Okay I am a little worked up today so try to keep up. I recently read some study results performed by the department of psychology at San Diego State University regarding high school students' level of confidence. The study results, published in the November issue of Psychological Science, asked high school students to answer thirteen questions about their self-esteem and confidence levels, and then compared responses between students in 1975 to students in 2006. The findings were a bit disturbing, at least to me.
The study found that students in 2006 are far more likely to believe that they will be better workers, spouses, and parents than teens in the 1970s. The study also found that students today are far more likely to respond that they are "A" students with high IQs. The final piece of this study that really stuck out to me is that 75% of teens responded that they believed they would be more successful than their peers. Jean Twenge, co-author of the study reported that we "…may be producing a generation of kids with expectations that are out of sync with the challenges of the real world. High school students' responses have crossed over into a really unrealistic realm, with three-fourths of them expecting performance that's effectively in the top 20 percent…"
Where am I going with all this? I see this study and a general societal attitude of entitlement linked. I think that we need to be reminded that the constitution states that we are entitled to "…certain unalienable rights… life, liberty, and the PURSUIT of happiness." Notice that happiness is not guaranteed, just the pursuit of it. With the recent "bailout" legislation some people have lost their damn minds. We have Fortune 500 CEOs flying to DC in their corporate jets to plead poverty, 700 billion dollars in bailout money going to Wall Street, and once again, the government meddling in financial markets.
Perhaps our lawmakers should be, um, making laws instead of meddling in financial markets. Lawmakers' meddling is what sped this economic crisis along and further meddling is only going to cause us problems later down the road. Let's skip the Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac argument; I just don't want to hear the whining in my email. Let's go right to the Clinton administration and Alan Greenspan. I used to think Greenspan walked on water, but if he didn't see this coming he should be arrested for incompetence. The Clinton administration deregulated the banks and the Democrats in general made sub-prime lending attractive to banks so that we can say "look at all the poor minorities that are now homeowners." (I will come back to this point later) When the proverbial shit started to hit the fan, the Bush administration expanded the banks' ability to lend FORTY TIMES their assets instead of the eight times they were able loan previously. So the banks continue to lend money to people that can't pay it back and plead ignorance when they run out of money.
How are these two issues linked you are asking? It seems that many people today are expecting someone to hand them something, a house, a car, a solid education, and a good job. I blame the American Dream campaign of a chicken in every pot and car in every driveway. If you would like a chicken in your pot, go work for it. If you would like a car in your driveway, go work for it. The problem is that we got off track somewhere and the statement became if you want a car in your driveway, get on your knees and plead poverty until someone gives it to you.
America: you are broke and living well beyond your means, which is not the bank's fault (directly), it is yours. If you are struggling to pay your bills, you don't need to go out to the bar on Friday, eat out for lunch every day, or buy a new car every year.
Allow me to digress for a moment, before my inbox starts to overflow with angry emails. In Larry Winget's book, You're Broke Because You Want To Be, he differentiates between "broke" and "poor." I will borrow his definitions because they were put so eloquently. Poor is a condition in which people have limited or no opportunities for advancement and it takes everything they have just to survive. Broke is condition in which people find themselves overspending or under-earning, in today's society, the latter is typically the case.
I will happily hand the banks their share of the blame for this situation. They should not be loaning someone the amount of their annual salary to buy a car with, but the borrower needs bear the lion's share of the blame. Furthermore, if you choose to borrow the amount of your annual salary and go buy a car, and can't afford to pay it back, the bank should liquidate your belongings until the debt is repaid. The best part about the bad situation outlined above? You are still free to PURSUE your happiness.
I know that there are people out there in the US that are poor. People that have limited opportunities for advancement; that are working their fingers to the bone just to return home to find they still can't afford to put dinner on their table. My heart goes out to these people and I do what I can to help them, but I can't change the world alone.
We are now stuck in a real pickle and things are going to get worse before they get better. The question now is how long are things going to be bad for? If the government continues to meddle we may turn back around faster, only to find that they have caused another crappy situation that we are going to pay for later (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac anyone?).
Where I am going is that we need to stop "kid-proofing" the world and allow our kids to learn some lessons through humility. If someone is always allowed to succeed and never allowed to fail, they don't learn anything. I know this is overplayed, but teach our kids to fish instead of just dropping a truckload of fish at their door. If they are never tested, how will they know the limits to what they can achieve? Monkey Lips asked me the other day, what would I change if I could go back fifteen years? My response was "nothing." I had advantages that many did not, but I still struggled. My parents were not rich; in fact you might say that they were broke. At some point though, I made the decision that I was going to do better. I failed at some things, I succeeded at others, but all in all, it made me stronger and more confident with my strengths and limitations.
Until we as a society allow our children to fail sometimes, we will perpetuate our approval of this attitude of entitlement. You are entitled to pursue happiness any way you see fit, but if your pursuit fails for one reason or another, you are only entitled to start again, nothing more. Americans are among some of the most charitable people in the world. If you stumble and need some help we will gladly help you get back on your feet, but grow weary of continually supporting those that are perfectly able to work and provide for themselves.
My bottom line is to stop expecting that good things will come your way and go work for them. Pursue your happiness, whatever that means, but know that it is not automatic nor guaranteed.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Common Sense Legislation
Alright, I am not nearly as worked up today as I was for my last entry, but this one is kind of an extension of my last entry. I received a few varying comments from different people some public, some private, some in agreement, and some that apparently don't wish to speak to me anymore (I look forward to your apology when you want some favor from me…). I am not going to address any specific issues from anyone's comments, but I appreciate everyone's point of view whether you agree with me or not.
So, by far and large, I had the most comments on Obama's abortion stance. I have no plans to argue morality or whether abortion is right or wrong, but I will explain my stance because it goes directly to my point. I disagree with abortion. I think there are many options in the event of an unplanned pregnancy whether the reason is youthful indiscretion or something traumatic like rape. Adoption is a much better option in my opinion. This is my personal stance. If a good friend came to me for advice this is what I would tell them and offer my support however I could help.
My political beliefs are somewhat divorced from my personal beliefs. Politically I am pro-choice. Call me a hypocrite if you like, but a big government with lots of laws scares me more than abortion. My opinions on the subject of big government and vast amounts of legislation are not limited to my views ..ion. I am also an opponent of gun control, unless the government pulls their head out of their ass and starts trying to regulate people instead of objects. There is a danger in allowing the government to continually write laws for special interest groups; we allow our lawmakers to whittle our civil rights down slowly and eventually we wind up in totalitarian society where we are punished for our beliefs.
Back to the gun control thing… Along these same lines, regulating the guns just makes legit gun owners' lives difficult and does nothing to slow down the sale of illegal guns to those who intend to use them illegally. In this instance, we have allowed the government to write a lot of unenforceable laws that do nothing to curb crime. Case in point, what happened to the dad of the kid who shot up Von Maur? The answer is nothing happened to him. Here is a man who owned an AK-47 assault rifle, took minimal efforts to secure this weapon (at best) which was subsequently stolen by his unstable son and used in a tragic event to shoot and kill perfectly innocent shoppers. Why was this man not arrested for being an irresponsible gun owner?
When the government finally passes a law allowing states to prosecute irresponsible gun owners I will vote for it and shut up. My gun is secured in a locked cabinet with a trigger lock and I don't even have ammo in the house for it. Some idiot would have to go to a lot of work to get my gun out and operational before they could do any harm with it and if someone stole my gun for the purpose of shooting someone else, I think I should be held responsible for failing to secure my weapon.
The background checks and handgun cards do nothing. You want to know a secret? Gangsters don't buy their guns from Cabela's or Scheel's or wherever. They get them off the street from someone who has imported them or stolen them from another irresponsible gun owner.
Another good example of stupid laws with good intentions is Nebraska's safe-haven law (now repealed). While I think it is a good idea for a safe-haven law to prevent parents from dumping their babies, Nebraska's law allowing parents to drop off children was a bumbling legislative mess.
My point is that while your morals may be noble, your view of right and wrong will always conflict with someone else's. Perhaps deeper analysis of your issue is warranted. Curbing gun violence may start by working to correct social inequities, domestic violence, or bullying in school. If abortion is your cause, perhaps you should volunteer with a sex-education organization or prostitution prevention program. Finding the root cause of why someone behaves a particular way can lead to correction of the behavior and prevent passage of needless legislation.
My bottom line is if you have a cause, get involved, but look at the entire picture and not just one piece. People protesting in the streets outside a gun show have the right idea, but the wrong execution. The same is true for passing unenforceable and ineffective laws. Encourage our legislators to take a proactive approach to solve root causes not mask symptoms, hold people accountable for their illegal actions, instead of forcing them to prove their legitimate ones, and at all costs, preserve our constitutional and civil rights
So, by far and large, I had the most comments on Obama's abortion stance. I have no plans to argue morality or whether abortion is right or wrong, but I will explain my stance because it goes directly to my point. I disagree with abortion. I think there are many options in the event of an unplanned pregnancy whether the reason is youthful indiscretion or something traumatic like rape. Adoption is a much better option in my opinion. This is my personal stance. If a good friend came to me for advice this is what I would tell them and offer my support however I could help.
My political beliefs are somewhat divorced from my personal beliefs. Politically I am pro-choice. Call me a hypocrite if you like, but a big government with lots of laws scares me more than abortion. My opinions on the subject of big government and vast amounts of legislation are not limited to my views ..ion. I am also an opponent of gun control, unless the government pulls their head out of their ass and starts trying to regulate people instead of objects. There is a danger in allowing the government to continually write laws for special interest groups; we allow our lawmakers to whittle our civil rights down slowly and eventually we wind up in totalitarian society where we are punished for our beliefs.
Back to the gun control thing… Along these same lines, regulating the guns just makes legit gun owners' lives difficult and does nothing to slow down the sale of illegal guns to those who intend to use them illegally. In this instance, we have allowed the government to write a lot of unenforceable laws that do nothing to curb crime. Case in point, what happened to the dad of the kid who shot up Von Maur? The answer is nothing happened to him. Here is a man who owned an AK-47 assault rifle, took minimal efforts to secure this weapon (at best) which was subsequently stolen by his unstable son and used in a tragic event to shoot and kill perfectly innocent shoppers. Why was this man not arrested for being an irresponsible gun owner?
When the government finally passes a law allowing states to prosecute irresponsible gun owners I will vote for it and shut up. My gun is secured in a locked cabinet with a trigger lock and I don't even have ammo in the house for it. Some idiot would have to go to a lot of work to get my gun out and operational before they could do any harm with it and if someone stole my gun for the purpose of shooting someone else, I think I should be held responsible for failing to secure my weapon.
The background checks and handgun cards do nothing. You want to know a secret? Gangsters don't buy their guns from Cabela's or Scheel's or wherever. They get them off the street from someone who has imported them or stolen them from another irresponsible gun owner.
Another good example of stupid laws with good intentions is Nebraska's safe-haven law (now repealed). While I think it is a good idea for a safe-haven law to prevent parents from dumping their babies, Nebraska's law allowing parents to drop off children was a bumbling legislative mess.
My point is that while your morals may be noble, your view of right and wrong will always conflict with someone else's. Perhaps deeper analysis of your issue is warranted. Curbing gun violence may start by working to correct social inequities, domestic violence, or bullying in school. If abortion is your cause, perhaps you should volunteer with a sex-education organization or prostitution prevention program. Finding the root cause of why someone behaves a particular way can lead to correction of the behavior and prevent passage of needless legislation.
My bottom line is if you have a cause, get involved, but look at the entire picture and not just one piece. People protesting in the streets outside a gun show have the right idea, but the wrong execution. The same is true for passing unenforceable and ineffective laws. Encourage our legislators to take a proactive approach to solve root causes not mask symptoms, hold people accountable for their illegal actions, instead of forcing them to prove their legitimate ones, and at all costs, preserve our constitutional and civil rights
Don’t Wanna Talk About Politics
Okay, let me preface this entry by saying if you are easily offended you probably shouldn't read this. I need to unload about a few things that are likely to offend some and I plan to do so in a confrontational way. If you are Catholic or Republican and are gonna hate me for this, then stop now.
So Father Corapi made some remarks about the election basically stating that God was going to punish us for electing an official that wouldn't stand in the way of abortion then he says that he is not telling anyone who to vote for. Another priest in the Bible Belt told his congregation that they should not take communion until they did penance if they voted for Obama.
Why does this have my blood boiling?
I am not Catholic, in fact I am not even Christian. I don't mind being told that I am going to hell for my beliefs. If the fact that I don't go to a particular building every Sunday, give them money, perform a crazy stand-up, sit-down ritual and sing a bunch of songs means I am going to hell – oh well.
I believe in God and I believe that God is all around me every day; in the face of my wife, my best friend, my favorite song, the fact that I have a warm house, and a great job. I believe that God gave me all these wonderful things because I worked my butt off to earn them. I am surrounded by good people that care about me and my well-being and I am happy. So in the mean-time between now and the time I go to hell I am going to do what I like to do and have fun with it. I will continue to behave as humanely as I can. I will continue to donate to worthy charities, and give my time to help those less fortunate as I was helped along the way by other good and decent human beings.
I am not trying to make myself sound like a saint. I have done mean and cruel things to other human beings and I am sure that I will do other mean and cruel things in the future, despite how I try to restrain myself. I am vindictive and stubborn and tend to react irrationally when angry. While I try to fix these things, I will never be perfect. If all of this combined means that I am going to hell then so be it, I personally don't think that it will land me in hell, I think that it makes me human, just like you and everyone you or I know.
Now I have digressed well beyond what my point was. Back to the election, people listening to priests to determine who they are going to vote for are asinine. Am I the only one that has taken world history? Perhaps there was an event or maybe events that would show us that allowing churches to run a government is bad idea? I will take Spanish Inquisition for $1000, Alex. Others you ask? If that isn't enough perhaps we should discuss many of the Crusades, most of medieval Europe and the fact that the country we live in today was founded by a people weary of religious persecution. How soon we forget…
I am not discounting anyone's religion. I view religion like doctors regard medicine, there are hundred different drugs to cure my ills, but which one works the best for me? I am stating that political matters should be separate from religious matters (separation of church and state – was that amendment repealed?). No human deserves blind and absolute loyalty regardless of who that human claims to be. Every human should be judged by the quality of their character, a priest or religious advisor may be very good at being a priest or religious advisor, but what qualifies them to advise on political matters?
I have rambled on for long enough now, let me get to the my bottom line. I encourage everyone to read about a candidates' ideals and agendas from credible sources, the candidates website, election campaign, etc and stop listening to the special interest. Along the same lines stop electing candidates who are going to make the best decisions for you and the country. Finally, regardless of who wins, come together as one country and figure out how to work with those in office. After all they aren't going anywhere for at least a couple of years.
So Father Corapi made some remarks about the election basically stating that God was going to punish us for electing an official that wouldn't stand in the way of abortion then he says that he is not telling anyone who to vote for. Another priest in the Bible Belt told his congregation that they should not take communion until they did penance if they voted for Obama.
Why does this have my blood boiling?
I am not Catholic, in fact I am not even Christian. I don't mind being told that I am going to hell for my beliefs. If the fact that I don't go to a particular building every Sunday, give them money, perform a crazy stand-up, sit-down ritual and sing a bunch of songs means I am going to hell – oh well.
I believe in God and I believe that God is all around me every day; in the face of my wife, my best friend, my favorite song, the fact that I have a warm house, and a great job. I believe that God gave me all these wonderful things because I worked my butt off to earn them. I am surrounded by good people that care about me and my well-being and I am happy. So in the mean-time between now and the time I go to hell I am going to do what I like to do and have fun with it. I will continue to behave as humanely as I can. I will continue to donate to worthy charities, and give my time to help those less fortunate as I was helped along the way by other good and decent human beings.
I am not trying to make myself sound like a saint. I have done mean and cruel things to other human beings and I am sure that I will do other mean and cruel things in the future, despite how I try to restrain myself. I am vindictive and stubborn and tend to react irrationally when angry. While I try to fix these things, I will never be perfect. If all of this combined means that I am going to hell then so be it, I personally don't think that it will land me in hell, I think that it makes me human, just like you and everyone you or I know.
Now I have digressed well beyond what my point was. Back to the election, people listening to priests to determine who they are going to vote for are asinine. Am I the only one that has taken world history? Perhaps there was an event or maybe events that would show us that allowing churches to run a government is bad idea? I will take Spanish Inquisition for $1000, Alex. Others you ask? If that isn't enough perhaps we should discuss many of the Crusades, most of medieval Europe and the fact that the country we live in today was founded by a people weary of religious persecution. How soon we forget…
I am not discounting anyone's religion. I view religion like doctors regard medicine, there are hundred different drugs to cure my ills, but which one works the best for me? I am stating that political matters should be separate from religious matters (separation of church and state – was that amendment repealed?). No human deserves blind and absolute loyalty regardless of who that human claims to be. Every human should be judged by the quality of their character, a priest or religious advisor may be very good at being a priest or religious advisor, but what qualifies them to advise on political matters?
I have rambled on for long enough now, let me get to the my bottom line. I encourage everyone to read about a candidates' ideals and agendas from credible sources, the candidates website, election campaign, etc and stop listening to the special interest. Along the same lines stop electing candidates who are going to make the best decisions for you and the country. Finally, regardless of who wins, come together as one country and figure out how to work with those in office. After all they aren't going anywhere for at least a couple of years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)