Both my parents were raised during the Great Depression. As children, they learned many things, but the greatest lesson wasl: You do with what you have.
Many people had nothing. No home. No food and very little hope. They'd work for a meal, if there was something available they could do. They didn't expect anything from anyone, but they did hope for a chance.
The lucky people had work, a place to live and maybe a plot of ground to grow vegetables, or raise a few chickens. It wasn't uncommon for school children to have a tomato sandwich, or some other vegetable to put between two slices of bread. They were lucky because those that didn't have anything went hungry.
People ate a lot of beans. If there was meat, the beans might have what was left on a ham bone boiled during the cooking. If there was no meat, it was hoped there was some onion to add some more flavor.
There was no air conditioning. During the summer, the windows were raised and the lucky people had electric fans to stir the air. If not, they slept in the hot, still, humid air and woke covered with sweat.
Clothes were washed in a No. 3 washtub and either rung out by hand, or through a hand wringer. The clothes were placed on a line stretched between two trees or posts in the yard. If it was a dry year, people hoped the clothes would be dry before any dust was kicked up by a passing car down the unpaved streets.
Today, it's different. Even the poorest of people have access to anything they need just by filling out some paperwork and waiting. It's a blessing this can happen, but it's a curse to a healthy society. Too many fail to recognize the significance of this blessing and expect it as an entitlement. Instead of being grateful, they have complete disdain for those that work hard and provide the tax money for what they're given. There is no worry that it might end and the best course is to avoid such a life unless absolutely necessary. The miracle of a productive free society is disappearing because many are too willing to trade their freedom for the luxury of not being productive.
It will change, whether by responsible actions or not. Those that produce are more than resentful. Those that don't are becoming more dependent and defiant of participating. No matter what the government thinks, or does, the final outcome will either be a return to responsibility or the destruction of society. I think those that are unwilling to produce and the politicians that continue to let this happen will ultimately lose. The United States wasn't created by the people that stood by and waited for things to happen. It was created by those that wanted more and were willing to work to satisfy their ambition. It's centuries of genetics that can't be changed by the arbitrary whims of foolish philosophers and their ignorant followers.
My mother always told me "The pendulum swings both ways and it never swings gently." We've tried "The Great Society" and it's an abysmal failure. The pendulum is swinging the other way and the changes won't be gentle.
"destruction of society"?
ReplyDeleteMaybe restoration.
Restoration is a better way of looking at it. What will be destroyed is the attitude that there is something to be gained without any effort.
ReplyDeleteA rational population would be appalled by the percentage of people that depend on handouts to survive. Even the recipients would be uncomfortable with the percentage and demand accountability of their political leaders and public employees.
Changes could be very ugly, which is why personal firearm sales are so high. People want to be prepared if it ever hits the fan.
I just read your post in amazement, for we just had a discussion this morning with the same exact substance. I read a lot of historical literature, and you see in past times how the wasteful, the lazy and the self destructive were allowed to self destruct. Now we reward that kind of behavior and those of us who want to better ourselves have to fight and scratch for the help that's freely given, without question or limitation, to those who will never dream of self betterment and, would never act on such a thought even if they might one night get so drunk or stoned a stray thought of self betterment actually flitted through their consciousness.
ReplyDeleteBut, this is your soapbox, and you put it much more eloquently then I.
I think history shows that irresponsible behavior, and the lack of productivity, ends in disaster for a society. Ultimately, somebody starves, or is killed by those unwilling to "freely" give away the fruits of their labor.
ReplyDeleteMother Nature causes enough problems. Accentuating these problems by knowingly burdening too many with providing for those that are unwilling to participate can never end well.
Mom and dad always taught the pendulum theory, plus: if you can't pay for it in cash, you don't need it. Back then, NO ONE had a sense of self-entitlement. You either worked for it, or did without.
ReplyDeleteIf that mean bean sandwiches, we were happy we HAD bean sandwiches. I never tasted steak until I was 20. Then it was round steak until I was 50 and felt 'privileged' enough to buy a New York strip.
Now that I'm retired and on a fixed income, it's being sucked up to give everyone unwilling to work, whatever they "deserve" to have.
My mother could feed her, my father and five kids with one fryer. We had plenty of rice and gravy to fill the bottomless pits and my mother would always say: "If we clean it all up, there's plenty of bread and butter."
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have a lot of things, but we had the pride of knowing our parents were honest, worked hard and would do everything they could to provide for us. There was no welfare, as far as I know. Even if there was, we would have lived in a cardboard box before they would have accepted defeat.
Damn. What happened to that spirit of self-sufficiency and unwillingness to be a burden to taxpayers?