Hey Folks, We Need to Talk

Tags

"the War on Poverty", Acheivement, compassion, dependency, fdr, general-welfare-clause, government freebies, great-depression, handouts, Individual rights, Indoctrination, limitations, limitless, Personal responsibility, The "New Deal", The Other America

All the images that pass before our eyes … starving babies, homeless Veterans or single moms, so many struggling to make it … No, not in some remote third world country RIGHT HERE, in America – the wealthiest nation ever! It’s virtually impossible to wrap our heads around it. It’s overwhelming and heart wrenching. Surely, we can do better! Something more has to be done, right? No question! But what?

In response to those who hold that the”General Welfare clause” of the Constitution means taking care of the people, America, as a government,  has tried several different programs over the past few decades to help those in need to find their way to the American Dream and alleviate suffering. “The New Deal,” inspired by the Great Depression, opened the hearts and minds of Americans under FDR (D), way back in 1933–1937.But did it solve the problem of poverty in America? Short answer, no!

Neither was the “War on Poverty” initiated under President Johnson a success. More recently, the policies and programs of President Obama have done exactly the opposite of their so-called intent. They have found more people, not fewer, in the unemployment lines, applying for food stamps and other social programs.

In his January 1964 State of the Union address, President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed, “This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.” In the 50 years since that time, U.S. taxpayers have spent over $22 trillion on anti-poverty programs. Adjusted for inflation, this spending (which does not include Social Security or Medicare) is three times the cost of all U.S. military wars since the American Revolution. Yet progress against poverty, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau, has been minimal, and in terms of President Johnson’s main goal of reducing the “causes” rather than the mere “consequences” of poverty, the War on Poverty has failed completely. In fact, a significant portion of the population is now less capable of self-sufficiency than it was when the War on Poverty began.

It’s a funny thing about human nature that philosophers seldom seem to consider well … There are specific things that motivate humans to productivity and achievement, and certain things which subdue those inclinations. The “war on poverty was a costly, tragic mistake,” the article, “Why the War on Poverty Failed: Handouts Provide the Wrong Incentives,” begins. “Possibly the most influential policy book in history, The Other America Michael Harrington’s The Other America, published in 1962. (Harrington died in 1989.) was cited again and again by the politicians, activists, and administrators who set up welfare programs in the 1960s. In it we find the fallacies that sent reformers down dark and tangled paths into today’s social tragedies.”

The tragic error of this thinking is in the assumption poverty is strictly a lack of material goods. “While the state of neediness we call poverty does involve a lack of material resources, it also involves a mass of psychological and moral problems, including weak motivation, lack of trust in others, ignorance, irresponsibility, self-destructiveness, short-sightedness, alcoholism, drug addiction, promiscuity, and violence.”  The article continues, “It was a perspective that led to intolerance. Since poverty was so simple to remedy—the activists reasoned—it was unethical not to act. “In a nation with a technology that could provide every citizen with a decent life,” Harrington thundered, “it is an outrage and a scandal that there should be such social misery.”⁴ For the activists, welfare programs did not involve complex relationships and intractable problems about which honest people could disagree. They were simple moral imperatives, and anyone who opposed them was seen as selfish and insensitive. (This dogmatic view has by no means disappeared from so-called liberal circles.)”

Yes, poverty is wretched wherever it appears, but the rational answer (contrary to the sentimental response) is not handouts or “freebies.” The answer is the proverbial “hand up,” instead of the “hand out!”

• Basic education and training, which sadly is no longer flourishing in our public schools, does more to cripple our children than prepare them for a productive adult life.
• Trade schools, long hidden by some pseudo-intellectual pride, hunger for eager students, but are shunned by a populace who want to start as CEO’s, rather than work their way up the ladder.
• Food banks, soup kitchens, and clothing closets are a great start to elp the hurting and many communities have such things, but more are needed, not from government, but from us … you and me.

The Biblical concept of compassion isn’t issued to the government, but to the individual. The Golden Rule (you remember, Do unto others …?) is not for governments, but people, whether people of faith or not … people helping people. Governments have no idea how to help as evidenced by 80 years of welfare programs initiated in an vain attempt to curtail poverty. The secret to overcoming poverty, in most cases, is personal responsibility, we all ought

Now, we have an avowed “democrat socialist”(whatever that is) asking for our votes so he can increase taxes on the wager-earner so he can also increase the number of programs handing out “stuff”to those now trapped in a unemployment and dependency on the government programs that were supposed to free them from poverty.

Isn’t 80 years of failure enough to make a statement to try another tact? It isn’t the rich that are the bad guys here. It is our own greed that as crippled the most successful, productive, innovative, creative, and compassionate culture it the world, and ALL of us are guilty of the same greed, both the have’s and the have not’s!

America, use your HEAD to choose our next president. Use your HEART to make a personal investment in your neighborhood and your neighbors. Vote for individual rights and personal responsibility!

Paul wrote, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up” (Romans 15:1–2)

Excellent reading:

• Economic policies highlight partisan divide among governors
• Was the New Deal a success or failure?
• The War on Poverty After 50 Years
• Why the War on Poverty Failed
• What does the General Welfare Clause really mean?
• Allen West: Government Handouts a Form of Slavery
• Europeans Fear Crisis Threatens Liberal Benefits
• Uncovering the Bad Math (or Logic) of an Economic Analysis Embraced by Bernie Sanders

 

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You Might Really be a CONSERVATIVE if …

Tags

conversation, education, freedom, government, government intimidation, help, Individual rights, intelligence, IRS, label-less, labels, mis-information, NSA, personal entitlement, Personal responsibility, privacy rights, questions, universal moral code, US Constitution, welfare

You might be a Conservative if …

A number of times I’ve heard Conservative leaders indicate a dire need to educate the American public about the current status of the political system in the US. The Party of JFK, for instance, is not Obama’s party. Neither is the party of Sen. McCain, the party of most Republicans. Party lines have been skewed … or blurred … or even erased in favor of self-interest.

In light of this mass confusion or mis-identification, some questions are listed below to clarify the mis-information espoused by the media and those pushing to deceive the American people for selfish gain.

So, without further ado, YOU might really be a Conservative if …

1. you think our federal, state, and local governments ought to be required to formulate a budget and stick to it … Period! (just like you and me!)




2. you understand government is hired by the People, and must answer to the People for their policies, decisions, and actions.




3. you know ALL humans are greedy, not just the rich.




4. you think a “Fair Tax” (or flat tax) is the most equitable way to tax the nation. It’s simple and fair!




5. you there are many types of intelligence, most of which can not be well measured!




6. you think any individual’s greatest personal treasure is his/her dignity.




7. you understand that every human being needs a purpose, a reason to live, and that most find that in work and family.




8. you know that the earth has “seasons” for various things, and that while the earth is actually cooling, it has nothing to do with “greenhouse gases,” which are actually Carbon dioxide – what you and I exhale and what green plants ingest. You also understand that things like “green” electric cars must be plugged in, and therefore actually use MORE fossil fuel while claiming to be “green friendly.” It’s all a scam!




9. you appreciate the benefits of living in a nation enriched by a multitude of cultures imported by legal immigrants.




10. you know Jesus taught “personal responsibility,” not “personal entitlement!”




11. you wonder where all the bra-burning feminists are when it comes to the growing college interest in radical Islam that enslaves women.




12. you favor the Constitutional rights of the individual over the assumed “good” of the “collective.”




13. you think greed has corrupted corporate America, but also government and the Unions, and only a free market can hope to counter greed’s effects.




14. you know that even when it’s rainy and overcast, the sun is still shining!




15. you understand a universal moral code is necessary for a civilization to thrive.




16. you remember the days when neighbors actually knew one another, helped one another, and accepted our differences, instead of suspecting them of any number of crimes.




17. you understand that “political correctness” is just another word for censorship!




18. you’ve been a convenience store clerk, a school teacher, a soldier, a mother, and never been on welfare even though it might be more … politically correct.
19. you think most Hollywood celebs would be much better actors (and people) if they remembered what it felt like to struggle.




20. you question the message of both Lenin and Lennon!




21. you understand that making welfare a lifestyle is not HELP, but just another name for slavery.




22. you believe in the “Hand up,” but not the “Hand out!” For something to have value, it must cost something.
23. you want our federal government to STOP sending money and weapons to those who are NOT our allies.




24. you believe all individuals are created equal under the Law, that each individual has the right to pursue his/her life according to his/her dreams, values, and goals as long as they don’t infringe someone else’s right to the same.




25. you believe we are all different, uniquely gifted and valuable to society.




26. you believe it is impossible to create an education system that will produce only “successful” students.




27. you adhere to the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.




28. you are willing to fight to maintain the Right to bear arms in defense of yourself, your property, and your Constitution.




29. you think education’s role is to equip students to consider options and think for themselves rather than program them how to think.




30. you think the purpose of government is to facilitate the ability of the People to pursue their individual life, liberty, and happiness.

The Distinction between Government and Society

Tags

Democracy vs Socialism, morally conscious society, Personal responsibility, Socialism

“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.”
― Frédéric Bastiat, The Law

May I ask you to please read the above quote … again? So when we-the-people object to a socialist government mandated health care system, and it is touted that we are ready to push gramma over the cliff, the distinction between society and government is null. When the socialists find more and more uses for our money, more and more programs to exercise increased numbers of regulations, and more and more excuses for undisciplined spending, they have failed to yield to the society’s need for self-action.

What Socialism fails to comprehend is the very nature of mankind. Humans need a PURPOSE to survive. Without that purpose, we shrivel and die. There is no reason to get up in the morning. No reason to take care of myself or anything I “have.” If I have earned nothing, CAN earn nothing, and I am given a house, but don’t know how to make it a HOME, will I really TRY? No, no reason to work, no reason to care, no reason to try. If I receive the same compensation whether I work or not, why would I work? If I own the same property whether I purchase it with “my” money or the state provides it, why would I work at it?

Just because I do not want Obamacare, does that mean I want to throw gramma over the cliff? Heck no! I just want her to make her own choices with her health care professionals. Just because I don’t think the government is the best source for regulating education, doesn’t mean I want everyone to be uneducated. Rather, I’d like the NEA and others educators to validate individual differences rather than trying to make us all clones! Just because I dislike the degree to which the government is now reaching into my livingroom & bedroom, doesn’t mean security measures are not necessary. However, more responsible, more effective, and more cost effective methods are available but beyond the political veil. The choices for how we live our lives from beginning to end do not belong to the Government! How I live is MY choice! How I fund my life is my choice! how I manage my funds is MY choice … and if I mess up, um … guess what! It’s MY fault, but indeed, that’s what church emergency funds or the Red Cross or Salvation Army funds are for! To bail me out in an “EMERGENCY!” But that’s also what friends and family are for!

Government cannot take the place of a morally conscious society. There is a vast difference between increased taxes to support increased numbers of Americans on welfare and food stamps, and individual Americans donating time, energy, and money to help their neighbors. The former is Socialism and removes the individual responsibility to “CARE” from society and places it on government! Which is more effective? NO QUESTION! The individual who donates time at the homeless shelter, the family that helps at the food bank, the teens who distribute blankets and coffee under the local “bridge,” the teacher who donates her time teaching adults to read … and many, many, many more! THESE are the compassionate ones in our nation. A Government cannot be “compassionate!”

“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness…” Paine argues that government is put in place to protect us from our baser selves.”

Thomas Paine, Common Sense

“It’s amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns [or taxes] to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral, self-righteous, bullying laziness.

“People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we’re compassionate we’ll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.” ~ Penn Jillette (a prominent atheist)

Now, if only other clerics, other leaders, other Americans would apprehend this simple TRUTH!