America is the land of opportunity. I believe this totally, and I believe that if you’re willing to work, honestly, legally, that you should be able to reap the fruits of your labor – without vilification, without punishment, without extortion. That charity should be voluntary, not forced by the governing bodies.
It’s obvious from the snarky comments I’m getting that some of you don’t agree. I will forgive you for the insults and your misguided ideology. Here’s what it comes down to: I don’t think that solely by virtue of having a heartbeat and living in this country (and having offspring), you are entitled to or have a higher-being-given right to “free” healthcare, housing, sustenance, education. I don’t think productive and legal entities or people should be penalized to maintain or prop up the others. This is where we differ – you obviously think the opposite. Good for you. I believe in equality of opportunity (as in, no laws stopping you), not necessarily equality of outcome. This is a key difference between those of us on the right and those of you on the left. In that sense, never the twain shall meet.
If “redistribution of wealth” or favoritism or whatever you want to call it worked so well, why do we still have poor in this country? Why are we still paying welfare? Food stamps? Medicaid? Other social (engineering) programs? I tell you why –because the nanny state is self-perpetuating. It takes away personal motivation and reinforces dependence. The kids from these individuals are learning from their parents’ example the same thing and will teach their kids the same thing. And so on. And the demands don’t lessen, they increase.
Same with industries: If we’re talking about companies getting preferential treatment solely because of their demographic or because they’re not doing so well, what’s to motivate them to grow, change, adapt, innovate? When does the assistance end? It won’t, and the demands will increase. The policy becomes a right and then it’s practically carved in stone.
It comes down to a question of motivation. A small illustration: a while back I was out having drinks with some coworkers. Our waitress was pretty indifferent, inattentive and not that pleasant. Mind you, we were ordering drinks and munchies the entire time – so we were “active patrons.” Yet, when the bill came around, one of our group insisted on giving her a good tip because we had been there awhile, taking up space at the establishment. Huh? So the waitress learns that she doesn’t have to be a good waitress to get a good tip. That her tip is something that’s owed to her regardless of her actions. This in a microcosm is what happens when resources are rendered without requiring anything in return.
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2 comments:
For better or worse, in our society we have the "social contract" or the concept that "to those whom much is given, much is expected in return," or my favorite, the opening line in "The Great Gatsby" where Nick Carroway mentions his father once telling him (I'm paraphrasing) "Whenever you find yourself criticizing someone, remember, not everyone grew up with the advantages you've had."
Everyone hates taxes; intellectually I agree with the concept of progressive taxation, but when it affects me I'm gritting my teeth and grumbling - i.e. every quarter I get a dividend check (it just came last week) - next week I'll send 75% of it to the government for my quarterly estimated tax payment. I know, I know - everyone tells me be glad you have the money to pay your taxes, but even so - Grrr. However, for those states and countries that are touted as wonderful places to live in because of their low tax rates, as a rule they are also very far down the scale when it comes to public services. That's why so many Mexicans want to come here; you lose your job in Mexico - you starve. Plus, here they can earn in half an hour what it takes them all day to earn in Mexico.
So for the common good, those of us who are productive, honest, moral, upstanding, and all those other good things, have to prop up those who are stupid, lazy, immoral, dishonest and all those other bad things - along with those who are just plain unlucky; unlucky in who they got for parents, unlucky in the neighborhood they grew up in; or the ethnic group they were born into (and even though it's not the PC thing to say, let's face it, some groups - think Asian-Americans - put more emphasis on education and self improvement than do others). Or perhaps they're just unlucky in the brains department.
Further to those countries where the social contract isn't a biggie and it's everyone for himself and "stand on your own two feet" - think India - no doubt it's changing now but it wasn't uncommon for there not to be much in the way of garbage pickups, but there were squads that went around the poorer sections of the cities every morning to collect the dead bodies that had accumulated in the gutters and doorways overnight. Some years back I had a conversation with a Maryknoll nun who was doing some work in India and was living in a rented apartment. She was only there a few days and of course word must have gotten out that a Catholic nun was living in the neighborhood; she got up one morning and found a baby on her doorstep, and of course she took it in. The next morning there were three babies; the morning after that, five. She called the police to ask them what she should do and the captain told her to take the babies and put them out in the gutter and leave them there, or by the end of the week she'd have a hundred babies.
Not a very pleasant society in which to live. - AJ
I have to agree with aj-36. We are our brothers keepers, for better or worse. When a third of the poor are blind or disabled, they're not going to regain their sight by imploring them to try harder, nor will amputees grow legs and walk by kicking them off the government teat.
Indeed, if we never sacrificed for others, how would we ever convince soldiers to fight and die for us?
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