I Believe
I find myself extraordinarily frustrated with the way things are going in our government right now.
I’m sure you do as well.
I think we do all and that’s the problem.
So from my heart to yours, one human being to another I’d like to tell you what I think as a person, a parent, and a citizen of United States.
I won’t mention one word about Pres. Obama, Pres. Bush, or any other politician or the D’s or the R’s. I want to foster some understanding without rhetoric or finger pointing.
First and foremost, I believe that all men have the freedom to worship the creator that they believe in without any restriction from the government of any kind. Though I do define myself as a Christian, I understand that that is MY faith and my belief system. Neither I nor any other Christians have any right at all to enforce that belief system on any person in the United States who is unwilling to accept it. I do not believe we are a Christian nation, and though some of our laws were borrowed from Judeo-Christian philosophy I know too that some of our laws were borrowed from Hammurabi’s code as well as Masonic teachings and many other places. Our laws like our citizenry are a melting pot and they are better for it. Don’t take my word for it. Thomas Jefferson backs me up on that point. I’ll defer to him.
I believe that all men and or women have the right to spend their lives with whomever they choose. If they choose to call it marriage or civil union or whatever else, that is their business and not mine. They should enjoy the same rights and benefits that my family and I do without restriction. To say otherwise is foolish and discriminatory.
I don’t believe you can legislate morality or out law things just because you or your group don’t personally like them.
I believe that discriminating against people because of their race, creed, color, gender or sexual orientation is wrong. But likewise giving those same people additional benefits for any of the above reasons is also wrong. “Equal rights” means equal rights, not special extra rights.
I believe that the government and society are two different things and have two separate roles in the world. I do not think that it is the government’s job to take care of me or my family. I also don’t believe it’s the government’s job to make it harder for me to take care or my family. As a human being, I know that it is my responsibility to help take care of my neighbors and my community. As a citizen I don’t believe its right for the government to mandate that I give money to them so that they may give it to others on my behalf. I can handle that myself just fine.
I don’t expect the government to provide me with food, clothing or shelter. That said, I think that having some safeguards in place to provide those things for people who need them in emergencies is okay; but the government can’t be expected to provide for people long term. And what we have done is we’ve become a nation that is providing food clothing and shelter for almost anyone who asks for indefinite periods of time. That way lies madness. We are not enabling people to survive on their own.
I don’t believe we should needlessly allow people to die because they can’t afford health care. But I also don’t believe that the government should be in charge of the healthcare system. I believe that reforms need to be made within the medical system to address the real issue: the cost. People are working hard to change who pays for the healthcare but no one is addressing the fundamental problem: Why does it cost so much? What is going on to make things so pricey and what can we do to change that? I want real answers to those questions before I am willing to entertain other discussions with regard to healthcare.
I believe we are a nation of immigrants and it is what has made this country strong and beautiful and wonderful. That said, there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. If you come to my house for a party and you hang out for little while you have to leave when the party is over. You can’t just stay in my home indefinitely. Not without my permission anyway. We have many people who have come here for a party and then have never left. As a human being I can understand why they might want to escape deplorable conditions in other countries for the grandeur of United States. And while in my heart of hearts I wish that we could open the floodgates and allow everyone to stay, as a citizen I know that that is impractical and impossible. We just can’t afford it. As a father, I have to take care of my children before I take care of other people’s children. It’s common sense; it’s the way the world works. Likewise as a nation, we have to take care of our citizens first. As long as there are American children in the streets begging for food unfortunately we can’t do too much about the children in other countries begging for food and we certainly can’t allow all of them to move here with no restrictions. With all my heart I wish that we could. But to say that we can is foolish. I realize it’s a tough decision that needs to be made in that regard, but that’s why we need strong leaders. Ones that can make tough decisions like that. Bottom line: If you want to come live here,knock on the door and ask. If we can we’ll let you stay after you agree to a few basic rules. If you are unable to do that, then you can’t stay here and if you sneak in, you won’t be welcome anymore. That’s just the way it is.
And you can speak whatever language you want. I wish I could learn more than one language. I’d love to. If I lived in France, you can bet your ass I’d learn some French. But the government has no role in mandating what language you speak. That said, you may have a tough time if you speak no English in some places because we can’t possibly put signs up in 30000 languages to suit everyone that walks into the MVA. No expects you to assimilate. But you should try to adapt. It’s not a law, just a good idea.
I believe in working hard and also working smart. If you work hard and you get ahead, God Bless you. I don’t think you should be punished for being successful by being taxed at a higher tax rate than some one who hasn’t been as fortunate. To punish some one for busting their ass to get ahead is antithetical to our way of life.
If you’re a trust fund baby, or a rich kid or your grandma invented Rolaids and you personally didn’t make you own money – well good for you. I hope to be able to provide my kids with enough that they don’t have to work as hard as I do. While I envy you, I don’t begrudge you what’s yours. If you didn’t steal it, the government doesn’t have the right to punish you for having it.
Flat tax is the only way to go. No deductions, no nonsense. 30% end of discussion. You make 10k? 30%. You make a million? 30%. No manipulating the laws to give tax breaks to this group or that. 30%. The end. Even I could handle that math. Fire the IRS except for about 4 guys to haul all the copies of our overly complex tax code to the dump. 30%. It works.
If you went to college and got a bank loan so you could go do and majored in something stupid and now can’t get a job, that’s your fault. You have no right to ask the Government to force the bank into forgiving your loan.
If you own a business and it’s not doing well, the government should NOT bail you out. That’s not the deal. Whether it’s a family run store or Bank of America, AIG and Chevy, everything has a beginning, middle and end. Woolworth was once the biggest store in the USA. It’s gone. I used to have 500 cassette tapes. NOTHING is too big to fail. When things fail, the government needs to let them fail. We can’t pay for everything. Things have to be allowed to come and go even GM.
I don’t believe we are the world police. We have a habit of injecting the stars and stripes into every conflict on the planet. If there are two guys from different countries fighting over a kangaroo, well by God there’s a U.S. tank. There are fires in our own back yard that need tending before we go cowboy-stomping around the globe.
Lastly, I believe our forefathers would be ashamed of what we have become: a fat, idle nation that doesn’t make things. We celebrate stupidity and scorn intelligence. We punish success. We squander power. We put politics before people. We fight over inconsequential things. In short we have betrayed their legacy.
Those are the things I believe. What do you believe? No finger-pointing. No “Us vs. Them”. What do you believe on a real fundamental level? Let’s start there and see what we all share, and then we can get down to the specifics and differences of opinion in a healthy and productive manner.
It’s my hope anyway and I believe we can.
Death of Common Sense
Common Sense lived a long life but died in the United States from heart failure on the brink of the new millennium. No one really knows how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes and factories, and helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn’t always fair.
Common Sense lived by simple credos: sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids), and winning isn’t everything (it’s okay to come in second).
A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived trends including body piercing, whole language, and “new math.” But his health declined when he became infected with the “If-it-only-helps-one-person-it’s-worth-it” virus. In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of well intentioned but overbearing regulations. He watched in pain as good people became ruled by self-seeking lawyers. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero-tolerance policies.
Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition. It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parent when a female student was pregnant or wanted an abortion.
Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from the Boy Scouts to professional sports. Finally, when a woman, too stupid to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, was awarded a huge settlement, Common Sense threw in the towel.
As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding questionable regulations such as those for low flow toilets, rocking chairs, and stepladders. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers and a stepsister: My Rights, Only Me and Ima Whiner.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
Your op-ed is right on, in just about every aspect. What’s scary is that if you polled most people around, they’d likely agree with most everything you stated…..the scary part is if that’s true, then how the hell did we arrive at the place we’re at right now in our nation’s history? How could so many “common sense, work hard, do right by your neighbor” people have let this country slip into one of “political correctness, hand out, screw my neighbor….I gotta get mines” type of society? I’m fearful of the answer to that question.
Because the way people answer poll questions (aspirational) is totally different from what they actually do every day in their lives.
Accompanying common sense in its demise is personal responsibility; it is always someone else’s fault, preferably someone with deep pockets. So sad, the lawyers are running the Country.
Maynard,
You are seeking a discussion about these issues in “a healthy and productive manner.” Yet, statements like “To say otherwise is foolish and discriminatory[;]” fosters what kind of environment? I’m no genius, but those statements taken together suggest there will be your way or the highway.
Thank you for your opinions.
I’m not going to apologize for my choice of language. I stand by it. I also stand by “all men are created equal” which I believe backs me up here. While I realize many laws have been made to the contrary, I believe it should still be our guiding principle in this country. It’s not my way or the highway at all. It genuinely is my belief that if we are going to place laws on the books that are discriminatory that it is foolish in the context of one of our guiding principles. Wow I am sorry that you may have found that particular choice of words upsetting, I would urge you to not get lost in the forest looking for the trees. There is a larger point here that I’m trying to make. We have got to get over the idea of Democrats versus Republicans or we are doomed to failure. I have publicly voiced my support for gay marriage and been called a bible hating liberal because of it. In the same setting I have Publicly expressed my displeasure with the Obama care system And been called a racist tea bagger. I’m neither thing. I’m just a regular American. And I don’t look at things based on the party line. I hope everyone else stops as well. It’s become nonsensical.
I’ll go along with the larger point you want to state here.
As far as each individual point, it can reasonably be said every American wants all these things, we just have different ideas of how to do them.
Additionally, for every swipe of your pen over a very large issue (foreign aid, taxes, etc) there are a thousand very small but very meaningful distinct issues in which the larger point would, if taken as absolute, leave woefully unaddressed. For example, there are very good and sensible reasons to provide foreign aid to other countries, despite our needs at home, and in doing so we protect and further the cause of America and our way of life.
However, I appreciate your thoughtfulness. If we the people should ever take such an approach again, we’ll be alright.
Noble, I understand that the devil is in the details. But this isn’t the time or place for those discussions.
Honestly I’m hoping anyone who reads will just look at some one near them and say “why do you think this way?”.
I tried to do it in a fairly non-judgmental way; but we all fall short of the glory.
This piece started as a letter to a friend of mine who is very far leaning in one direction. I was confused about her stance on a particular issue and so I asked her to explain WHY she thought the way that she did so that I could understand why her view was in such stark opposition to my own.
She was highly offended that I asked,and told me she no longer wanted to be friends with me (ok, truth be told she De-friended me on Facebook, but that sounds stupid. She was nonetheless very upset that I had). I was extremely troubled by her reaction so I wrote most of this as an attempt to explain that my question came from a place of real curiosity rather than that of critic.
I don’t profess to have all or any of the answers. Maybe what I believe is not what many others believe. If I’m the odd man out on an issue or two, I am willing to accept that as part of life.
But my letter is really asking a question: What DO YOU believe and WHY? And I assure you the request is genuine.
Fair enough. Since you asked I will answer:
I’m frustrated, too.
Not sure what you mean by “I think we do all and that’s the problem.” No comment from me.
Thank you again for your opinion.
Leave the politicians out of it, you are right – they are only partially to blame.
I’m with you on freedom of religion. I also believe people can be free from religion. I have serious problems when everyone has to free from religion because a small minority wants it that way, though.
I disagree about this country being founded as a Christian nation. History – the unrevised version – will back up my assertion it indeed is. Any society regardless of religious affiliation that recognizes there are fundamentally wrong things to do is not evidence we do not have a Christian foundation. Thomas Jefferson was one voice among MANY. And his remarks have been twisted to fit a modern agenda. In context to the meaning he intended, our revision of his statements miss the mark.
People can live in a man and woman, man and man, woman and woman, adult and child, human and animal, or “fill in the blank” relationship – you are correct they have that right. It doesn’t make it right, though, despite your characterization that my thinking so is “foolishness and discriminatory.”
We legislate morality all the time. Murder, rape, incest, burglary, mayhem… they are all illegal. Logic dictates if I want something you have I can beat you over the head to take it. Just because I can – see above – doesn’t make it right. So yes, morality is legislated.
Discrimination is wrong – you are right again. Forcing me to accept situations I deem wrong denies me my rights. I ask – how can it be good to infringe my rights?
I believe the government is a reflection of society. I happen to cling to antiquated notions that the people are sovereign. It may be true corporations, special interests, and political parties run the show, now. However, I only see that as a fulfillment of the big socialist experiment begun in the 1930s.
I agree we should have safeguards. Remove the concept of entitlement from safeguards and your problem is solved. Good luck with that.
Health care can be affordable. Return to catastrophic insurance and make providers REALLY compete in the market to sell their services. It is disgenuine to believe that the market sets costs for healthcare when insurers and providers negotiate the rates – not the consumers directly.
Regarding immigration… talk with a Native American about the topic – it will be illuminating. If you make it to the shores and can survive here – you earned your spot – just like Europeans of old.
I agree English is helpful. It’s also true that people around here don’t speak Susquehannock. No one is asking for 30000 languages… just the two dominant ones already present.
Please accept the fact that regressive taxes are harmful to society. You don’t get punished for paying more if you make more. Society recognizes you benefit as much as anyone, perhaps even more. If you own a bigger piece of the map you’ll need to pay more to protect that bigger piece. That is logical. The flat tax idea is stupid.
I agree with student loans… I worked two jobs to pay mine off early to save the interest. I did it, and it cost me plenty in my younger years; but back then we did what we had to.
Bail outs are harder to deal with… what would we have done with all the pensioners had GM folded? They were indeed “too big to fail.” My problem – the golden parachutes given to the turds who ran the company into the ground. Is one of them in prison yet?
I agree about being the world’s policeman. My question: Are we ready to surrender that role to Russia and China? And then live with the outcome? Yeah, think that one over for a moment.
I agree they’d be pretty amazed how we screwed this one up. We’re fat from our abundance and standard of living – so give them up! We’re idle because we lack ingenuity and demand too much (greedy). We don’t celebrate stupidity – we just don’t applaud intelligence. No one wants to be the smart kid in class – that one seems obvious. We don’t punish success – we believe our success has to come at a loss to someone else. We don’t realize this is a big land and my portion of it should come from sweat and hard work – not getting people out of my way. Squander power – seems odd to list this among failures in an essay that desires to rid itself of the “world policeman” tag. This country was founded on politics – that is not lethal. The “take no prisoners” and “give no ground” attitude surrounding politics is what is lethal. How can lazy and idle people fight for anything – especially inconsequential things? I don’t understand.
Their legacy was not entirely worth keeping intact. The Founders all died with the institution of slavery well preserved. The Founders began this noble experiment in self government allowing women to vote, then took it away (only to return it a century or so later). So, no I don’t think clinging to some by-gone era is our future.
Our future depends upon what we do with this great experiment. Right now I’d say we have one or perhaps two more generations before it collapses. I’m not pessimistic when I say that, but realistic. Our priorities are messed up.
We believe the end of the world is upon us when our property assessment may cost us $100 more a year to pay our teachers properly. But, dropping $1000s for season tickets to watch millionaires play games for billionaires is something to be respected. We can happily feed much of our paychecks into the movie houses and cable TV to watch people systematically destroy our culture and call it entertainment. Then wonder why the kids idolize these degenerates who can’t stay married, sober, or out of legal trouble.
To borrow your phrase – “Those are the things I believe.”
localguy –
you almost had me there. you started off so strong, but you lost me somewhere around “bailouts are harder”, metioning “what would we have done with all the pensioners” had GM gone belly up. I’ll answer that: nothing. Absolutely nothing. those huge generous pensions, even for the lowly factory workers, were a part of the problem.
You also, IMO, missed the mark on immigration, as you seem to have an open-boarders mentality. That is in voilation to current law, and it cheapens my citizenship, and that of every LEGAL immigrant.
I’m unsure why you think that Russia or China would step up if America was no longer the “world’s policeman”. Obviously it is in our interest to be involved and cooperative with various other countries, though I also question to what extent.
But this is where you really made my head spin: “Their legacy was not entirely worth keeping intact. The Founders all died with the institution of slavery well preserved. The Founders began this noble experiment in self government allowing women to vote, then took it away (only to return it a century or so later). So, no I don’t think clinging to some by-gone era is our future.”
The founders’ legacy not worth keeping? I vehemently disagree. as for slavery, a majority of founders were openly opposed to slavery, but, in short, didn’t push too hard against it for the sake of maintaining the southern states involvement and inclusion in their new nation. FTR, we don’t need to cling to a by-gone era, as you said, but rather should encourage a return to the principles that brought about the changes of that era. Our great country was founded not on politics, but on religious and economic freedom. it could perhaps be argued that the founders wanted freedom from politics, but more accurately they desired freedom from tyrannical oppression. so much so that they were willing to give up their own health and treasure to ensure that posterity would be able to enjoy that freedom.
at any rate, this has probably been the most civil and engaging Dagger post i’ve ever subscribed to, and for that, thank you all!
Jeffery Beck
Maynard,
I’m not seeking an apology. I’m not upset. I thanked you for your opinion. That’s what you offered, nothing less. You asked for a discussion, but I questioned the genuineness of that request.
And as I have suggested to a few folks in these parts – stalk my posts, you’ll find out I scorn party politics and my voter card reads “unaffiliated.”
Pizzle – I believe we got to this place because too many opted for our children to have “more” and our generation was thriving enough to give them “more”. Adding to the mix was Mom going to work which led to guilt so they just gave “more”. (Please don’t think I am bashing women in the work place – I am one. Simply saying one parent is not home for the children to teach them common sense and hard work)
We are a lazy society and until we start teaching our children the value of hard work we will not return to a stable economic country.
Maynard for President!! (Sorry, I know you said no politics, but I couldn’t help myself)
My mom was a working single mom who managed to teach me and my siblings some common sense. People are just too lazy nowadays to put in the work. I would love to be home with my daughter but I have to work to provide with her father – so we work, but we will teach her and it may require a little more vigilance and alot of structure, but she’s worth it. Kids don’t raise themselves – and I think parents need to start taking alot more responsibility for their kids, starting with health and better diets, and curbing attitudes and instilling rules.
Maynard-right on. I agree 100%. I think we got where we are because we hit a tipping point a few decades ago where the majority of voters found out it was easier to depend on the government than to depend on themselves.We also let the government take more and more power and rights from us because they promised us more and more. And as Ms. Falter said, common sense has left America.
way, way too long fella…those who understand, know it already, those who don’t ‘get it’…won’t bother to read it…then again if it makes you happy, and Dagger wants it…so be it..
just sayin’
Hey Sorry Todd, I’ll try to only speak in sound bites. Our discourse and attention span has been dumbed down to the length and breadth of an Alpo commercial.
easy Maynard…my attention span is just fine…speak for yourself…
lengthy diatribes lose impact with distance…just sayin’
Maynard, I am in complete agreement with almost every word. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
The “American Problem” is a complex one, for sure. Over-spending and over-legislating (from both parties) is a good place to start. But I believe that along with common sense and personal responsibility, a simple sense of morality has also left America. Not necessarily a religious morality (though I am a Christian), but just a simple acknowledgement of right and wrong. So many people seem to have a “well, it works for me” mentality and attitude that it’s frightening.
Katia – you certainly cannot enstill rules for your children and repremand them when they step out of line! That would injure their fragile self-esteem! *sarcasm*
Thanks again Maynard,
Jeffery Beck
Hi Jeff,
We’re good. If we agreed across the board discussion would be unnecessary, though, the dinner table would be more amicable.
Seriously…
Re: bailouts; doing nothing was an option indeed. Realistically, however, do you really believe that would have been the case? Be honest. I hated the idea myself, but you and I both know the retired workers would have been hurt – not the people who made the mess.
Re: immigration – my point is that the law needs reforming. Your citizenship is not cheapened by laws making it easier for people to immigrate.
Re: China and Russia – If you haven’t noticed they tend to team up on foreign policy of late. In the absence of US influence – who do you think struggling nations will turn to?
Re: head spinning. You asked: “The founders’ legacy not worth keeping?” Actually I never said that. You quoted my actual statement. I repeat it: “Their legacy was not ENTIRELY [emphasis added in re-post] worth keeping intact.” I assigned no percentage of what was worth keeping and what not worth keeping. I am fully aware of the reasons and implications for disregarding the slavery question. They should have handled that institution at that time – it would have avoided much bloodshed later – just saying. As for women voting, still true also.
Freedom from tyanny does not mean the people were not political thinkers. Have you read the Federalist Papers? They were written for the common man, not the scholars. The opinions of the common man were crucial to the great experiment. And be careful not to confuse economic freedom with economic opportunity – two different concepts. The religious freedoms in the colonies were an extension of their founding. England saw it fit to let those who were discontent to live far away, and perhaps make a little cash for the crown in the process. Again, this perspective only strengthens the richness of the American heritage we all ought to treasure.
You said: “at any rate, this has probably been the most civil and engaging Dagger post i’ve ever subscribed to, and for that, thank you all!” Agreed, thank you. LG