It's been awhile since I posted here, what with the holidays and all. But I thought it would be a good time tonite, as we await the arrival of 2009, to post my New Year's wishes. This has been an incredibly upsetting, tumultous year for us all, between the endless campaign season, the calamitous state of the economy, political scandals, murder, mayhem... you name it, we've had it! So what is on the horizon? Well, it doesn't really matter who you listen to, most people are predicting chaos, doom, upheaval, the end of civilization as we know it... all I can say is,
E N O U G H!
My sincere hope for 2009 is that somehow, global sanity is restored at least sufficiently enough that we all start acting responsibly and quit finger-pointing, laying blame and fighting like two-year olds. Let's try to identify problems without hidden agendas, come up with workable solutions, and practice a little teamwork to get back on track, so we can try to restore some normalcy to our lives and our communities.
This is going to require us all to become more active in our communities, pay more attention to what our elected representatives are doing, and speak up when we see things that are not right. We can no longer sit by and passively expect business to be taken care of by others. Hard as it may be to accept, there are those in this world who thrive on taking advantage of the apathy of others... they are all to happy to lie, cheat and steal whenever the opportunity arises, and the only defense we have against them is to be vigilant... expect the worst, but hope for the best. But I also think we need to actively support those who are doing the job we expect of them. And one way to do that is to communicate with our representatives, let them know about those things we think need attention; give them constructive input as to what we think can solve the problems we encounter; at the local level, write letters to your newspaper, attend neighborhood meetings, city council meetings, board supervisors' meetings; take part, pitch in, do what you can to make your community, your state, our country a better place to live in.
Well, I think that's enough soap-boxing for tonight... above all, let's do all we can to make 2009 a better year than all the pundits are predicting! God Bless all, and God Bless America!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sound advice, indeed!
I was visiting a blog this morning that I check regularly these days, and read this post: http://imataxpayertoo.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/sound-advice/
I commented about it, asking what has happened to personal initiative? Hard work? Determination?
By that, what I was getting at is that we have become a nation, maybe even a globe, that gives to those who won't do for themselves. I'm not referring to those who need help because THEY ARE UNABLE to do for themselves, but those who WON'T do for themselves. Most of us have to work hard to achieve things like earning a living, getting an education, getting ahead in the world. Very few of us succeed without a great deal of effort.
What I am seeing, and have seen for some time, is that a large segment of our population INSIST that those who have worked hard to succeed need to pay those who haven't worked hard, and to me that is fundamentally wrong! It's like rewarding a child for bad behavior. Oh, I forgot... we are no longer allowed to do that either!
And then there was this statment:
"You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn."
This is such a simple concept, and yet we are looking at a globe where the masses are panicking because our banking industry and our auto industry are collapsing due to massive overspending, and in the case of the auto industry, the unions are adamantly refusing to accept wage reductions in order to help in preventing the demise of the very industry that hires their members. True, just reducing wages of the workers isn't going to save the industry. The powers that be, the auto execs, will need to work very hard to restructure the industry if it is to survive. This is a case where the patient is seriously ill, and we don't need Dr. House to diagnose the ailment! Greed, incompetence, no clear plan for competing with companies based in other countries where the unions don't have a stranglehold on them...
I feel badly for the employees of these behemoths... they are just trying to make a living, feed their families, just like most of us. To have not only the company you work for, but the entire industry jeopardized in this way is a travesty. The dilemma here is whether a 'bailout' from Congress or the White House will serve to cure what ails the industry. Will it change their way of thinking? Will it help them to prevent the same thing from happening again? Or will it just postpone disaster? I have my opinion about the matter.... what's yours?
I commented about it, asking what has happened to personal initiative? Hard work? Determination?
By that, what I was getting at is that we have become a nation, maybe even a globe, that gives to those who won't do for themselves. I'm not referring to those who need help because THEY ARE UNABLE to do for themselves, but those who WON'T do for themselves. Most of us have to work hard to achieve things like earning a living, getting an education, getting ahead in the world. Very few of us succeed without a great deal of effort.
What I am seeing, and have seen for some time, is that a large segment of our population INSIST that those who have worked hard to succeed need to pay those who haven't worked hard, and to me that is fundamentally wrong! It's like rewarding a child for bad behavior. Oh, I forgot... we are no longer allowed to do that either!
And then there was this statment:
"You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn."
This is such a simple concept, and yet we are looking at a globe where the masses are panicking because our banking industry and our auto industry are collapsing due to massive overspending, and in the case of the auto industry, the unions are adamantly refusing to accept wage reductions in order to help in preventing the demise of the very industry that hires their members. True, just reducing wages of the workers isn't going to save the industry. The powers that be, the auto execs, will need to work very hard to restructure the industry if it is to survive. This is a case where the patient is seriously ill, and we don't need Dr. House to diagnose the ailment! Greed, incompetence, no clear plan for competing with companies based in other countries where the unions don't have a stranglehold on them...
I feel badly for the employees of these behemoths... they are just trying to make a living, feed their families, just like most of us. To have not only the company you work for, but the entire industry jeopardized in this way is a travesty. The dilemma here is whether a 'bailout' from Congress or the White House will serve to cure what ails the industry. Will it change their way of thinking? Will it help them to prevent the same thing from happening again? Or will it just postpone disaster? I have my opinion about the matter.... what's yours?
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