"I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth, I traveled much. I observed different countries that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves and, of course, became poorer. And on the contrary, the less that was done for them, the more they did for themselves and became richer."
That's from Ben Franklin. Oh, Ben where are you today when we are in dire need of your common sense. Most people who read this will cringe because we've been brainwashed to believe that generosity lies in expanding government, expanding welfare, and raising the minimum wage. We've come a long way from common sense and over time truth has been perverted. The more you do for most people the less they'll do for themselves. Franklin's statement is spot on. After decades of liberals trying to fight poverty by expanding our welfare state are we any better off? Is poverty in America on the decline? Is the middle-class growing?
Government will NEVER lift a man out of poverty. It will not happen. On the contrary, government largesse creates generations of slaves, ever dependent on Uncle Sam for their next check. Only the individual can raise an individual out of poverty. If you think about it in religious terms whose plan was the best - the guy who wanted to make sure that we all end with the same result or the guy who knew that the only to make it was to let us work it out for ourselves.
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Let me clarify because I know my final comment there could be misinterpreted. I'm not saying that liberals are the devil. I'm not saying that our government is the devil (but I'm not NOT saying it either). I'm not saying that all government programs are inherently evil and need to be completely cut. I'm not saying that republicans' solutions are perfect. I'm simply saying that the best way for people to see to their needs is to MAKE them see to their needs. It's too easy to people to feed off the government in this country. That hurts everybody and helps no one. Least of all the person who is feeding of the government. A little tough love is what I'm calling for.
ReplyDeleteIf you never take the training wheels off the bike, and let the child scrape his/her knee they will never be able to do it on their own.
ReplyDeleteTroy, I didn't have any issue with the way you wrote it. Correct principals are correct principals. There is no other way around it. Experience is what we are talking about.
Not experience as in a Resume, but a persons right to experience the ups and downs of life. Then to learn from it and grow. Eventually elevating himself to a higher standard. Becoming better.
Going back to the analogy of the bike. Sure my son loves to ride his bike. But he doesn't even realize how much more fun it is to balance it himself and ride with much more freedom. I remember the scary day my Dad took my training wheels away. It was nerve-racking, and I did crash and skin my knees and hands. But I also can see the pride in my face (in pictures) after I mastered those two wheels. I felt so good inside.
That improvement allowed me to serve a mission and ride a bike. In contrast, on my mission, I had a missionary in one of my districts, who had never learned to ride a bike. It was terribly hard for him. He truly became a scared little kid on two wheels and even cried at the prospect of getting back on after he had crashed. He eventually learned, but what a waste of precious mission time.
We as a country just keep slapping on training wheels to anyone who looks a bit wobbly. Now we have a population that doesn't take pride in anything.
We call it helping them. What we are really doing is crippling them.
Truth is truth, no matter how you phrase it!