First Writing, Aug. 2008

If you didn't read my original post, please do so to understand what I'm talking about here. This was written last year with much anger due to what I was seeing on TV about the economy and the presidential campaign .....


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I am amazed at the level of ignorance in our country. I am amazed at the distance we have come in creating this great country, only to see people begging the government to take care of them and “make their lives better”. Is it an antiquated idea that we should each take care of ourselves? Depending on the government, or depending on anybody to make our lives better, only diminishes our self-worth, and leaves us feeling helpless. It strips us of our power to enrich our lives; it removes our ability to fight hard to accomplish our dreams; and it starves us of the ambition that most Americans use as their driving force to succeed. Since when is personal accomplishment a bad thing, and why is it that we wish to reward complacency while punishing high achievers? Without the great minds of our country, driven by ambition to succeed in medicine, science and technology, we will lose our ability to not only compete in the world market, but we will also lose our very independence, so that we rely even more so on the government that we begged to “take care of us”.

I’ll take care of myself just fine, thank you.


To empower the human spirit, is to see an eagle soar, knowing that there are no limits to his world. I will instill this spirit in my children. They will know that to depend on ANYBODY (as an adult)is to rob themselves of their very spirit. They must fly free, having the confidence of knowing that they can depend on themselves to get through anything they may encounter in their lives . And each time they stumble and pick THEMSELVES up, they will grow stronger. If there was a hand there to help them up, they will have lost an opportunity to grow as an individual. They will always know in the back of their minds that if anything happens in the future, they can depend on someone helping them. The problem is, there may not be someone there to help them, and they will be too weak to help themselves. Then they have an even greater need for help.

This is NOT what this country was founded on; helplessness. Nobody seems to remember our country’s proud history. Does anyone remember WHY we declared our independence? We had grown dependant on the ‘mother country’ and like helpless children, grew angry when they imposed new taxes and other restriction on us. So many people DIED so that we could stand on our own feet, in order to prosper and offer a better life for our children. So why are so many of us now begging the government to make things “better” for us? Why do we want to give our power and freedoms away like that? Why do we think the government can do more for us than we can do for ourselves? Have you seen how the government handles social security, Medicare, the Postal Service?

It amazes me that people think that things are so bad right now. I don’t see people in soup lines. I don’t see hoards of homeless. I don’t see sick people turned down for healthcare. No, the poorest of the poor are taken care of, with public housing, food stamps and medicare. Everyone else needs to get off their ASS and take some responsibility for themselves! It is inconceivable to me that some people think that rich people are somehow evil and should be punished with severe taxation, in order to reward those who refuse to be accountable for their own lives. In the greatest nation in the world, with the most opportunities in the world! Any minority can get a FREE college education! What the hell are they complaining about?

Does anyone realize that the ‘rich’ people are the ones who own the companies that provide the JOBS that everyone depends on? So, gee, if they are over-taxed, they will either CUT jobs, or raise prices and lose market share to overseas competition. Then those who raised their taxes and caused the job losses, will blame the rich man for moving his company overseas to survive! Duh!

Capitalism is a beautiful thing. It takes confident, and fiercely independent people to survive. That is life. Survival of the fittest. If my business fails, it is because *I* failed my business. I don’t care if some outside forces effected it. *I* did not see it coming and adjust my business accordingly. *I* did not react appropriately, or in time. *I* did not have a plan B, or C or D. If it fails, I will take what I learned from my failure, and build an even better business. See? I grew stronger. I grew as a human being.

I could have blamed the high taxes that were imposed on my business. I could have said that no one wanted to buy my product because my competition lied to them. I could have blamed everyone and anyone, and said that ‘the little man can’t get ahead’. Then my spirit would be weakened. I would probably expect someone to help me. Yes, somebody should help me. It isn’t fair. It just isn’t fair! Look at all those rich people. They make too much money. They should help us poor folks, down on our luck! My business failed so I’m a failure so I sit on my couch all day and tell everyone who will listen that those rich people’s tax dollars should pay my rent. And buy my food, and even pay for my doctor visits.

Let’s take this full circle. I am amazed at the level of ignorance in this country. That good people like you and I are spoon-fed by the Evening News each night, and are convinced that this country is so bad, and we brought on the terrorism ourselves, and our economy is so, so bad. Poor us. Poor little helpless us. But John Q. Public has noticed that gas costs more, so he feels squeezed and decided to pack his lunch for work each day instead of eating out every day. That has been tough. And making those payments on that shiny new SUV in the driveway is getting harder, too. But maybe that’s because of the payments on that new boat in the backyard. Hmmm. No, it can’t be that. It’s because the economy is bad, that’s what the news tells me every night. I can barely afford to keep my wife in new designer clothes. Yep, things are tough .I bet a new president will solve everything.

Can I send him my payment coupons?

I am not a hypocrite. I have too much debt, just like many Americans. I did stupid, and now I am paying the consequences. But I do not cling to false hopes of being ‘saved’. Especially in a time when nobody needs to be saved. Gas prices suck but everyone is driving less and conserving gas any way they can. That has to be good. And the ‘housing crisis’ is a result of an overpriced real estate market in certain parts of the country that is now adjusting back to sane prices, which was flush with investors and speculators that had to know it wouldn’t last forever. No market keeps going up forever. Why does everyone think this is the Great Depression? Because the news told them so. Ignorance. It is not stupidity, it is simply a lack of knowledge. Look at the facts. We never even entered a recession. [please remember this was written BEFORE the numbers confirmed the recession!]. But everyone stopped spending as much as they usually do, because the news said the economy is slowing. So it did.

I guess we all make life what we want of it. Attitude is everything. With a bad attitude, I get nothing accomplished. I feel down and non-productive. With a good attitude, I can change the world.

Or at least appreciate what I have, and love living my life, everyday.