"A Prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it". Proverbs 22:3
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Symptoms of a Wasting Disease
As I watched the comments roll in on the subject of government funded welfare I realized that the willingness to accept government assistance was indicative of a fundamentally more destructive epidemic. We are a people that have become more concerned with our personal comfort and safety than we are with protecting our most sacred ideals. We have lost our vision.
Every great nation in history has been founded on ideals. The United States was born in the minds of men long before the Revolutionary War was fought. The actual war was merely the physical manifestation of the convictions held by men intent on securing their freedom. Not only did our fore-bearers put their lives on the line for an ideal, they also scarified their fortunes. They saw past their own finite lives into the future of a nation. They believed that the ideals they held dear were more sacred than their money, their lives and even their families. They understood that men were created to live for something greater than themselves.
Welfare, WIC, SNAP programs, School lunches - they are only symptoms - symptoms of a wasting disease in the souls of men. Men are losing their vision. They are serving themselves before all others. No longer are men willing to stand on principle, regardless of the cost. They cast blame, make excuses and cower in the face of opposition.
The remnant that does retain their vision are marginalized. They are mocked, ridiculed and labeled "Judgmental". Those who choose not to comprise their principles are seen as "unenlightened" and "uneducated". They are viewed as selfish.
Here's the rub - YOU are responsible for your own decisions. Stand or fall - it's all you. Someday, you will have to kneel before your maker. You will have to answer for your life. You won't be able to play the "he made me do it" card, the "it was too hard" excuse or say "I had to deny you, or they were going to kill me". You have to stand - now. You have to live for something bigger than yourself.
Our country is a nation of vision. We have to get past our own circumstances and see the bigger picture. We only have one chance to get it right. Hold the line, people - hold the line.
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When my mother was a young married woman with an infant, she found out that her husband (who worked for the railroad) had taken on a second wife at the end of the line...he was a bigamist. She divorced him and her parents took her and the baby in. Grandma then took care of the baby and my mother got a job to support her child. This is what families did. Her family closed ranks around her, made sure she and the baby had a roof over their heads, food on the table and were loved.
ReplyDeleteContrast with what would happen in today's society. The tax payers would probably be on the hook for everything my mom's family provided, to now include a phone and computer service. The mom would collect welfare and food stamps. When the child got old enough, there'd be free breakfast and lunch at school and this year I even read there was a "bonus" check for recipients to buy school supplies and clothes with, with the report stating that there was a huge uptick in tv sales correspondingly.
I asked the county nurse one time why so many women in the WIC program did not breastfeed and she told me that it was because the formula was free. Well, it wasn't free to the taxpayer and neither are the phone, computer service, food, and debit cards that are handed out to so many today.
Davey Crockett was once chewed out by one of his constituents for using tax dollars to help victims of a fire. Although Davey and his fellow congressmen felt they were helping, the constituent rightly told Davey that they used other peoples money to do so, and if they wanted to help they should have done so out of their own pocket. Davey realized just how right this man was.
Every election cycle we have politicians promising to "help" people, all the while admonishing those footing the bill how ashamed we should be because we rightfully object. I can buy groceries for a lot of local people and leave out the multiple layers of bureaucrats who will all take their piece of the pie in salaries, benefits and pensions (another reason politicians love to create new programs--they get to create jobs in the public sector) if they were to just keep their sticky fingers out of my pocket.
I don't object to taxes, and my husband and I pay a considerable amount in federal taxes last year and the year before, more than I ever made in a whole year when I worked outside the home. We don't have deductions and credits and my husband's job requires him to work more than the standard 2000 hrs a year that most people average. So, in effect, we get punished for him being away from home and family at all hours of the night, weekends, and EVERY holiday, by paying the top rate of taxes on every dollar over the standard deduction and exemption. We are blessed that he has a job, but are mighty stressed with the can't win for losing tax scenario, as well as the knowledge that despite paying huge amounts, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be stuck paying for much more. All this, while many who have become generationally dependent on our hard work and tax dollars, stay home and never miss a holiday meal with their loved ones, never get up and shovel snow for two hours so they can climb into their vehicle and get to work at 0330.
I am afraid of what is going to happen to our country. We certainly can't keep beating the work horses standing in their harness.
Once again, I apologize for being so wordy.
sidetracksusie
The Davy Crockett story being referenced is here:
DeleteDavy Crockett vs. Welfare
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/ellis1.html
May I suggest everyone read it. It is quite eye opening and revealing, as well as provides an historical perspective that we do not see much these days.
Perhaps once folks read this, they will understand the WHY behind why .gov funded 'aid' is unconstitutional, and perhaps look at it with fresh eyes. Davy Crockett did.
Thanks, I'll add a copy of this column to my homeschool material. We have several books with Crockett stories in them and that is where my story came from (all still boxed up since I packed our books up due to possible wild fire evacuation).
DeleteEnola,
ReplyDelete(captaincrunch)
I had to read what you said about holding the line Enola' several times and ponder it for awhile.
I dont think this country will wake up. The Obama phones and EBT card mentality finally siezed up the engines of progress.
I can influence an election by voting. I can motivate nieghbors to help with security and clean up the nieghborhood to make bad guys uncomfortable so they go elsewhere. If a nieghbor cant mow their lawn or take the trashcan to the curb. I can help with that too.
On the line Enola where you said; 'I had to deny you, or they were going to kill me"
My faith is as strong as its ever been' Enola' The turn of events of the last year leading up to the birth of the twins next door to me in August has me amazed as I start to connect the dots. Whats evan more amazing is that many of my viewpoints on life completely changed when one of the twins (an eight week old boy) fell asleep in my arms three weeks ago. I never had any kids, never been married. I thought I had everything in life figured out. Then something clicked inside my head that I did not know I had. I think somebody upstairs was planning this somehow. I dont mean to get personal but everytime I think of that baby sleeping in my arms totally at peace, totally content' my eyes start to water a little (Im supposed to a be a tough guy) thanks God, thanks for ambushing me. I know now without a doubt that someone upstairs is watching out for me.
I got two new reasons for holding the line. That and someone upstairs I owe a real debt of gratitude too, even if it cost me my life.
I agree with you on this subject, but what is a family to do when the main bread maker gets injured badly at work? Badly I mean gets ran over by a skid-loader and almost loses both his legs. I had to quit my full time job to take care of him. Workmen s comp wouldn't pay for a nurse to come in and take care of him 24/7.
ReplyDeleteMy job was in management, good pay but long hours. I asked for emergency family leave so I could take at least a month off to try to get things situated at home. I was also taking care of my disabled Mother, had a daughter at home at the time.
Now you say a family should stand tall and proud and not get help when needed. I am not a religious person so no Church will help, I was to busy working to make friends in the community. So where is a person to get the help? Unfortunately from the State. We were denied 3 times after almost losing the house we worked so hard for. Almost lost utilities which was needed badly, But people like you feel a person should not ask for help.
Until certain people know the entire situation You should not pass judgement. I have a cheap cell phone so I can keep a part time job, I get free internet from my phone. I still barely keep my mortgage paid and utilities paid.
I have seen people in the store with very expensive cell phones, which my daughter says the phone bill starts out at around $200 a month, these folks do go out and get their nails done fancy. They buy steaks for themselves and hot dogs for their kids. I buy a 5 lb roll of hamburger for 5 meals to feed 9 people and cant understand how they do this. It is wrong of people to take advantage of the system, but when a person needs it they should be ble to without being ridiculed, it is embarrassing enough.
(This may be wordy, but please read it all, it has a point.)
DeleteIf a church won't help you because of your religion or lack thereof, it doesn't say anything about YOU.
It DOES however, say something about what a hypocritical bunch of asses the people running that church are.
Matthew 25:31-46
I will quote the pertinent part from the KJV so people don't need to look it up.
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
It doesn't say that you need to be a Christian to get help, now does it? No, it does not. So those Christians who refuse to help a non-Christian, deny their own savior's wise words.
Anon, in taking care of your man, you did the right thing.
It was we, the community, who failed you. The fault is upon us, not upon you.
We should be helping our fellow man. Not the state, and not even the churches. US.
We've divorced ourselves from that responsibility. If we did not, none of that .gov aid would even be needed.
No one is saying you should not ask for help. I think what was being said is that you shouldn't have to.
It's not a failure on your part, it's a failure on the part of everyone else around you.
There are people that are fantastic at fundraisers. There could be a fundraiser held for each individual that needs real honest help.
This is touched on in the Davy Crockett vs. Welfare story that I linked in the above post. I sincerely hope ye read it. It may give you another perspective. I know it did for me, when I read it many years ago for the first time.
And people aren't passing judgment on YOU, or anyone in particular. They are talking about the problem as a whole.
Such problems cannot be solved, unless they are talked about. And unfortunately that means that a few people are going to be offended. But no one is targeting you or anyone else.
If I were to say “Taxpayer funded welfare (forced philanthropy) is unconstitutional, and immoral, and needs to stop.” Am I targeting anyone, or am I stating a simple fact, followed by my opinion that it needs to cease?
No one is intentionally 'ridiculing' you, or anyone else either.
But the problem must be discussed so that it can be solved.
Anonymous, as I think Enola and others have said elsewhere - emergency assistance is for emergencies (which is what your family has had). I'm so sorry you are going through that.
DeleteIf you read through some of the other stories that were shared (and some I could tell you), there are a lot of people who choose to live in a perpetual state of fake emergency purely for lack of personal ethics, or some kind of magical thinking that nothing bad could ever happen to them. These people are not only a drain on the national economy, but a drain on any relationship in their lives. Surely you have met some, too?
One of the problems that Enola and others see with the current "national safety net" system is that it undermines people's personal connection to their communities and our mutual responsibility to each other. I do not believe we are responsible FOR each other, but yes we should be responsible TO each other.
If everyone believes that the State will take care of those who need help, they don't feel the need to help in person. This kind of anonymous, "official" system - where everyone is just a number - is bad for the soul of the recipient, as well as those who could and should be givers.
I have been through bad times like you and I hope you are able to get some rest and that things turn around for you real soon.
This wasting disease cuts deep and long in our nation. I remember Ross Perot saying many years ago when he was running for president (ever notice - we always seem to NEVER vote for those who tell the truth, those who courageously expose the evil deeds of the power-mad!) and he warned us "America is going to hear a giant sucking sound of jobs leaving this country!" Ross was right and once the jobs were all gone there are no incentives for them to move back on our shore when they can pay slave labor in other countries and the Walmart shoppers lap up the cheap, toxic stuff like crazy.
ReplyDeleteWe have lost our spirit, our backbone, our moral compass and nearly our Constitution. Without manufacturing jobs being created, we will sink deeper into the mire and muck of government handouts - slaves. We are a house of cards that will never recover without manufacturing jobs where we actually make stuff that we can build and repair our nation with.
I am waiting to hear someone, anyone, ask all of the politicians in this fake race for the White House who tout that THEY will create jobs in America - Someone please ask them HOW THEY WILL CREATE JOBS? WHAT WILL THEY DO TO CREATE INCENTIVES FOR BUSINESSES TO START ONCE AGAIN ON OUR SHORES?
Government creates nothing but slaves and waste. It is only by the initiative, creativity and ingenuity of the American spirit that jobs will, one day, be created...as long as they are not taxed so heavily, and beaten down and demeaned for doing so.
I heard a radio commentator say a few days go "As the leaders go so goes the nation." I fear that we have such godless leaders because we've allowed God to be taken out of nearly every vestige of America. And oh, we ARE being judged, mightely.
Our hope is in the remnant that still have courage and take action, who are led by Godly principles, and still have a moral code they live by; who are willing to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are downtrodden and without hope. We have become a fearful nation. A great tool of satan, satan led politics and media. We've allowed ourselves to be beaten down and abused by those who hunger and thirst for power and greed in every venue of our nation. Satan is the god of fear. We've fallen into his trap. This is a spiritual battle and one that can be won. Yet, not easily. We can think of Joshua and the battle of Jericho; Nehemiah building the wall - what did they do first - they prayed to an Almighty God. It is His battle but we are not engaged. We have grown silent, stupified, fearful.
The only way out is a changed heart and then a changed life. Putting our faces to the floor in humble prayer and repentance is the only way we can one day get our moorings back. Anything else and we slipp even deeper down the slippery slope into third world poverty and Obama's dream for America.Churches need to teach the Truth of the Holy Scriptures instead of happy talk. We are under His hand of judgment and will pay a huge cost for our lack of obedience to His word.
Pat
I work with a young single woman who refused to take our company's health insurance in spite of the fact that she could not go on her parent's policy because they didn't have any either. (of course, at 22, she was eligible if they had been covered...another story to infuriate me)... Anyway, she was OK with no coverage, because she said her birth control was covered (PP). Hmmm...so I said, "Your premiums will be just about $2100 a year...are you sure you don't want to reconsider? You could owe more than that for just one emergency facility visit." Nope..."medical expenses aren't like credit card debt...you can use them as part of a bankruptcy and I have no assets, so it would be fairly simple..."
ReplyDeleteI would type more, but my head spins every time I recall this conversation. NO PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY whatsoever seems to be the battle cry. She isn't worried about her own future, so taking into consideration the condition left for future generations is such a foreign concept I doubt it could be adequately presented to much of the American public to produce any effect. I see this all day long, every day, as I grow older and work with younger and younger new-hires!
I'll retire in two years...on $ I've saved...maybe I'll have more time to sort it all out then! :-)
If a family is getting food stamps AND the child is also getting free lunches in school wouldn't this be fraud? Wouldn't it be a case of paying for the same thing twice?
ReplyDeleteYes, WE are paying for the same benefit twice, but the four states I've lived in all had forms (I perused them before using them to start a fire in the woodstove) that indicated if you were on food stamps you were automatically eligible for free lunch/breakfast.
DeleteI have known all my life that when a government (Federal, State or other) imposes a tax on whatever (personal or the myrid of other methods to suck money out of a working persons labor) that much of that money was wasted. I am tired of paying for stuff (whether 'social services', overpaid/staffed 'departments' or the purchase of the tools to keep
ReplyDeletegovernment(s) operating) and am coming to the point of taking a stand. I know the consiquences will be horrific for both me and my family but that's the way it is - we are being crushed under the weight of the takers. As a point: I have never (repeat never) asked for help in my life and always worked for and supported myself and those who depend on me.
For those who do receive 'aid': why don't you just go out and stick a gun in someones' face and take their money? The answer is that you have a third party to do your work for you (in the form of our friendly taxing authorities) and you (the taker) do not have to get your hands dirty.
Is this the country we want for our future? I think not.
Worker, I appreciate your last paragraph where you suggest the people who need aid just go stick up folks with a gun. You are so correct! No, they don't WANT to see the government taking it FOR them as the same thing. You are right on the money.
DeleteYou have a wonderful way with words and I so agree with what you have said. Thanks
ReplyDeleteenola, once again you have written a very fine article. and yes, americans have lost their spirit of survival, their sense of resposibility, and in trading these for living on the dole they have lost their souls as well.
ReplyDeleteA coworker turned down a raise, because the state was paying her daycare, and the raise would have put her above the cutoff to have it totally paid for. She figured out exactly what she could make without losing the benefit and told our boss that was how much she wanted to make.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the current federal administration wants to make it virtually impossible for churches to provide services. People in need will have no choice but to rely on the government.
ReplyDeleteAs for the woman with the injured husband who is on welfare and says churches wont help. Have you tried the Catholics? Catholic Social Services, St Vincent De Paul, knights of Columbus etc are all available to anyone of any faith. Our Pope recently wrote that all Catholic charity must be available to all with no religious test or obligation. We consider this a holy duty of all Christians to help those in need. We are all one family and family takes care of family.
Hi there current Anon Catholic. Former Catholic here. Uh... no. No they're not. Not unless your state is very different from mine. In another article I stated that I was denied assistance from my family church where my great grandparents had been members and my family had supported that church since 1908. All because my wife wasn't a Catholic and because I no longer considered myself Catholic. That was the nail in the coffin, right there.
DeleteAnd if Pope Ratzinger wrote that, it must be fairly recent, and certainly didn't apply when my family was in absolute dire straights a few years back.
I was a Catholic for 32 years, and I can say from firsthand experience, what you quote, if accurate, is an abberation from all that Catholics I've ever been around, seen, or heard of.
Most Catholics around here won't even share a meal with you if you aren't Catholic.
I know I'll never convince you that Catholics are anything other than the bee's knees, and that's not my intent. But I have a lifetime of experience that speaks exactly to the opposite of what you are postulating here.
Regardless, I admire your dedication and desire to help people, and can only hope that your church is and does as you say it does. That would be a lovely thing indeed.
All the best.
~Janos
You really should not use this blog to spew your anti-Catholic bias. I've not witnessed such since the KKK came to town in the late 1970's. This writer gave some agencies/groups people could look to for help, you didn't have to respond if you didn't agree, as it appears your response is not aimed at informing but maligning out of personal spite.
DeleteHave a good day.
Anon: I was informing, based upon my own personal experience. Perhaps if you don't have a dog in the race either way, you shouldn't give your opinion. As ye stated, if you didn't agree, YOU didn't have to respond. Oh if only all subjects were as one sided as you would like them to be, and everyone could play nice and agree with your point of view.
ReplyDeleteDiscussion exists for a reason.
And no, I have no need or desire to malign, out of personal spite or otherwise. If I felt a need to do so, I'd certainly use my own blog for such things.
Someone stated something that I felt was a bit... different from my own experiences. I also stated that I hoped it was true, and their church really WAS different than the ones I'd experience in my over THREE DECADES as a practicing Catholic.
But apparently, either you did not read or did not comprehend the other post where I stated what the Catholic church did and how they refused my family aid.
And now all of a sudden they're all love and light, we are all one big family?
Color me unconvinced.
You are however, welcome to your own opinion. And if you wish to continue that discussion, you can feel free to email me by clicking on my profile and going to the 'Contact me' section.
Have a good day. :)
Wild Cookery,
ReplyDeleteI wrote the post you responded to. I didn't find your reply offensive in the least.
I am sorry that you had a terrible experience with the Church. It shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry that you were let down.
Having said that, I hope that anyone else that may be in a dire situation would not hesitate to contact a local parish. And I hope that the parish would offer help to the extent that they were able.
All people of faith must stick together in the coming storm. We are going to need each other to survive.
This issue of Christians helping needy people is more complicated that one might think at first glance. Sure, the Bible DOES say to help others. My husband and I, believing this, were big supporters of a local Christian food bank. We donated food and money, even to the point of doing without some things our own family needed, but we'd come through several hard crises in our own earlier days and so we truly wanted to help those in serious need. Then one day, my husband decided to go and volunteer there when the staff was a bit shorthanded. The first thing that bothered him was the men waiting in cars smoking while their women or children went in to pick up the food. They could afford CIGARETTES but not food? Then he saw several families sending in more than one person to each get a bag when the rules specifically stated that only one bag per family was permitted per visit. People were rude and demanding and got downright nasty when the staff told them they were out of a certain food that the "customer" wanted. That's not all, but I can't write everything in this short posting.I'll say only that we withdrew our support of that food bank and are now looking for other, better ways to serve the needy-- hopefully with more discernment. Another thing to be considered... and I say this respectfully, but sometimes God puts people into a corner so that they have to look up to Him for salvation and help. God cares more about our (eternal) character than our (temporal) comfort and His desire is for all to establish a relationship with their Creator and Provider. So... It's possible that we might be prolonging someone's lack of response to Him if we make life too easy for them. To give or not to give will have to be directed by the Holy Spirit in each individual Christian's life, but if we are stewards of wealth that rightfully belongs to God, we have to be careful not to be unwise with it. There's a time for everything and every purpose under heaven. Sometimes we give and sometimes it's wiser to hold back. Listen to that still, small voice and be careful. You won't be able to feed everyone in the days to come, so you need to practice discernment now and get used to it.
ReplyDeleteA welfare state is a state that in his action seeking social security and social justice in order to ensure the participation of all the social and political developments. It specifically referred to the totality of state institutions, control measures and standards in order to achieve the objective to mitigate the risks of life and social outcomes. The State undertakes to provide in legislation and administration to maintain social equilibrium of society.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to germany - where you can go infront of a court to get your damend. They now pay you 100+ Euro per month if you DONT put your child into state Kindergarten ...
But it works to some degree. just the paying for all of it is a bit off...