Last
week I wished you a week to revisit the last few
weeks of blogs and examine your personal development habits etc. I also wished
you a time to look back and examine your personal work history. What were
your jobs and what life lessons did you learn from each situation?
The third lesson in Defending America relates to the topic of
work which I wrote about last week. As with all my blogs, these are my thoughts
and opinions. Lesson Three is titled, “Defending Work as the Basis of Freedom
and Opportunity from the Dependency, Welfare, and Bureaucratic State of Tyranny
of the Left.”
I found this lesson to be enlightening. I will be quoting many
of the statements from this series which is led by Newt Gingrich. I ask that
you read, reflect, question, and come up with your own opinion. (I would
recommend this entire series on six different topics as it’s historically
based.)
“The Left is replacing the distinctly American ethos of
individual initiative and opportunity with a growing culture of dependency and
welfare – to a devastating effect as seen in poverty rates, shockingly low
workforce participation rates, the opioid crisis, and other measures alongside
the dramatic growth of the welfare state.”
“Hard work, individual initiative and opportunity have always
been critical to the American system and linked to our free market principles…”
We believe in the American Dream, nothing is impossible if we put in our own
hard work. We believe in the fact anyone from any walk of life CAN create a
successful life for themselves and their family.
There are others who will tell you that you’re limited because
of your race, the fact you’re female, or you’re from the “wrong side of the
tracks.” Have you paid attention to people like Dr. Ben Carson who grew up in a
single parent family, low income, yet had his mother’s voice of encouragement pushing him to be his very best, and she instilled the belief that he could accomplish
anything he wanted?
The number of “overcoming the odds” type stories are too
numerous to mention.
One common denominator in who becomes successful and who doesn’t
appears to come from the individual’s willingness to do whatever it takes to
reach his/her goals. That meant a strong work ethic, a never quit attitude, it
was not listening to people who were toxic and naysayers, that meant being
willing to do whatever to get to the next level as long as it was legal, moral,
and ethical.
What’s your work history? What have you done to gain experience
and create your own financial independence?
Henry Ford stated, “Work is the salvation of the human race,
morally, physically, socially.” Ben Franklin advised immigrants: “People do not
inquire concerning a Stranger, What is he? But, What can he DO?”
Why is it then that we seem to be having such a difficult time
getting people to work? It doesn’t matter whether I’m in St. Louis, or Ulysses,
KS, or anywhere in Boulder or Longmont, I see signs of businesses hiring. Yet,
at the same time, standing on a corner are young; able bodied men and women
wanting a handout. True, I don’t know their story. Yet when I see the same
people “parked” on similar corners with their signs week in and week out, I
want to know why. It’s my personal judgement, yet I can’t help but wonder why
they don’t walk the couple blocks and apply for a job that would put money in
their pocket.
I’ve always been a person who is willing to help others who are
not as fortunate. I donate items and money to a variety of organizations, we donated
a much larger some of money to the Red Cross with all the hurricanes and we are
willing to support our young relatives earning money to travel to their soccer
games, being able to participate in a trip to DC for a history class, or funding
an outdoor education experience. I can do that because I do have an income, and
I choose to put money each month into a Give fund.
Jon and I have housed over 30 young people in our home (without
payment) anywhere from a couple months to a couple years with the sole intent
of helping them during a time they needed extra support. I don’t say this to
brag, but I say this to show I have choices because I do have an income. I do
want to help others, and I feel a sense of pride when I see them go on and do something
with their lives.
Here’s my difficulty with our current environment. We have a
welfare system that was originally set up to be for a short time to help people
through tough times. It was originally NOT set up to be a lifestyle or an
expected income. Unfortunately, that is NOT the case today.
Benjamin
Franklin:
“I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in
poverty, but leading or driving them out of it…The less that’s done for them,
the more they do for themselves, and became richer.”
Abraham
Lincoln:
“Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor
diligently and build one for himself.”
Franklin D.
Roosevelt:
“…continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual disintegration
fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. It is in violation of the
traditions of America. Work must be found for able-bodied but destitute
workers. The Federal Government must and shall quit this business of relief….We
must preserve not only the bodies of the unemployed from destitution but also
their self-respect, their self-reliance, their courage and determination.”
The Bible says: “If
you give a man a fish, he will eat today, but teach a man to fish
and he will eat forever.”
“America’s relief programs have traditionally been based on
developing personal strength, with an emphasis on faith.”
My personal philosophy is focused on helping people take control
of their lives so they have that sense of self-worth, that pride, that sense of
ownership for something they have earned, built, and/or developed. In 1997,
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a welfare reform program, was
developed. It included time limits, work requirements, and other provisions
incentivizing people to get off welfare and lead productive and fulfilling
lives by giving states a waiver if they had alternative plans to promote
work/job preparation.
“During the 2012 presidential election, a slideshow was released
called, “The Life of Julia.” This depicted a vision of the government taking
“care” (control, in my opinion) of you from the beginning to the end of your
life. This is definitely a philosophical argument between the Left and the
Right.
The Left “believes that throwing redistributed money at citizens
will fix problems. However, here are some interesting statistics:
*welfare programs grew from less than $9bn (1.3% of GDP) to
$324bn (5% GDP) in 1933 to $927bn (6% of GDP) in 2011
*1965-2013, government spent $22tn (inflation-adjusted) on
means-tested welfare programs—more than three times the cost of all military
wars in the history of the US
*In 2013 a single mother of two was eligible for benefits
equivalent of a job paying per-hour $16.96 in CA, $18.27 in NY, and $20.44 in
MA which equates to between $35K and $42.5K per year.” (This doesn’t take into
account state, county, and municipal benefits.)
Unfortunately, the way welfare was structured under TANF is no
longer the case especially when it comes to time limits and work requirements. The
way our welfare system is now structured DISCOURAGES opportunity,
self-reliance, and ultimately getting OFF government support. Currently, there
is no work requirement if you’re an able-bodied individual. SAD! Currently, couples
are PENALIZED for marrying as they will lose benefits! SAD!
Social scientists Robert Rector and William Lauber explain, “The
current welfare system may be conceptualized best as a system which offers each
single mother a ‘paycheck’…She will continue to receive her ‘paycheck’ as long
as she fulfills two conditions: (1) she must NOT work; and (2) she must not
marry an employed male…(Welfare) has converted the low-income working husband from
a necessary breadwinner into a net financial handicap. It has transformed
marriage from a legal institution designed to protect and nurture children into
an institution that financially penalizes nearly all low-income parents who
enter into it.”
Think about that. Reread the above paragraph one more time. Now
think about what’s been happening to our low-income families. All in the name
of “taking care of you” this system doesn’t allow for our single moms or
disenfranchised dads to have a purpose, to have a Why, to pursue the American
Dream.
With the philosophy that government will take care of all of us,
it may sound good - originally. However, it “cripples the most vulnerable.”
This welfare state actually “breaks up families, minimizes incentives to work,
blocks people from saving and purchasing property, and takes away the American
Dream. The current welfare system, “overshadows dreams of a promised future
with a present despair born of poverty, violence, and hopelessness.”
Dr. Ben Carson has been criticized for saying that the housing
for able-bodied groups of people need not be comfortable. He specifically
stated he is NOT referring to the disabled, the mentally-ill, or those unable
to work. His point is to not make things so comfortable that they will never
want to leave. The focus should be to help people get back on their feet
not to enable them forever.
If you receive a Habitat for Humanity home there are specific
guidelines:
·
Applicant must
complete at least 400 hours of sweat equity towards the building of Habitat
homes. ...
·
Applicant must be
willing to live in a neighborhood in which Habitat is currently building;
·
Applicant must be
willing to attend required workshops for success in homeownership.
These guidelines establish a “buy in” by the
recipients.
Have you ever been a part of a project to
build a playground for a school? Have you ever been a part of a project that
develops gardens for community members who don’t have land in order to be able
to plant, grow, and harvest their own crops? Have you ever had your children,
students etc. purchase gifts for underprivileged children during the holiday
season using money they have earned themselves? Have you ever set up a GIVE jar
with money your children get from birthdays, work they’ve done, allowances etc.
and then they get to choose where and who they want to GIVE their money to?
What I believe is the ‘buy-in”, the
connection, the feeling of pride is far greater than anything that is just
handed to them.
In this lesson from Defending America, Newt
states, “The greatest failure of the welfare state was its direct and indirect
undermining of personal strength…the actual effect of the welfare state is to
weaken and cripple the poor…the regulations discourage work, which undermines
perseverance, discipline, and responsibility.” There is no satisfaction and
sense of pride that getting a paycheck you worked for will give. There is
nothing like hearing encouragement from a job well done!
What can we do? We can make sure we are truly
teaching our children, grandchildren, employees etc. etc. to be independent,
helping them develop their personal strengths, we can instill and model a
positive work ethic, and we can teach them that God has made each of us to be
successful in our own life’s journey. We can teach them there IS an American
Dream for ALL people and their hopes and dreams are important and are
attainable!! It’s an abundance mentality NOT a scarcity mentality.
My business mentor sent me a postcard that I
look at each day:
“You don’t need permission to chase the dreams God has put in
your heart.”
I may have totally challenged your belief
system this week. My position is for each and every one of us to be all that
God has created us to be! We can take control of our lives with a sense of purpose, hope, and a strong conviction to take an active part in building
the life WE want to build NOT what the government says we can or can’t build.
I wish you a week of reflection.
