Our door bell rang last evening. I opened the door to see who was going to try to sell me some completely useless service or to solicit funds for yet another asinine and misguided cause and was surprised to see my neighbour standing there. He had a shopping bag in his hand and held it out to me. "Here, I baked this apple strudel for you and your family," he said. "I didn't put in any nuts or use any peanut oil," he added, to indicate to me that the strudel would be safe for my nut-allergic son to eat.
The strudel was yummy, better than any I have ever bought, anywhere. My neighbour loves to cook and bake and it shows in the quality of his concoctions. He is a youngish man (compared to me, anyway) and is originally from the Czech Republic. He is successful, bright, and is exactly the sort of immigrant we here in Canada and our American cousins should be seeking. He contributes not only to the economic health of our country but to our level of civility and ethics. He and his wife are great neighbours and I feel lucky to have them next door.
I am all for immigration. We need immigrants for many reasons which I will not repeat here. We should just be careful who we allow to join us. Just as we would not willingly marry or form business partnerships with people who do not measure up to our individual standards, we should not form citizenship partnerships with people who have no work ethic or who are unwilling to take responsibility for themselves. They should work towards becoming part of the larger community, rather than trying to mold the community to their liking and experience. This has nothing to do with race or colour, or even with education or training. It has to do with the willingness, the burning desire, to create a better life than was available to these people elsewhere, and to do it honestly through hard work and application. Becoming welfare sponges or part of a criminal community that is growing at a pace seemingly faster than the larger population in which it resides, should not be options.
We have yet to see the full folly of being too lax in our immigration policies. Our systems are overloaded and underfunded already, but they haven't yet reached critical status. They will. We don't need to control the number of people allowed into Canada every year, we simply need to control the caliber of the individuals we invite to join us.
When I walk around our neighbourhood in the evenings, I see individuals of every colour and race. These are people who have worked hard and who are now enjoying the fruits of their labour. I hope my son will be able to make that same assessment about the neighbourhood in which he will be living when he attains my age. We'll see.
Showing posts with label responsibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label responsibility. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Friday, June 01, 2007
More Meddlesome Morons Make Me Mad
By now, everyone must know about the flap generated by the Conference on World Affairs, held in a Boulder, Colorado, high school in April. That is where some participants in the "STDs: Sex, Teens and Drugs" panel suggested to teens that they could experiment with same-gender sex, take drugs, eschew condoms, along with other, less than responsible, advice.
I read through much of the transcript of the event and, to be fair, there was a lot of other content that amounted to the same feel-good, empty-headed, leftist drivel that we hear all the time. Lots of words, little import, considerable posturing and pontificating, mostly useless but not necessarily sinister information and opinions. However, the fact remains that things were said that have no place in a school, to students under the age of majority or consent, without express approval of the parents. I don't want anyone telling my son that it is OK to ignore all of the things I have taught him about responsible sex and respect for not only his mind and body, but everyone else's as well.
I have nothing against sex. I just don't want anyone infecting anyone else with the STD-of-the-day. I want people to treat each other with respect. How respectful is it to have indiscriminate and unprotected sex, thereby risking infecting everyone else you ever sleep with? How respectful is it to treat someone else simply as a tool for sexual gratification, to be discarded afterwards? I'm no prude and have no problem with recreational sex. It feels good. It's fun. And, while we are engaged in it, we aren't inclined to get into mischief like passing more laws or robbing banks. It remains, however, that sexual activity can be risky, and has potential for lifelong ramifications like diseases or unwanted pregnancy. It is not something to be engaged in lightly, without careful consideration beforehand.
Sex education, the practical and mechanical ins-and-outs of it, should be taught in school. The values and ethics of relationships and intimacy are best left to the parents. I don't want any social engineers interfering with what is my job. They are not up to the task.
I read through much of the transcript of the event and, to be fair, there was a lot of other content that amounted to the same feel-good, empty-headed, leftist drivel that we hear all the time. Lots of words, little import, considerable posturing and pontificating, mostly useless but not necessarily sinister information and opinions. However, the fact remains that things were said that have no place in a school, to students under the age of majority or consent, without express approval of the parents. I don't want anyone telling my son that it is OK to ignore all of the things I have taught him about responsible sex and respect for not only his mind and body, but everyone else's as well.
I have nothing against sex. I just don't want anyone infecting anyone else with the STD-of-the-day. I want people to treat each other with respect. How respectful is it to have indiscriminate and unprotected sex, thereby risking infecting everyone else you ever sleep with? How respectful is it to treat someone else simply as a tool for sexual gratification, to be discarded afterwards? I'm no prude and have no problem with recreational sex. It feels good. It's fun. And, while we are engaged in it, we aren't inclined to get into mischief like passing more laws or robbing banks. It remains, however, that sexual activity can be risky, and has potential for lifelong ramifications like diseases or unwanted pregnancy. It is not something to be engaged in lightly, without careful consideration beforehand.
Sex education, the practical and mechanical ins-and-outs of it, should be taught in school. The values and ethics of relationships and intimacy are best left to the parents. I don't want any social engineers interfering with what is my job. They are not up to the task.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Do greedy capitalist pigs have a warm and fuzzy side?
This past weekend, my son suggested to me that I change my appearance. He knows that I intensely dislike for things always to be the same, including the way I look and dress. Every year, I cycle through stages of being clean-shaven, having a short, trimmed beard, or sometimes sporting a moustache alone. I have never wanted to get so attached to my face or my general appearance that I would break into hives at the mere consideration of changing something about it.
Last night, I told him that I had forgotten what he had suggested, exactly, for me to do to change my appearance. He started to speak, took and closer look at me, and said: "You've already done it. When did you do it?"
I did 'it' Monday night. I shaved most of my beard away, so that I now have a sort of moustache/goatee combination that appears to be more popular these days than a full beard.
My point? We all see each other and everything around us in ways that reflect our experiences, our prejudices, and our expectations. My son is used to seeing me in a certain way, and even if I change my appearance, it doesn't immediately register. My wife has yet to notice. No-one in my office has clued in either.
That is the way we are. We hear something, read something, are taught something, and if it resonates or rings true with us at that moment, based on our experiences to date, it becomes our dogma. Everything we do, everything we think, everything we say, forever after, is at risk of being coloured by our resultant preconceptions. We could, of course, open our minds and more carefully consider things, based on more than what simply amounts to our prejudices, but that would be unusual. Most people simply do not let themselves be influenced by anything that doesn't coincide with their world view and their core philosophy.
In this post, I want to dwell on some things brought up by Chani and Bellezza and others in the comments section of my last post. I am going to meander around considerably, as I try to address things, so I hope you will be patient and come along for the ride.
One of the things Chani said in a comment was: "I think I might be hearing some white male privilege here and need to challenge it. " Let's deal with that first.
Anyone who has been around here for a while knows more about me, probably, than they ever wanted to know. I am a firm believer that we are, at least in part, the sum total of our experiences, so I have discussed my history, in various contexts, several times. I don't want to rehash my entire history again, so I'll just outline the basics. When my family came to Canada in 1949, we spent our first Canadian winter in an uninsulated chicken coop in Barrhead, Alberta. My father always worked as a labourer, my mother worked as a charwoman until it was no longer necessary. I got my first job at age 12, by lying about my age. I worked every summer after that, and took several years off school to work as well. I have worked with pick and shovel. I worked in a rubber factory, where the average temperature was 115 degrees Fahrenheit because of the steam used to press and mold the gaskets I helped make. I worked in a paper factory and in a furniture factory. I drove a dump truck and a cement truck. Then, I started my business and worked even harder. I worked very, very hard to get to where I am, and earned every penny. Privilege played no part in what I might have achieved.
Have I known adversity as an adult? I lost everything I owned, except for the clothes on my back and some personal effects, twice. Does that count?
It is very easy for people to point at the 'rich' or at those 'greedy capitalist pigs,' or at 'predatory environments,' and to place all the blame there. Most people who drop in to visit this blog, in all fairness, don't generalize that way, but many other people do. So, let's discuss those greedy capitalist pigs, shall we?
I am a capitalist. I am a real capitalist. I don't support corporate subsidies, legislative protection, or artificial monopolies created by limiting competition. Sink or swim. My money, my brains, my sweat. If I lose, I lose nothing that belongs to you or anyone else. If I win, I win nothing that belongs to you or to anyone else. Real capitalism does not exist any more in North America. It hasn't existed for decades.
Am I a greedy capitalist pig? I am no more greedy than you, or you or you. More than money, I want to be able to live my life on my terms. I want nothing from anyone except to be left alone. I could make a lot more money, start more businesses, and keep on trying to expand my sphere of influence. I don't. Why not? For decades, the frustration of trying to get anything done while dealing with layers of bureaucratic interference, ridiculously high taxes, and much other nonsense, makes the cost of empire-building too high. So I don't do it. My piece of mind is more important to me. Sure, I do some things like the development in Panama I share with some partners, but I consider that fun. And there are fewer interfering bureaucrats there and taxation is much lower.
Is there anything wrong though with wanting more money? No. As long as money is earned honestly and fairly, there is nothing wrong with wanting more of it. I don't begrudge Warren Buffet or Bill Gates their billions. I get along just fine with what I have. To me, envy has always been the equivalent of a cardinal sin. Envious people are the world's equivalent of a jealous spouse. Ever had one of those? You will understand then what I mean. These people want to pull everyone down to the same level. I want to pull everyone up to the same level. That is a big difference.
Are there greedy capitalist pigs? Sure there are. My definition of greed is not that you might wish more of something (like money) but that you are willing to do anything to get it. Get the distinction? When you look at that little twist, then it becomes apparent that what ails the world is not at all people wanting more of anything, but what they are willing to do to achieve their wishes.
I have met business people like that, individuals who would sell their mother for a dollar, take advantage of their employees, lie, steal, cheat, and seek special favours from their political buddies to enshrine their positions in their field. I can't stand people like that.
I have met welfare recipients like that too. They were willing to lie, steal, cheat, and seek special favours from politicians to ensure that they maintain their status and have a permanent meal ticket. I have met tenants like that. They were willing to lie, steal, cheat, and seek special favours from politicians to avoid personal responsibility and to take advantage of landlords. I owned a bunch of rental buildings with my wife, years ago. I don't any longer. Why not? The deck was stacked. Landlords are perceived as evil, scheming, cheating bastards who take advantage of poor, helpless, tenants. So what if some tenants don't pay their rent or damage the premises? It's not their fault. It is society's fault, in some perverse way that I still can't understand, and if tenants skip without paying their rent, it is because they can't help it. Landlords should just suck it up and stop being so greedy. The fact that landlords have mortgages, taxes, utilities and whatever else to pay is irrelevant. Tenants = good. Landlords = bad. End of story. At least that is what many people want us to believe.
Bullshit.
Are landlords greedy and dishonest? Sure, some are. But, I have met many more dishonest tenants than dishonest landlords. Why? Because there are more tenants than landlords. It is that simple.
What I am getting at here is that there are crooks everywhere. I am willing to wager that the percentage of crooks in any field is roughly the same: doctors, lawyers, politicians, bureaucrats, labourers, soccer moms, businesspeople and even the homeless. It doesn't have anything to do with what you do, but with what you are. It all boils down to values. If everyone in the world had values of personal responsibility, honesty, fairness, and compassion, the world would be a much better place.
Ah yes, compassion. That is what really concerns us in the dialogue we are having on this blog over the past week or so. Can someone who champions individual responsibility even understand the concept of compassion, much less actually practice it? I have stipulated a number of times in my posts that I have no problem helping those who truly need or deserve help. I would rather, though, that my financial help be completely voluntary and not stolen from me first via taxation. At least that way I could direct where the money is going and do my best to ensure that the administrators of the charities and social services are accountable and efficient. I just want to make sure that my dollars actually do some good.
I admire people who, against all odds, rise from adversity and improve their lives. Chani is one such person. Read her comments on my last post. Bellezza is such a person. Ditto. Penny is such a person. Read her blog. There are many others who see that things are not what they could or should be and then make the effort to do something about it. I salute all of them.
I recognize that some people cannot now, nor will they ever, be able to help and support themselves. They need our help. So, let's help them.
That is all I am trying to do with Walk the Talk. Like those I mentioned in the last paragraph, I too need your help. So, help me. Let's show the world that greedy capitalist pigs and everyone else can work together and do some good.
Last night, I told him that I had forgotten what he had suggested, exactly, for me to do to change my appearance. He started to speak, took and closer look at me, and said: "You've already done it. When did you do it?"
I did 'it' Monday night. I shaved most of my beard away, so that I now have a sort of moustache/goatee combination that appears to be more popular these days than a full beard.
My point? We all see each other and everything around us in ways that reflect our experiences, our prejudices, and our expectations. My son is used to seeing me in a certain way, and even if I change my appearance, it doesn't immediately register. My wife has yet to notice. No-one in my office has clued in either.
That is the way we are. We hear something, read something, are taught something, and if it resonates or rings true with us at that moment, based on our experiences to date, it becomes our dogma. Everything we do, everything we think, everything we say, forever after, is at risk of being coloured by our resultant preconceptions. We could, of course, open our minds and more carefully consider things, based on more than what simply amounts to our prejudices, but that would be unusual. Most people simply do not let themselves be influenced by anything that doesn't coincide with their world view and their core philosophy.
In this post, I want to dwell on some things brought up by Chani and Bellezza and others in the comments section of my last post. I am going to meander around considerably, as I try to address things, so I hope you will be patient and come along for the ride.
One of the things Chani said in a comment was: "I think I might be hearing some white male privilege here and need to challenge it. " Let's deal with that first.
Anyone who has been around here for a while knows more about me, probably, than they ever wanted to know. I am a firm believer that we are, at least in part, the sum total of our experiences, so I have discussed my history, in various contexts, several times. I don't want to rehash my entire history again, so I'll just outline the basics. When my family came to Canada in 1949, we spent our first Canadian winter in an uninsulated chicken coop in Barrhead, Alberta. My father always worked as a labourer, my mother worked as a charwoman until it was no longer necessary. I got my first job at age 12, by lying about my age. I worked every summer after that, and took several years off school to work as well. I have worked with pick and shovel. I worked in a rubber factory, where the average temperature was 115 degrees Fahrenheit because of the steam used to press and mold the gaskets I helped make. I worked in a paper factory and in a furniture factory. I drove a dump truck and a cement truck. Then, I started my business and worked even harder. I worked very, very hard to get to where I am, and earned every penny. Privilege played no part in what I might have achieved.
Have I known adversity as an adult? I lost everything I owned, except for the clothes on my back and some personal effects, twice. Does that count?
It is very easy for people to point at the 'rich' or at those 'greedy capitalist pigs,' or at 'predatory environments,' and to place all the blame there. Most people who drop in to visit this blog, in all fairness, don't generalize that way, but many other people do. So, let's discuss those greedy capitalist pigs, shall we?
I am a capitalist. I am a real capitalist. I don't support corporate subsidies, legislative protection, or artificial monopolies created by limiting competition. Sink or swim. My money, my brains, my sweat. If I lose, I lose nothing that belongs to you or anyone else. If I win, I win nothing that belongs to you or to anyone else. Real capitalism does not exist any more in North America. It hasn't existed for decades.
Am I a greedy capitalist pig? I am no more greedy than you, or you or you. More than money, I want to be able to live my life on my terms. I want nothing from anyone except to be left alone. I could make a lot more money, start more businesses, and keep on trying to expand my sphere of influence. I don't. Why not? For decades, the frustration of trying to get anything done while dealing with layers of bureaucratic interference, ridiculously high taxes, and much other nonsense, makes the cost of empire-building too high. So I don't do it. My piece of mind is more important to me. Sure, I do some things like the development in Panama I share with some partners, but I consider that fun. And there are fewer interfering bureaucrats there and taxation is much lower.
Is there anything wrong though with wanting more money? No. As long as money is earned honestly and fairly, there is nothing wrong with wanting more of it. I don't begrudge Warren Buffet or Bill Gates their billions. I get along just fine with what I have. To me, envy has always been the equivalent of a cardinal sin. Envious people are the world's equivalent of a jealous spouse. Ever had one of those? You will understand then what I mean. These people want to pull everyone down to the same level. I want to pull everyone up to the same level. That is a big difference.
Are there greedy capitalist pigs? Sure there are. My definition of greed is not that you might wish more of something (like money) but that you are willing to do anything to get it. Get the distinction? When you look at that little twist, then it becomes apparent that what ails the world is not at all people wanting more of anything, but what they are willing to do to achieve their wishes.
I have met business people like that, individuals who would sell their mother for a dollar, take advantage of their employees, lie, steal, cheat, and seek special favours from their political buddies to enshrine their positions in their field. I can't stand people like that.
I have met welfare recipients like that too. They were willing to lie, steal, cheat, and seek special favours from politicians to ensure that they maintain their status and have a permanent meal ticket. I have met tenants like that. They were willing to lie, steal, cheat, and seek special favours from politicians to avoid personal responsibility and to take advantage of landlords. I owned a bunch of rental buildings with my wife, years ago. I don't any longer. Why not? The deck was stacked. Landlords are perceived as evil, scheming, cheating bastards who take advantage of poor, helpless, tenants. So what if some tenants don't pay their rent or damage the premises? It's not their fault. It is society's fault, in some perverse way that I still can't understand, and if tenants skip without paying their rent, it is because they can't help it. Landlords should just suck it up and stop being so greedy. The fact that landlords have mortgages, taxes, utilities and whatever else to pay is irrelevant. Tenants = good. Landlords = bad. End of story. At least that is what many people want us to believe.
Bullshit.
Are landlords greedy and dishonest? Sure, some are. But, I have met many more dishonest tenants than dishonest landlords. Why? Because there are more tenants than landlords. It is that simple.
What I am getting at here is that there are crooks everywhere. I am willing to wager that the percentage of crooks in any field is roughly the same: doctors, lawyers, politicians, bureaucrats, labourers, soccer moms, businesspeople and even the homeless. It doesn't have anything to do with what you do, but with what you are. It all boils down to values. If everyone in the world had values of personal responsibility, honesty, fairness, and compassion, the world would be a much better place.
Ah yes, compassion. That is what really concerns us in the dialogue we are having on this blog over the past week or so. Can someone who champions individual responsibility even understand the concept of compassion, much less actually practice it? I have stipulated a number of times in my posts that I have no problem helping those who truly need or deserve help. I would rather, though, that my financial help be completely voluntary and not stolen from me first via taxation. At least that way I could direct where the money is going and do my best to ensure that the administrators of the charities and social services are accountable and efficient. I just want to make sure that my dollars actually do some good.
I admire people who, against all odds, rise from adversity and improve their lives. Chani is one such person. Read her comments on my last post. Bellezza is such a person. Ditto. Penny is such a person. Read her blog. There are many others who see that things are not what they could or should be and then make the effort to do something about it. I salute all of them.
I recognize that some people cannot now, nor will they ever, be able to help and support themselves. They need our help. So, let's help them.
That is all I am trying to do with Walk the Talk. Like those I mentioned in the last paragraph, I too need your help. So, help me. Let's show the world that greedy capitalist pigs and everyone else can work together and do some good.
Friday, March 30, 2007
A Friday Rant
When I was eleven or twelve years old, some time in 1957, my family went to a Canadian citizenship ceremony. My mother and father had to answer some questions about Canada to qualify, and presumably responded correctly because from that day forward we were all Canadian citizens. I still have my original citizenship certificate somewhere. My brother, who was eight years old at the time, was already officially a citizen because he was born in Canada, shortly after we arrived from Germany in 1949.
This is 2007, so I guess that means I have been a citizen of Canada for fifty years. Wow.
I like Canada. It has been a good place to grow up, get an education, start numerous businesses, make and lose money, raise a family, and to do all of the things that I wanted to badly enough to make whatever sacrifices were necessary. Life is a lengthy series of exchanges: If we want something, we invest time and energy and/or the money that derives from our actions, into the achievement of that goal. Tit for tat. An exchange of values.
Rarely can anything be achieved without some sort of sacrifice. To attain any level of success, it is usually necessary to prioritize what you want, and to then delay gratification of other desires by postponing or even eliminating some things from your life. That trade off has always seemed perfectly reasonable to me. It is not, however, reasonable to everyone. That's OK. We're all different. What works for me might not work for you, or vice versa. No problem. As long as Joe Futzwutz and Mary Jane Dingbat live their lives without any direct cost to me, thy can do whatever they wish. They can consume everything in sight, buy the biggest cars, the biggest boats, the biggest houses, take the most trips, and party every weekend. When they hit their retirement years though, don't expect me to take care of them. I have spent my working life preparing for the worst. I have delayed gratification, often to the chagrin of my wives, and have tried to make sure that I would never be a burden to society or to my family.
My parents taught me that. My dad laboured at the most back-breaking jobs and my mother washed floors on her hands and knees to support themselves and their family. They only consumed what they could afford, rarely travelled anywhere, packed lunches, eschewed vices like smoking or drinking, and when they retired they had enough money to take care of themselves. They even paid for their funerals and grave sites and had some money left over for their kids. We didn't need it by then. We were taught well.
One of my favourite blogs is written by Jen, at One Plus Two. She works with the homeless. She writes these gripping posts about people she works with and the injustices she sees around her. Often, I read a post of hers and don't even leave a comment because I feel it will just be something trite and meaningless and I don't want to cheapen her passion. Jen has passion by the truckload.
I like passion. In order for any one of us to achieve anything, we have to be passionate. We have to care. We have to want to make a difference. Often, though, the means to the end we desire is what we have trouble agreeing on. That's why the blog cruising we all do is important. We learn about situations we might otherwise not be familiar with. We learn about ideas people have to solve various problems. We learn that not everyone thinks as we do.
Here is my problem: I believe that many of the problems that face people are of their own making and that it is not up to the rest of us to make the problems go away, at least not at the point of a gun. By that, I mean of course proposed political solutions with which I don't agree, via taxation, to problems that may not merit intervention. The gun is always there, believe me. Try not paying your taxes. Sooner or later someone with a gun is going to come to your door.
I have no problem with voluntarily helping anyone. I just like to choose who I am going to help. There are people I would help in a heartbeat. There are others who are guaranteed never to get a penny from me, if I can help it. I want to choose.
Jen appears to deal with many people who can't help where they are. Perhaps they might have a history of mental or physical illness that precludes any possibility of holding down a job. So, let's help them. Where do I sign up? There are others though, those who are the architects of their own misfortune, that I definitely don't want to help. Throwing tax funds at them is a monumental waste of money and only encourages them never to do anything about their plight. They neglected their schooling, got into drug or alcohol abuse, got pregnant without any way to care for their child, and now, as a direct result of their own stupidity, they can't get by. I would help their children, because they are innocent of any wrongdoing and deserve a chance to break out of the life engineered by their parent(s,) but I won't contribute directly to help someone who has behaved like an idiot.
Saturday mornings, after I drop my son off at German School, I often stop at a coffee shop in a rougher area of my city to get some coffee to take to my office. Almost always, there are young parents with young children there. Coffees and doughnuts and hot chocolate for the family will easily cost $10.00 or more. That's $520.00 per year. Cigarettes for both adults will cost at least $15.00 per day, at Canadian prices. That's $5,475.00 per year. By the look of the adults, there was considerable Friday night partying. How much did that cost? Conservatively, probably $50.00. That's another $2,600 per year. Why do I care how these people spend their money? Because the kids are in rags. They need new shoes and perhaps new winter coats. Their teeth need work. And goodness knows how they live at home. Do they eat properly? The grown-ups should make whatever sacrifices are necessary to take care of themselves and their kids: quit smoking, quit boozing, buy the kids some clothes and send them to the dentist. They are their kids. Not mine. Take care of them.
If we have kids, it is our job to raise them responsibly, to give them everything they need (not everything they want) and, to help them achieve a social and economic status better than ours was, and above all, to teach them values. My parents were peasant farmers in Europe, originally. They wanted to succeed, and did, with great sacrifice and hard work. I had to work very hard too, and make many sacrifices, to get to where I am today. My son will have it easier, but I am trying to teach him that regardless of what his station in life will be, he will have to take responsibility for himself and his family and never be a burden to anyone. He is not now, nor should he ever be, anyone else's problem.
Our governments are throwing more money at the problems of the poor and homeless than ever before. I don't see anything getting better, do you? Today's 'poor' have things that I never had and have opportunities that didn't exist years ago, but the will to change, to make a better life for themselves and for their kids, simply isn't there.
When I was growing up, my family sat for years at a table that some other family had discarded. Our living room was furnished with an old couch and chairs that another family had given us. At age seventeen or so, I found an old TV by the road and fixed it up so I could watch the odd television show when I didn't have something better to do, which was almost never. My parents never bought a TV. My brother and I finally bought them a TV so they could watch the occasional nature program. It was seldom turned on. We didn't need television or fancy games or lots of money because we had each other. We cared about each other. We actually talked to each other. My parents not only taught by example, they told us what was right and what was wrong.
This is not a post about me, or about how I feel that I have all the answers. I just get so frustrated knowing that there are real people out there with real problems, and they are not getting the help they need. Why not? Because so many tax dollars are being sucked out of the system to support people who just don't give a shit, and who will be happy to be wards of the state until they die, and then pass that not-so-enviable distinction on to the next generation.
The economic party will be over soon, folks, and there will be far fewer tax dollars to go around then. How are these people going to live?
I don't know.
This is 2007, so I guess that means I have been a citizen of Canada for fifty years. Wow.
I like Canada. It has been a good place to grow up, get an education, start numerous businesses, make and lose money, raise a family, and to do all of the things that I wanted to badly enough to make whatever sacrifices were necessary. Life is a lengthy series of exchanges: If we want something, we invest time and energy and/or the money that derives from our actions, into the achievement of that goal. Tit for tat. An exchange of values.
Rarely can anything be achieved without some sort of sacrifice. To attain any level of success, it is usually necessary to prioritize what you want, and to then delay gratification of other desires by postponing or even eliminating some things from your life. That trade off has always seemed perfectly reasonable to me. It is not, however, reasonable to everyone. That's OK. We're all different. What works for me might not work for you, or vice versa. No problem. As long as Joe Futzwutz and Mary Jane Dingbat live their lives without any direct cost to me, thy can do whatever they wish. They can consume everything in sight, buy the biggest cars, the biggest boats, the biggest houses, take the most trips, and party every weekend. When they hit their retirement years though, don't expect me to take care of them. I have spent my working life preparing for the worst. I have delayed gratification, often to the chagrin of my wives, and have tried to make sure that I would never be a burden to society or to my family.
My parents taught me that. My dad laboured at the most back-breaking jobs and my mother washed floors on her hands and knees to support themselves and their family. They only consumed what they could afford, rarely travelled anywhere, packed lunches, eschewed vices like smoking or drinking, and when they retired they had enough money to take care of themselves. They even paid for their funerals and grave sites and had some money left over for their kids. We didn't need it by then. We were taught well.
One of my favourite blogs is written by Jen, at One Plus Two. She works with the homeless. She writes these gripping posts about people she works with and the injustices she sees around her. Often, I read a post of hers and don't even leave a comment because I feel it will just be something trite and meaningless and I don't want to cheapen her passion. Jen has passion by the truckload.
I like passion. In order for any one of us to achieve anything, we have to be passionate. We have to care. We have to want to make a difference. Often, though, the means to the end we desire is what we have trouble agreeing on. That's why the blog cruising we all do is important. We learn about situations we might otherwise not be familiar with. We learn about ideas people have to solve various problems. We learn that not everyone thinks as we do.
Here is my problem: I believe that many of the problems that face people are of their own making and that it is not up to the rest of us to make the problems go away, at least not at the point of a gun. By that, I mean of course proposed political solutions with which I don't agree, via taxation, to problems that may not merit intervention. The gun is always there, believe me. Try not paying your taxes. Sooner or later someone with a gun is going to come to your door.
I have no problem with voluntarily helping anyone. I just like to choose who I am going to help. There are people I would help in a heartbeat. There are others who are guaranteed never to get a penny from me, if I can help it. I want to choose.
Jen appears to deal with many people who can't help where they are. Perhaps they might have a history of mental or physical illness that precludes any possibility of holding down a job. So, let's help them. Where do I sign up? There are others though, those who are the architects of their own misfortune, that I definitely don't want to help. Throwing tax funds at them is a monumental waste of money and only encourages them never to do anything about their plight. They neglected their schooling, got into drug or alcohol abuse, got pregnant without any way to care for their child, and now, as a direct result of their own stupidity, they can't get by. I would help their children, because they are innocent of any wrongdoing and deserve a chance to break out of the life engineered by their parent(s,) but I won't contribute directly to help someone who has behaved like an idiot.
Saturday mornings, after I drop my son off at German School, I often stop at a coffee shop in a rougher area of my city to get some coffee to take to my office. Almost always, there are young parents with young children there. Coffees and doughnuts and hot chocolate for the family will easily cost $10.00 or more. That's $520.00 per year. Cigarettes for both adults will cost at least $15.00 per day, at Canadian prices. That's $5,475.00 per year. By the look of the adults, there was considerable Friday night partying. How much did that cost? Conservatively, probably $50.00. That's another $2,600 per year. Why do I care how these people spend their money? Because the kids are in rags. They need new shoes and perhaps new winter coats. Their teeth need work. And goodness knows how they live at home. Do they eat properly? The grown-ups should make whatever sacrifices are necessary to take care of themselves and their kids: quit smoking, quit boozing, buy the kids some clothes and send them to the dentist. They are their kids. Not mine. Take care of them.
If we have kids, it is our job to raise them responsibly, to give them everything they need (not everything they want) and, to help them achieve a social and economic status better than ours was, and above all, to teach them values. My parents were peasant farmers in Europe, originally. They wanted to succeed, and did, with great sacrifice and hard work. I had to work very hard too, and make many sacrifices, to get to where I am today. My son will have it easier, but I am trying to teach him that regardless of what his station in life will be, he will have to take responsibility for himself and his family and never be a burden to anyone. He is not now, nor should he ever be, anyone else's problem.
Our governments are throwing more money at the problems of the poor and homeless than ever before. I don't see anything getting better, do you? Today's 'poor' have things that I never had and have opportunities that didn't exist years ago, but the will to change, to make a better life for themselves and for their kids, simply isn't there.
When I was growing up, my family sat for years at a table that some other family had discarded. Our living room was furnished with an old couch and chairs that another family had given us. At age seventeen or so, I found an old TV by the road and fixed it up so I could watch the odd television show when I didn't have something better to do, which was almost never. My parents never bought a TV. My brother and I finally bought them a TV so they could watch the occasional nature program. It was seldom turned on. We didn't need television or fancy games or lots of money because we had each other. We cared about each other. We actually talked to each other. My parents not only taught by example, they told us what was right and what was wrong.
This is not a post about me, or about how I feel that I have all the answers. I just get so frustrated knowing that there are real people out there with real problems, and they are not getting the help they need. Why not? Because so many tax dollars are being sucked out of the system to support people who just don't give a shit, and who will be happy to be wards of the state until they die, and then pass that not-so-enviable distinction on to the next generation.
The economic party will be over soon, folks, and there will be far fewer tax dollars to go around then. How are these people going to live?
I don't know.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Never ask a know-nothing if he knows something.
In the comments section of an earlier post, Jen asked me about whether I had read the book "Manuel Noriega, America's Prisoner," and what I thought about U.S. involvement in Panama generally. She also asked about the book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man."
I'm afraid that I have read neither book. I will make note of them and try to add them to my 2015 reading pile. I am sure I would learn something from them. The larger issue, though, of U.S. involvement in Panama, and in many countries around our globe, is easier to address.
There are essentially two ways to assess American (or any sovereign nation's) involvement abroad. One is purely philosophical: should they be involved at all, or should they never, under any circumstance meddle in the affairs of another sovereign nation. The other consideration is more practical: under which circumstances might it be justified for the U.S. or any other nation to involve itself in the machinations of countries which may or may not welcome outside involvement? Then, if the necessary circumstances exist, who makes the decision, the country where the perceived problem exists, or the United States or other nation which feels that its interests are challenged in some way?
Let's look at these issues from those perspectives. Should the United States or any other country meddle in the affairs of other sovereign nations? From a purely philosophical point of view, I would say no. The government of the United States has a responsibility to protect the legitimate interests of its citizens at home. If U.S. individuals or companies move elsewhere, they should be on their own. No nation can police every other nation. It isn't practical. It isn't even possible, at the best of times. Most importantly, in most cases, it isn't ethical.
Given my libertarian leanings, I think that any regular reader of this blog would have noticed that I think we should all simply mind our own business, both individually and as groups, large or small. Whether a group is a committee, a religious denomination, or an entire nation doesn't matter. We need to mind our own affairs and leave others alone to mind theirs.
Is that it, then? No country should ever meddle in the affairs of another, regardless of the circumstances or of real or perceived threats that might exist?
Human stupidity abounds. It will be with us long after all of us living today are gone. Many people prefer not to think or to make important decisions themselves. They like to delegate decisions. They trust their elected or appointed officials to do the right thing. The problem is, the elected officials are really no more qualified to make decisions than each of us is individually. Don't believe me? Look around. Are we living in a perfect world? Does everyone get along? Has hate been eradicated? Are wars a thing of the past? Are our schools safe? Are we safe on the streets of our own cities? Are we safe from the long and invasive arm of our own governments?
Ask yourself as many more similar questions as you like, and then supply as many no's as are necessary yourself. Was there a single yes as answer to a question in your list? Probably not.
We have trusted our elected officials to take care of all of these things for us, to guide us, to think for us, to spend our money for us. But... they have let us down. No matter where we live, if our elected officials make decisions, we are stuck with them. The effect can be as simple as a deterioration in the quality of our life, or as final as having our life eradicated completely. I don't know about you, but I prefer to live and die on my terms. I know best what I am willing to fight to the death for, like my own family and possessions, and under which conditions I never want to die, like in a police raid based on faulty information or in an un-winnable war protecting the life and property of people who really don't want my help anyway.
Is it ever proper for one sovereign nation to involve itself in the affairs of another? Let's set any philosophical arguments aside for the moment and consider the matter from a purely practical point of view. My personal background and family history always become part of the consideration when I ponder this issue. I was born in Germany just after World War II. Millions of innocent people died in that war. Would external intervention to take out Adolf Hitler before his influence and power reached their respective peaks have made sense? What if Hitler had been assassinated by a hit squad from outside Germany? Would his followers have carried on, without his mania and focus? I don't know, but it is something I have thought of often. I might have gotten to know two uncles who were lost in the war, and two brothers, Erwin and Albert, who died of starvation and disease just months before I was born.
Maybe the world would have been a better place, had Hitler been taken out. But, was it the place of America or some other country to intervene? Or should the Germans who saw where things were headed in Germany done it themselves?
To me, the entire issue serves to underline why governments are inherently evil and why we as citizens are at best naive, and at worst very, very stupid to put our trust in them. Wars are not caused by the individuals who go about their lives minding their own business. Wars are caused by governments which decide where and when to fight and for which causes. I can understand responding collectively to invading forces from outside one's home country. I have more trouble understanding collective invasions of one country by another for purely political, territorial, business or religious reasons.
Jen, in my usual fashion I have not provided any definitive answers but have instead posed more questions, offered more to think about. It is very easy to get on board any cause with which we can identify emotionally. Eradicate evil: would you support a war that would make that promise? What about if the promise were instead to wipe out everyone who didn't share your skin colour? Would you support that? You wouldn't, and I wouldn't, but many others would. And those many who would eradicate entire other races are not all white supremacists.
What about a war that promised to destroy everyone who worshipped differently than you, or not at all? You wouldn't support it, I wouldn't either, nor would any other enlightened people, but there are large numbers of those who would support such a thing and who are, in fact, engaged in those activities right now. Their efforts are, for the moment, mostly as individuals, but what will happen when entire nations set themselves against others based purely on what they think their god or their prophet wants them to do?
That is why I think that we are long past the point where we should trust our governments to do our thinking for us. They have done an abysmal job. We need to think for ourselves, to accept responsibility for our individual actions, and to the extent to which we delegate responsibility to others, we need to hold their actions and them personally responsible as well.
And for those who prefer to think that (insert any foolishness you have seen in any nation other than your own) can never happen 'here,' wherever that might be, I assure you, you are mistaken. Under the right circumstances, when there is high unemployment, when enough people are hungry, when people feel caged and impotent, anything can happen. Scapegoats will be found. Purges will take place. Reason will disappear. It has happened in many places, many times, in our human history. It can happen here, and chances are, it will. You and I are powerless to control the massive governments we have created and we have become enslaved. We may not like it, but we will do the bidding of our masters.
That is the inevitable result of each of us not accepting responsibility and delegating it to others. You see, things are exactly backwards these days. Does anyone still seriously believe that government works for us and that politicians and bureaucrats think that they are our servants? Really?
We, you and I and every other individual in our respective countries are the masters. Politicians and bureaucrats are our servants. We need to make them remember that reality. And we need to make them act as you and I would act individually. Unless our neighbour throws junk in our back yard, or threatens our children, or interferes in our lives in some meaningful way, we leave him alone. We mind our own business. That is what our governments need to do as well. And if another Hitler comes along, let's consider what can be done to remove him before there is World War III and there are millions more lost in senseless hatred.
How and what could we do?
That would make for a very interesting discussion, wouldn't it?
I'm afraid that I have read neither book. I will make note of them and try to add them to my 2015 reading pile. I am sure I would learn something from them. The larger issue, though, of U.S. involvement in Panama, and in many countries around our globe, is easier to address.
There are essentially two ways to assess American (or any sovereign nation's) involvement abroad. One is purely philosophical: should they be involved at all, or should they never, under any circumstance meddle in the affairs of another sovereign nation. The other consideration is more practical: under which circumstances might it be justified for the U.S. or any other nation to involve itself in the machinations of countries which may or may not welcome outside involvement? Then, if the necessary circumstances exist, who makes the decision, the country where the perceived problem exists, or the United States or other nation which feels that its interests are challenged in some way?
Let's look at these issues from those perspectives. Should the United States or any other country meddle in the affairs of other sovereign nations? From a purely philosophical point of view, I would say no. The government of the United States has a responsibility to protect the legitimate interests of its citizens at home. If U.S. individuals or companies move elsewhere, they should be on their own. No nation can police every other nation. It isn't practical. It isn't even possible, at the best of times. Most importantly, in most cases, it isn't ethical.
Given my libertarian leanings, I think that any regular reader of this blog would have noticed that I think we should all simply mind our own business, both individually and as groups, large or small. Whether a group is a committee, a religious denomination, or an entire nation doesn't matter. We need to mind our own affairs and leave others alone to mind theirs.
Is that it, then? No country should ever meddle in the affairs of another, regardless of the circumstances or of real or perceived threats that might exist?
Human stupidity abounds. It will be with us long after all of us living today are gone. Many people prefer not to think or to make important decisions themselves. They like to delegate decisions. They trust their elected or appointed officials to do the right thing. The problem is, the elected officials are really no more qualified to make decisions than each of us is individually. Don't believe me? Look around. Are we living in a perfect world? Does everyone get along? Has hate been eradicated? Are wars a thing of the past? Are our schools safe? Are we safe on the streets of our own cities? Are we safe from the long and invasive arm of our own governments?
Ask yourself as many more similar questions as you like, and then supply as many no's as are necessary yourself. Was there a single yes as answer to a question in your list? Probably not.
We have trusted our elected officials to take care of all of these things for us, to guide us, to think for us, to spend our money for us. But... they have let us down. No matter where we live, if our elected officials make decisions, we are stuck with them. The effect can be as simple as a deterioration in the quality of our life, or as final as having our life eradicated completely. I don't know about you, but I prefer to live and die on my terms. I know best what I am willing to fight to the death for, like my own family and possessions, and under which conditions I never want to die, like in a police raid based on faulty information or in an un-winnable war protecting the life and property of people who really don't want my help anyway.
Is it ever proper for one sovereign nation to involve itself in the affairs of another? Let's set any philosophical arguments aside for the moment and consider the matter from a purely practical point of view. My personal background and family history always become part of the consideration when I ponder this issue. I was born in Germany just after World War II. Millions of innocent people died in that war. Would external intervention to take out Adolf Hitler before his influence and power reached their respective peaks have made sense? What if Hitler had been assassinated by a hit squad from outside Germany? Would his followers have carried on, without his mania and focus? I don't know, but it is something I have thought of often. I might have gotten to know two uncles who were lost in the war, and two brothers, Erwin and Albert, who died of starvation and disease just months before I was born.
Maybe the world would have been a better place, had Hitler been taken out. But, was it the place of America or some other country to intervene? Or should the Germans who saw where things were headed in Germany done it themselves?
To me, the entire issue serves to underline why governments are inherently evil and why we as citizens are at best naive, and at worst very, very stupid to put our trust in them. Wars are not caused by the individuals who go about their lives minding their own business. Wars are caused by governments which decide where and when to fight and for which causes. I can understand responding collectively to invading forces from outside one's home country. I have more trouble understanding collective invasions of one country by another for purely political, territorial, business or religious reasons.
Jen, in my usual fashion I have not provided any definitive answers but have instead posed more questions, offered more to think about. It is very easy to get on board any cause with which we can identify emotionally. Eradicate evil: would you support a war that would make that promise? What about if the promise were instead to wipe out everyone who didn't share your skin colour? Would you support that? You wouldn't, and I wouldn't, but many others would. And those many who would eradicate entire other races are not all white supremacists.
What about a war that promised to destroy everyone who worshipped differently than you, or not at all? You wouldn't support it, I wouldn't either, nor would any other enlightened people, but there are large numbers of those who would support such a thing and who are, in fact, engaged in those activities right now. Their efforts are, for the moment, mostly as individuals, but what will happen when entire nations set themselves against others based purely on what they think their god or their prophet wants them to do?
That is why I think that we are long past the point where we should trust our governments to do our thinking for us. They have done an abysmal job. We need to think for ourselves, to accept responsibility for our individual actions, and to the extent to which we delegate responsibility to others, we need to hold their actions and them personally responsible as well.
And for those who prefer to think that (insert any foolishness you have seen in any nation other than your own) can never happen 'here,' wherever that might be, I assure you, you are mistaken. Under the right circumstances, when there is high unemployment, when enough people are hungry, when people feel caged and impotent, anything can happen. Scapegoats will be found. Purges will take place. Reason will disappear. It has happened in many places, many times, in our human history. It can happen here, and chances are, it will. You and I are powerless to control the massive governments we have created and we have become enslaved. We may not like it, but we will do the bidding of our masters.
That is the inevitable result of each of us not accepting responsibility and delegating it to others. You see, things are exactly backwards these days. Does anyone still seriously believe that government works for us and that politicians and bureaucrats think that they are our servants? Really?
We, you and I and every other individual in our respective countries are the masters. Politicians and bureaucrats are our servants. We need to make them remember that reality. And we need to make them act as you and I would act individually. Unless our neighbour throws junk in our back yard, or threatens our children, or interferes in our lives in some meaningful way, we leave him alone. We mind our own business. That is what our governments need to do as well. And if another Hitler comes along, let's consider what can be done to remove him before there is World War III and there are millions more lost in senseless hatred.
How and what could we do?
That would make for a very interesting discussion, wouldn't it?
Monday, February 05, 2007
Who will have learned more, the father or the son?
I drive my son to school every day. It saves him about a fifteen minute walk, and it is on the way to my office anyway. School starts at 8:00 am, but he likes to be there a little early to socialize with his friends. Today, on the first day of the second semester, he wanted to be there even earlier. He was excited all weekend long, telling his mother and me how he was looking forward to getting back to school and starting a new semester with new subjects and new teachers.
I'm glad about all this, of course. It certainly wasn't that way for me in grade nine. When I entered high school in 1959, it was not a terribly good experience, overall. At my first high school, in Port Colborne, Ontario, I felt even more isolated than I had in the three elementary schools I had attended.
With my very obviously German name, 'Siegfried,' I had gotten used, during my childhood, to being called a Nazi by people with memories still rooted in 1939 - 1945. The fact that I was born after the Second Wold War ended was apparently not germane. This was not something that happened every day, but it did happen and I learned to deal with it. Some other slights were less harsh, usually just teasing in the form of word play on my name: Sixfeet or ZigZag, for example. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed any of this attention, but I can say that I didn't whine about it. Things were what they were. I knew that my family had come to Canada to build a better life, and I knew that we would do just that -- regardless of what anyone would say about us or do to us.
I realized very early in life that there were individuals who blamed others for everything and who never took responsibility for anything themselves. I learned that they were almost always losers who hated themselves and their lives, and who felt they had to blame someone else for their misfortune because, or so they reasoned, they themselves were victims. The many immigrants who arrived in Canada and the United States in the late 1940's and early 1950's were handy targets. Had there been no immigrants, some other group(s) would have served as scapegoats just as well.
I also realized that most people were forgiving and forward-looking, that they were more at peace with themselves, and therefore stood a much better chance of living useful, productive, happy lives. Those were the people with whom I identified personally.
How old was I when I figured this all out? Perhaps eight or nine years old, when I first began to realize that there are basically two kinds of people: the low-life, 'don't confuse me with the facts' crowd and the open, curious, friendly people who wanted to live their lives in peace, raise their families, and simply just get along with everyone else. By the time I was eleven or so, I had a pretty good idea of how the world worked. I knew that much in life that happened to us wasn't fair and just, but that there was no point crying about it. Whining every minute of every day over a three score plus ten year lifetime will accomplish what? Zero, nada, nothing. Instead, a few moments of careful thought every day, and regular action taken to improve your life, will garner much: prosperity instead of poverty, knowledge instead of ignorance, respect rather than scorn, self-esteem rather than self-hatred.
It's amazing how much thinking can get done every day when there is no television, or no video games to distract you, or if you eat your lunch alone in a school stairwell while everyone else is in the cafeteria. Things improved for me when I moved with my family to a new city, attended a new high school and got to know classier people.
I think about these things because the world today is a veritable cacophony of whining. Talking heads on radio and television, editorial writers, social activists, politicians, and even your know-nothing neighbour all line up to fill your cranium with nonsense. Their solution to every imaginable ill is always tax more, spend more, legislate more. And we, the people, go along with it because, after all, we are kind and considerate, and want everyone to be comfortable and content. Yet, the more we do, the louder is the wailing. Doesn't, or shouldn't, this tell us something?
There was a time when we stood tall, shouldered our responsibilities, and lived our lives proudly. There is too little of that today.
I'm not sure that I would change anything in my childhood, even if I could. What I am today is the sum total of my experiences. What I know today is the sum total of every word I read, and yes, even every insult I heard as a child. Every experience, good or bad, adds something to our life. We can put it in the 'plus' column and learn from it, or we can put it in the 'minus' column and let all of the accumulated negatives destroy us.
Which makes more sense?
Yes, my son is having a much better high school experience than I had. I'm happy about it. I do wonder, though, whether the pervasive whining that surrounds us all will permeate his psyche and his soul and turn him into yet another meek and submissive drone of the state.
God, I hope not.
I'm glad about all this, of course. It certainly wasn't that way for me in grade nine. When I entered high school in 1959, it was not a terribly good experience, overall. At my first high school, in Port Colborne, Ontario, I felt even more isolated than I had in the three elementary schools I had attended.
With my very obviously German name, 'Siegfried,' I had gotten used, during my childhood, to being called a Nazi by people with memories still rooted in 1939 - 1945. The fact that I was born after the Second Wold War ended was apparently not germane. This was not something that happened every day, but it did happen and I learned to deal with it. Some other slights were less harsh, usually just teasing in the form of word play on my name: Sixfeet or ZigZag, for example. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed any of this attention, but I can say that I didn't whine about it. Things were what they were. I knew that my family had come to Canada to build a better life, and I knew that we would do just that -- regardless of what anyone would say about us or do to us.
I realized very early in life that there were individuals who blamed others for everything and who never took responsibility for anything themselves. I learned that they were almost always losers who hated themselves and their lives, and who felt they had to blame someone else for their misfortune because, or so they reasoned, they themselves were victims. The many immigrants who arrived in Canada and the United States in the late 1940's and early 1950's were handy targets. Had there been no immigrants, some other group(s) would have served as scapegoats just as well.
I also realized that most people were forgiving and forward-looking, that they were more at peace with themselves, and therefore stood a much better chance of living useful, productive, happy lives. Those were the people with whom I identified personally.
How old was I when I figured this all out? Perhaps eight or nine years old, when I first began to realize that there are basically two kinds of people: the low-life, 'don't confuse me with the facts' crowd and the open, curious, friendly people who wanted to live their lives in peace, raise their families, and simply just get along with everyone else. By the time I was eleven or so, I had a pretty good idea of how the world worked. I knew that much in life that happened to us wasn't fair and just, but that there was no point crying about it. Whining every minute of every day over a three score plus ten year lifetime will accomplish what? Zero, nada, nothing. Instead, a few moments of careful thought every day, and regular action taken to improve your life, will garner much: prosperity instead of poverty, knowledge instead of ignorance, respect rather than scorn, self-esteem rather than self-hatred.
It's amazing how much thinking can get done every day when there is no television, or no video games to distract you, or if you eat your lunch alone in a school stairwell while everyone else is in the cafeteria. Things improved for me when I moved with my family to a new city, attended a new high school and got to know classier people.
I think about these things because the world today is a veritable cacophony of whining. Talking heads on radio and television, editorial writers, social activists, politicians, and even your know-nothing neighbour all line up to fill your cranium with nonsense. Their solution to every imaginable ill is always tax more, spend more, legislate more. And we, the people, go along with it because, after all, we are kind and considerate, and want everyone to be comfortable and content. Yet, the more we do, the louder is the wailing. Doesn't, or shouldn't, this tell us something?
There was a time when we stood tall, shouldered our responsibilities, and lived our lives proudly. There is too little of that today.
I'm not sure that I would change anything in my childhood, even if I could. What I am today is the sum total of my experiences. What I know today is the sum total of every word I read, and yes, even every insult I heard as a child. Every experience, good or bad, adds something to our life. We can put it in the 'plus' column and learn from it, or we can put it in the 'minus' column and let all of the accumulated negatives destroy us.
Which makes more sense?
Yes, my son is having a much better high school experience than I had. I'm happy about it. I do wonder, though, whether the pervasive whining that surrounds us all will permeate his psyche and his soul and turn him into yet another meek and submissive drone of the state.
God, I hope not.
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