Stop The Complaining

We live in the greatest country the world has ever known. Our lifestyle is the envy of the world. Sure, there are places where luxury rules … but those countries have small populations, they do not stretch from sea to shining sea, or are as diversely populated as the United States, and they are not Super Powers.

For far too long, we as Americans have been fed the notion that we are a nation that does not care for the poor and the needy within our midst … nothing could be further from the truth. I will say that we have become more and more calloused to one and other, but that is a sign of the times. However, when disasters take place here and abroad, this nation stands ready to offer aid … not only from government but from, individuals, civic and church groups, and from the rich and the poor alike. No one ask, “Will the Americans help?” … they know we will.

We’ve been accustomed to having everything we need to survive. Clean water, plentiful food supplies, electricity, you name it, virtually everyone of us has what we need. That cannot be said for other nations around the world. Not that we have all we want, for some that will never happen. There are far too many that covet what others have, yet are unwilling to do what is necessary to achieve them … and unfortunately, a large percentage of us don’t have the talent or means to do so. In this country (and in every country) there exists “the haves” and “the have-nots”. However, by any measure, we that live in the United States have it better than almost anywhere in the world.

In the 1960’s LBJ started his war on poverty. That war has been a failure as the poverty rate in the U.S. has remained the same or worsened. But I ask you to take a close look at those that live in what we call poverty. I come into contact with the poorer among us everyday in my line of work. What I find there astonishes me. I will walk into a home in dilapidated condition that is not fit to live in and what to I find? … I find large screen TV’s (almost always they have more than one), expensive clothing and jewelry, alcohol, and drugs. Instead of making good use of what little they say they have, they squander it. But if you were to ask someone from a third world country if what I’ve seen is poverty they would not agree, they would say that we don’t know what poverty is.

As our politicians have become more willing to use class envy to win elections and gain power, they have become successful at having Americans believe that they are deprived. They use this tactic to pit us against one and other, never pointing out that most achievers get what they have fairly … instead they accuse them of taking advantage of the less fortunate. Why do they do that? … because it is easier to stir up anger than it is to encourage self improvement. They have made it acceptable to take from one group to give to another, rather than have it be socially unacceptable to be dependant on government or charities. Yet what most Americans never realize is that what is taken from one group is used up by government on government and those that are in need never really get the help that the government promised. That is why the war on poverty has been a failure. Government is as dependant of a mechanism on the successful as are the needy. As Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem”.

The United States is the third most populated country on earth. I’ll bet you didn’t know that. Yet we have the highest quality of life, higher than countries with far less populations, and far better than in China or India. That is why I say stop complaining and start complimenting our nation. If we don’t do that as a people, no one will. Tell the President and his wife that we live in a down right great country and not a down right mean one. Tell the Democrats and Republicans to respect the constitution and our individually protected rights. We do not live in a socialist collective, we live for ourselves. Until we are willing to take responsibility for ourselves, we cannot help anyone else. It’s been proven in the past that when Americans are left alone to prosper without government intrusion, we have always lifted each other up and spread prosperity (not wealth) around.

There you have it.
Pass it along if you like or let me know if I don’t have a clue.

Eddie