Lord said it best... Moderation in all things.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately a population that is addicted to programs and is LAZY will always vote for the candidate who will continue to run and expand and add additional programs to the national dependents. WHAT an issue. We are witnessing the impacts of such thought in Europe RIGHT NOW! The Euro is pulummeting. If we were smart, we would adjust our economic plan to take advantage of the situation and begin to fix our own economy.
OH HECK NO! How about National health care with a 2 Trillion dollars a year spending "estimate"
I can't wait to see that number skyrocket! :(
Oh it will skyrocket. Tell me the last time a government ever did anything within its budget?
ReplyDeleteOk, can you tell me how the current situation in Europe has ANYTHING to do with people having attitudes of entitlement Ammon? That really bothers me because it's such BS. What's happening in Europe, has little to do with welfare programs and pretty much everything with recent great capitalistic attitudes of spending beyond what we have, to borrow money to build wealth (what an oximoron) etc. The Euro is plummeting right now because Greece, Spain and Portugal can't support their debt with their failing banks, and the other European countries are mostly in too much debt themselves to help much. But at any rate, it's definitely also an aftershock of the American debt crisis we just had (and are still in, in my opinion). I'm not a fan of how we (all of the Western world) throw money at all our problems. Really. It's like eating chocolate ice cream when you're sad over your weight. But, I really think the Euro plummeting has hardly anything to do with the topic Troy addressed. Except maybe to the extend that we're all guilty of living beyond our means in so many different ways (which, however is not really a 'European' problem). Euro plummeting...phhhhh, it's still stronger than the dollar.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could so non-chalantly speak of the Euro's strength compared to the dollar. However, look at the trend line and you'll see that if things continue the way they are currently headed, the dollar should surpass the Euro by year's end. Regardless, the argument is frivolous because of the way global economies are so tied together. The dollar can't be strong without a strong Euro and vice versa. But the way western governments love to spend money we're all going to be looking up at the Chinese Yuan if we don't get our acts together.
ReplyDeleteI think the Greece situation is going to sweep Europe and the States within the next 2-3 years. It's inevitable as the debt we're in comes home to roost. And then the recession that began in 2008 is going to look like the roaring '20s in comparison.
None of this would have happened if our government would have remained loyal to the limits of constitutional governance. But decades of believing we can go on living however we like (we meaning both the government and individuals) has brought us to a point where we're addicted to spending and feel as though we are somehow invincible and immune to basic economic principles. We're in for it folks. We are REALLY, REALLY in for it.