This post could very quickly get political. I will try to avoid that. If I fail... my apologies in advance.
First of all, a question. Who is responsible for the outcome of your life?
If you said "Mom", I want you to go to your room and stay there until you are ready to be a reasonable adult. Honestly...
If you said "Myself" or "I am"... kudos. You are excused from class for the rest of the day. Stick around if you feel so inclined.
If you said ANYONE other than yourself, then sit down. We need to talk.
It is understood by social science that there are a few basics that every human needs for survival. Food, shelter, clothing, and positive human contact. Sounds pretty simple, right?
When you were a baby, your parents provided all of this for you. There was no real way for you to communicate these needs, other than to scream your head off. However, being experienced adults, they understand that babies need these things. And so life was pretty simple.
Then you emerged from the world of blob... I mean baby-hood and entered the world of biped-hood. And your parents started to teach you other things. Like how to walk, how to talk, how to feed yourself, dress yourself, wash your face, etc. As you got older and started to gain a little bit more intelligence, and started understanding human speech, your parents were able to teach you more advanced skills. Like holding a crayon, cleaning up your toys, don't pull the cat's tail if you don't want to get scratched, and "no, honey, worms are not food".
By the time you were five, you likely knew the basics for survival. You could feed yourself, dress yourself, express yourself, and had a general idea of what was safe, and what was not. Like knives, busy streets, and the cat's claws.
But then your parents started to teach you more advanced skills. Like reading, writing, 'rith-ma-tik, drawing basic shapes, loading the dishwasher, and everyone's favorite: gardening. "If you stick that hard round thing in the dirt, pour water on it every day, and don't let bugs eat it, it will grow into a plant. And that plant will have FOOD growing on it!"
Your eyes, no doubt, got round as plates. "You mean... they don't make food at the grocery store?"
Facepalm. "No, honey. Food comes from the ground."
Then came the trauma of learning about hamburgers. "You mean... that brown thing in my hamburger came from a cow's WHAT?"
But you got over it. Eventually. If your parents were especially attentive, they might have even taught you that clothing sometimes comes from plants. "Yeah, right, mom." Well, at least the hard-to-iron, super comfy stuff anyway. And even better, they probably taught you that even though dirt and chocolate are the same color, they aren't the same thing. "Spit that out right now!"
"But you said food comes from dirt!"
Headdesk.
You went to school, and more adults taught you stuff. Like how to get along with other kids, at least without killing each other. How to do art, how the body works, how politics work (or don't), how your car works, how to use power tools..., ad infinitum.
Then, suddenly, one day... you became an adult.
And so here you are, a grown up, responsible human being.
Oh, no, I used the R word again, didn't I?
Because, you see, all this education you have been given was given for a reason. For YOU to learn to take care of YOURSELF.
There is a (very loud) argument that as human beings, we are owed a basic living. Housing, food, clothing, an iPhone, etc. That... isn't strictly true. Yes, all humans need these things for survival. As a basic human right, all people should have these things. It's how we get them that matters.
"Well, the government should provide it for us!"
Yes, here things turn political. But, sadly, this seems to be the watch-cry of the day. "The government should take care of us!"
So it's time for a little lesson in civics.
First, where does the government's money come from?
"Um...they make it?"
Uh, no. At least, not usually. That's not how government works.
They get that money from....wait for it....OTHER PEOPLE.
That's right. The money that the government gets, that they use for such things as paying cops, firefighters, teachers, building roads, schools, and enforcing those annoying local building codes, all comes from US! The TAXPAYER! People go to work, they are promised a certain amount of money for every unit of work they produce (whether by the hour, by the project, whatever), then the government takes a percentage of that money.
Now, this shouldn't be a problem. As I noted earlier, there are a lot of good, necessary things that the government pays for, like public safety, roads, schools, and those nifty reflective markers at the side of the road that keep you from crashing in a blizzard.
But then the government starts thinking it should be taking care of more aspects of our lives. And we, the lazy beings humans generally are, decide to let them.
So taxes get raised. And you have people PAYING the government to take care of them WITH THEIR OWN MONEY!
Doesn't that sound absurd?
Even worse... people are paying the government to take care of other people. People who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. They just... don't.
I know, I can hear you screaming at your computer that there are exceptions. I am related to several severely challenged exceptions to these rules. But I am not talking about them, and you know it. I am talking to YOU. The perfectly capable adult you are.
You, and no one else, are responsible for your welfare. Don't have food? Go out and get a job, earn money, and buy it. Can't afford food after paying rent? Find a cheaper place to live. Or, shudder, get a roommate to share expenses. Still not enough money? Maybe you live somewhere too expensive. Sayonara, Silicon Valley! I'm going to live somewhere I don't have to pay double digits for a stinkin' hamburger!
I want to go to college, but it's so expensive! The government should pay for it!
Um, you mean the taxpayers, right? Everyone else? We just had this lesson, after all. Why should they have to pay for your school? Did YOU pay for THEIR degree?
Didn't think so.
Now that I've got your hackles up, put the shoe on the other foot. Let's say you worked all summer to raise money for a big trip to Europe, maybe with a school class or something. You worked hard, came home exhausted every day, but by the end of summer, you had a hefty savings account.
You show up for the trip... and the one in charge, your adviser or whatever, tells you to pay a hundred dollars more for your trip. You ask why.
"Because Jack didn't work this summer and doesn't have money for the trip, so everyone is helping him to pay for his trip."
Jack stands there, smiling, maybe a little smug. He didn't have to lift a finger, and yet he gets the reward.
Doesn't that just burn you up?
If it were me, I would refuse. Frankly, that is paramount to extortion, and there is no way I would go along with it. If Jack had some kind of decent reason for not being able to afford the trip, like taking care of a sick parent or something... then there is something to be said for charity.
But not irresponsibility.
That is the heart, the core, of so many of our problems today. We all want someone else to take care of us, to pay for our school, to build nice schools for our kids, to pay our public servants more, etc. And yet when the time comes for US to pay the price for these policies, we scream bloody murder. "Someone else should pay for it!" we demand.
And yet we are all "someone else" to everyone else.
"The rich should have to pay more!" you insist.
Um...why?
For the record, I am not rich. I have no interest in disclosing my income, because it is none of your darn business. I'll just say I am a typical, average American. No maid, no butler, no nanny, just raising my family and doing the best I can.
And I am not insisting that the rich somehow owe me.
I am responsible for my life. The rich, most often, got that way by providing a service or a product that everyone wanted. And everyone agreed to pay the price they asked. If the price wasn't fair, then they shouldn't pay it! I hear people screaming about the millions of dollars that celebrities, sports figures, and actors make. So... tell me why it is that you are willingly shelling out ten bucks a person for that movie ticket? Or triple-digits to see a single sports event? They are rich because YOU have willingly paid them for the privilege of viewing their particular talent.
Part of responsibility is wisdom. A big part. Wisdom to know what is worthwhile, and what is not. Don't have money for food? Then stop buying cigarettes. Don't have money for rent? Then why did you buy that expensive new car?
Stop blaming everyone else. Stop insisting that everyone owes you, that the Universe, or the government, or whatever, should pay for your existence. That isn't how life works. You are responsible for yourself. And until our society gets that through our thick skulls, until we put our collective feet down and tell our leaders "enough is enough" and refuse to go along with this shakedown, we will continue to be stuck in this nasty cycle of selfishness, laziness, and want.
Yes. It turned political. But... doesn't mean it's wrong, does it?
