"We cannot direct the winds, but we can adjust the sails." -Bertha Calloway
I can't help but laugh when I see people compete for the saddest story award. Even with my competitive nature, I cede that title as quickly as I can. It almost seems with the cultural Marxist changes we have in America that it is desirable to have the most pitiful life. It's like a badge of honor to many people. I cannot wrap my head around it. I usually do a good job of at least academically understanding another point of view, but this one I cannot.
I'm not sure where it comes from either - is it the "everyone gets a prize" mentality? Is it the fact that we treat children so lightly anymore that they don't know how to grow up? Whatever the causes, I'm sure there are more than just one.
There is a concept of tenacity we have lost in our day of modern convenience. Technology and the safety net of the welfare state have removed many risks from our lives - to the point where consequence has lost its meaning.
What Once Was:
Before the concept of a free people, before transportation and technology were able to connect a nation - countries were ruled by very few in a select group of families. Their reach was limited, however, to the number of fields they could control. Starvation was a very real risk, as were illnesses and injuries we have largely done away with.
The royals protected their family with politics - marriages and loyalties were exchanged for the confidence of support from insurrection, invasion or other common issues.
The common folk had no such abilities. Rather, they relied on the community as a whole. Their government did not provide for them, they provided for the government. Instead, the church or later on the fraternal organizations and guilds were relied upon. As each man joined a group, he imparted some of his earnings to the community that was dispersed to whomever was in need. Members that did not pay their dues, were expelled from the support community.
A great lesson is learned from the original colonists. They were a religious community, intent on being equal in all things. As such, they adopted communal farming, which nearly lost the colony to starvation. People no longer worked as much. The colonies switched to private land and the people thrived.
The actual thing that changed was the accountability. People had to take charge of their own fate and were only helped after they first helped themselves. Given the harsh living conditions, a lazy beggar could not be tolerated. Consider the synergy of that - everyone working to take care of themselves, removing the need and demand for public support. The only cases that would remain would be the families struck by illness or accident.
What Is Now:
Now, our budget is heavily weighed with welfare type requirements. See the chart below.
When you add up: Welfare; Health Care; Transportation; & Pensions - you have 53% of the budget. More than half is consumed by expenses where the government is providing something for the people.
And to be clear, the government does this by taking from people who have it and give it to the people who do not.
Look below at the misguided reality that is feminism - these were right next to each other in a site devoted to making sure women are protected equally. The first one, makes sense to discuss, but the second one? The fact that it is even a discussion point shows how dependent we have become in our society. That, coupled with the fact that it is prioritized at the same level as strangulation, is another disturbing fact.
This obsessive need to be cared for is childish to the extreme. It is rampant in our society, everywhere from the view of "living wage", the "right to loans with below market risk rates", grades for effort vice performance and so on. Instead of a synergistic push as a society for self sufficiency, there is a race to dependency. The winner, of course, is the most victimized.
What Could Be:
But what could be? We see people that are written off all the time, here are some examples of what the indomitable human spirit can achieve when this public opinion is ignored:
Imagine - how amazing this life would be if we stood on the developments of those before us and sought to better everything in our lives. There would be no mystery or puzzle beyond our ability to solve, our genetics that are rooted in God would shine and overpower our frail, mortal frames.
It is interesting how we as people always seem to gravitate to someone who will tell us what to do. I'm not certain if it is something trained in school or if we do it in school because it is natural to us. It is true, God is not only our Father but also our King. But, He is a King we do not have to worry about what we are told to do. We do have to worry about what other people tell us to do, however. Behind the guise of "helping" us, many seek to enslave us in apathy. We must learn to push back on this - to embrace our responsibility regarding our life's choices.
There is freedom in this, once we accept that we are accountable for our own choices and thereby their success and failure - we are free to succeed. If we remit our personal stewardship to circumstance or other people, we acknowledge that we are enslaved by such. How sad it is that we teach this so broadly in a vain attempt to help children feel better about failure. We teach them to relinquish freedom for a momentary and pathetic reprieve from the pangs of not being enough. Wouldn't it be better if we taught the children to overcome this with determination?
I can't help but laugh when I see people compete for the saddest story award. Even with my competitive nature, I cede that title as quickly as I can. It almost seems with the cultural Marxist changes we have in America that it is desirable to have the most pitiful life. It's like a badge of honor to many people. I cannot wrap my head around it. I usually do a good job of at least academically understanding another point of view, but this one I cannot.
I'm not sure where it comes from either - is it the "everyone gets a prize" mentality? Is it the fact that we treat children so lightly anymore that they don't know how to grow up? Whatever the causes, I'm sure there are more than just one.
There is a concept of tenacity we have lost in our day of modern convenience. Technology and the safety net of the welfare state have removed many risks from our lives - to the point where consequence has lost its meaning.
What Once Was:
Before the concept of a free people, before transportation and technology were able to connect a nation - countries were ruled by very few in a select group of families. Their reach was limited, however, to the number of fields they could control. Starvation was a very real risk, as were illnesses and injuries we have largely done away with.
The royals protected their family with politics - marriages and loyalties were exchanged for the confidence of support from insurrection, invasion or other common issues.
The common folk had no such abilities. Rather, they relied on the community as a whole. Their government did not provide for them, they provided for the government. Instead, the church or later on the fraternal organizations and guilds were relied upon. As each man joined a group, he imparted some of his earnings to the community that was dispersed to whomever was in need. Members that did not pay their dues, were expelled from the support community.
A great lesson is learned from the original colonists. They were a religious community, intent on being equal in all things. As such, they adopted communal farming, which nearly lost the colony to starvation. People no longer worked as much. The colonies switched to private land and the people thrived.
The actual thing that changed was the accountability. People had to take charge of their own fate and were only helped after they first helped themselves. Given the harsh living conditions, a lazy beggar could not be tolerated. Consider the synergy of that - everyone working to take care of themselves, removing the need and demand for public support. The only cases that would remain would be the families struck by illness or accident.
What Is Now:
Now, our budget is heavily weighed with welfare type requirements. See the chart below.
When you add up: Welfare; Health Care; Transportation; & Pensions - you have 53% of the budget. More than half is consumed by expenses where the government is providing something for the people.
And to be clear, the government does this by taking from people who have it and give it to the people who do not.
Look below at the misguided reality that is feminism - these were right next to each other in a site devoted to making sure women are protected equally. The first one, makes sense to discuss, but the second one? The fact that it is even a discussion point shows how dependent we have become in our society. That, coupled with the fact that it is prioritized at the same level as strangulation, is another disturbing fact.
This obsessive need to be cared for is childish to the extreme. It is rampant in our society, everywhere from the view of "living wage", the "right to loans with below market risk rates", grades for effort vice performance and so on. Instead of a synergistic push as a society for self sufficiency, there is a race to dependency. The winner, of course, is the most victimized.
What Could Be:
But what could be? We see people that are written off all the time, here are some examples of what the indomitable human spirit can achieve when this public opinion is ignored:
- Man runs after ignoring doctor's advice
- Medal of Honor recipient that was medically discharged from the Army, he refused it and ended up going back to Vietnam where he then earned the Medal of Honor. (first few minutes are President Reagan presenting his award, at minutes 9:14 - 12:14 he describes how the Army medically discharged him and he stayed in)
- Children in India teach themselves computer science without teachers
Imagine - how amazing this life would be if we stood on the developments of those before us and sought to better everything in our lives. There would be no mystery or puzzle beyond our ability to solve, our genetics that are rooted in God would shine and overpower our frail, mortal frames.
It is interesting how we as people always seem to gravitate to someone who will tell us what to do. I'm not certain if it is something trained in school or if we do it in school because it is natural to us. It is true, God is not only our Father but also our King. But, He is a King we do not have to worry about what we are told to do. We do have to worry about what other people tell us to do, however. Behind the guise of "helping" us, many seek to enslave us in apathy. We must learn to push back on this - to embrace our responsibility regarding our life's choices.
There is freedom in this, once we accept that we are accountable for our own choices and thereby their success and failure - we are free to succeed. If we remit our personal stewardship to circumstance or other people, we acknowledge that we are enslaved by such. How sad it is that we teach this so broadly in a vain attempt to help children feel better about failure. We teach them to relinquish freedom for a momentary and pathetic reprieve from the pangs of not being enough. Wouldn't it be better if we taught the children to overcome this with determination?
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