The Death of Freedom in America
This happens when the people of America want their government to do what they themselves should have done. The idea that once was America was based on individual freedoms, not government sanctioned freedoms. This idea that the freedoms of the one are superior to everything else the government decrees involves some individual responsibilities that are not even thought of today. The people of today take the government for granted. They think that an emergency on their individual part creates an immediate emergency of the part of the rest of the citizens of America, and furthermore, that emergency entitles the person in trouble to use any and all funds of the Federal government to get out the predicament they find themselves in. In other words, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. This is a socialist point of view, plain and simple. Socialism does not work in practice. America was not built on this foundation. America was built on the idea of limited government, not an all powerful one. There are checks and balances built into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that have been murdered by socialists who just wanted to use the federal funds to care for the people who were not able to care for themselves. I don’t know about you, but I did not sign up for that. The America that I love is one where I can be whatever I want to be as long I make my own luck by being a better salesman / inventor /businessman /worker than the next guy on the street. If I personally want to fight hunger or save the poor, then I start a foundation to do just that. I don’t tax the people who able to make the money so I can pay for the poor to have a job or a meal.
The individual responsibilities that I talked about briefly above do not take into account ones needs. For example, if a person or a family decides to live on the coast of America that is often ravaged by hurricanes, that is their choice and their predicament if a hurricane should roll right over their home and wipe them out. A sane person would not try to rebuild in the same location. If a person or family decides to live in a place on the coast that is 10 feet below sea level and the sea comes rolling one day and destroys what they have built; a sane person would move to another location and not try to rebuild in the same location, inviting another disaster to happen.
What I am talking about is a certain amount of common sense is required to stay alive and thrive in this world today. If you are in a job that is safe for now, but gradually gets rocky, remember that if you don’t stay up with the technology in that industry by going to school and maintaining you credentials you will be laid off sooner than later.
If you are an older worker who has worked for his living without an upgrade in education and got his or her 2-3% raise every year for just showing up, then don’t be surprised when the company gets rid of you for a new worker with much experience (I call it baggage) and more education /knowledge. Sure you can complain that life is not fair, but it was you that was getting 40-50% more for doing the same thing others are willing to do for less.
Just because you got a liberal arts degree in college does not mean you can get a job in your field of endeavor. Unless you plan your life after college and pursue it rabidly, with an interest in getting what you want, at any cost, most likely you will not achieve your dreams. Life only works if you work at it. The rules of this game are easy, but if you are not prepared, life can be hard.
Even getting a technical degree or a nursing degree does not mean automatic job without moving to a different locale, necessarily. You may have to get the right technical degree to get that job you want. If you don’t want to move, good luck.
Without a degree, it’s worse, because you are saying that you don’t want to educate yourself any more than the minimum high school requirement. There is a lot of competition out there from immigrants, who are willing to work very hard to get where they want to be. Without a degree, you have to have an edge, which may be starting a business. If you start a business, it is not an easy row to hoe. You can expect long hours forever. In short, there is no more working harder, just smarter. Smart workers are good sales people, in addition to what they love to do. The better mousetrap has to be sold before it puts food on your table.
It seems that a lot of people today just have their hand out, expecting that the world owes them a living. All you get from this world for showing up is a bit of air, and that air does not have to be healthy for you, either. Everything else in this world has to be earned by you. Just because you happen to live in America only means you are more equal to the person next to you. This equality comes with a price. You make yourself equal by being smarter than the rest of the world. Nothing is free in this life, least of all, freedom. Knowledge and the means to get is the leg up that America gives you. Steve Jobs just died the other day, but up until that time he considered America the land of Opportunity. Steve Jobs had no college education, but he did have a spark of imagination that served him well. He self educated himself in what he wanted to learn and then innovated his way to success, selling his inventions all the while. He was the consummate entrepreneur, always reinventing himself and the products he made. Life rewarded him well, but his billions only came at the end of his life. What is very true in this life is that if you wait for a handout, you may never get one, and you may get run over waiting for something to happen. If you want your life to work, you have to take what life gives and make your dreams come true from that. The process is often not an easy one. If you are born in the ghetto, you can lie there and complain about it or you can move to live. That’s right, you can still move to live or wait to die. The choice is yours, America.
The individual responsibilities that I talked about briefly above do not take into account ones needs. For example, if a person or a family decides to live on the coast of America that is often ravaged by hurricanes, that is their choice and their predicament if a hurricane should roll right over their home and wipe them out. A sane person would not try to rebuild in the same location. If a person or family decides to live in a place on the coast that is 10 feet below sea level and the sea comes rolling one day and destroys what they have built; a sane person would move to another location and not try to rebuild in the same location, inviting another disaster to happen.
What I am talking about is a certain amount of common sense is required to stay alive and thrive in this world today. If you are in a job that is safe for now, but gradually gets rocky, remember that if you don’t stay up with the technology in that industry by going to school and maintaining you credentials you will be laid off sooner than later.
If you are an older worker who has worked for his living without an upgrade in education and got his or her 2-3% raise every year for just showing up, then don’t be surprised when the company gets rid of you for a new worker with much experience (I call it baggage) and more education /knowledge. Sure you can complain that life is not fair, but it was you that was getting 40-50% more for doing the same thing others are willing to do for less.
Just because you got a liberal arts degree in college does not mean you can get a job in your field of endeavor. Unless you plan your life after college and pursue it rabidly, with an interest in getting what you want, at any cost, most likely you will not achieve your dreams. Life only works if you work at it. The rules of this game are easy, but if you are not prepared, life can be hard.
Even getting a technical degree or a nursing degree does not mean automatic job without moving to a different locale, necessarily. You may have to get the right technical degree to get that job you want. If you don’t want to move, good luck.
Without a degree, it’s worse, because you are saying that you don’t want to educate yourself any more than the minimum high school requirement. There is a lot of competition out there from immigrants, who are willing to work very hard to get where they want to be. Without a degree, you have to have an edge, which may be starting a business. If you start a business, it is not an easy row to hoe. You can expect long hours forever. In short, there is no more working harder, just smarter. Smart workers are good sales people, in addition to what they love to do. The better mousetrap has to be sold before it puts food on your table.
It seems that a lot of people today just have their hand out, expecting that the world owes them a living. All you get from this world for showing up is a bit of air, and that air does not have to be healthy for you, either. Everything else in this world has to be earned by you. Just because you happen to live in America only means you are more equal to the person next to you. This equality comes with a price. You make yourself equal by being smarter than the rest of the world. Nothing is free in this life, least of all, freedom. Knowledge and the means to get is the leg up that America gives you. Steve Jobs just died the other day, but up until that time he considered America the land of Opportunity. Steve Jobs had no college education, but he did have a spark of imagination that served him well. He self educated himself in what he wanted to learn and then innovated his way to success, selling his inventions all the while. He was the consummate entrepreneur, always reinventing himself and the products he made. Life rewarded him well, but his billions only came at the end of his life. What is very true in this life is that if you wait for a handout, you may never get one, and you may get run over waiting for something to happen. If you want your life to work, you have to take what life gives and make your dreams come true from that. The process is often not an easy one. If you are born in the ghetto, you can lie there and complain about it or you can move to live. That’s right, you can still move to live or wait to die. The choice is yours, America.
posted by Mike Liesveld @ 1:20 PM
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