Ever Hear of Personal Responsibility?

We all know our Constitution is based on the rights of the individual.

The necessary adjunct to being guaranteed our God-given rights is that individuals take personal responsibility for themselves and those dependent on them.

Personal responsibility starts with the basics. You and I are responsible our food and shelter. How we achieve those survival goals of having enough to eat and shelter from the elements is up to us.

Our government is responsible for providing us with the opportunity to live our lives as we choose. It is not responsible for anything else. It is not responsible for our food and shelter. It was never meant to be otherwise.

If you think that last paragraph flies in the face of what you expect from our government, you have gone beyond the realm of personal responsibility. If you think that last paragraph is some radical, right winger shooting out misinformation, you are drinking the Kool-Aid of misguided, big government responsibility.

Oh, it’s routine now for political candidates, particularly those running for national office, to talk about what they are going to do for us. What they’re talking about is money or things that cost money – not theirs, of course. In other words, political promises to spend more. Those things include a bevy of food and shelter programs and a plethora of other things.

It’s all geared to negate personal responsibility and encourage government to assume that role. It’s called “Big Brother.”

This dependence is fed by the victimhood movement. It seems every non-white male is a victim of someone or something – or some institution. As a victim, you can’t personally control or manage your own life because you live in some sort of servitude state where the oppressors take advantage of you. So how do you solve being a victim? You get the government to pass laws and issue edicts that gives you something. You deserve to be fed and sheltered because of your victimhood status.

Notice when people are in a deserving, reparation state of mind they don’t ask that government level the playing field to give them more opportunity to do something for themselves. No, they ask, even demand, to get something for supposedly nothing.

You will also note that when government substitutes itself for personal responsibility it does so because there’s some emergency or crisis that requires them to act.

We hear such things as: “What about the poor people who can’t afford health insurance; What about poor people not having enough to eat; What can we do to ensure everyone has a cell phone?” On and on. Everything the government does is needed, required, necessary. If you oppose some handout you’re callous, uncaring, dispassionate, shirking your responsibility.

Seemingly gone are the days when people look at their current situation and own the past choices that got them where they are. That every past choice and decision has led them to the point they’re at now.

They don’t see playing the victim or blaming others for their circumstances is an easy way out, but it also robs them of their power to change things.

The saddest thing is all this government substituting for oneself is not gratifying. Dependency has a hard time competing for your happiness. In most instances it leads to just the opposite.

The “pursuit of happiness” is just that. It is not a right guaranteed by the government. Government is supposed to provide us with the opportunity to pursue happiness. It is no substitute for it. if government could substitute for our ‘pursuit’ we wouldn’t see so many people and organizations trying to limit others’ rights (and enhance their own) to those outlined in the Bill of Rights.

“I did that!” That’s the words of people who have made the right choices for themselves and corrected mistakes made on the road to success – however we define that for ourselves. There’s a great deal of pride and joy associated with doing a good job, fending for oneself, raising a successful family.

Doing the things needed to succeed in life does not include feeling sorry for oneself or blaming others for failures, wrong choices, and one’s current situation. There’s no joy, no happiness in that.

What can I say?

Many have lost the secret of life and happiness by rejecting their personal responsibility. We all make decisions in our lives, and we live with the consequences – positive or negative.

Taking personal responsibility can be a bit scary at times, but it can be very empowering.

This is your and my life to lead. We just make the most of it and be brave enough to face it.

Without taking personal responsibility there is no happy future – individually or as a country.

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Have a great and prosperous week.

Hug somebody.

SPIDER Bites

Trivia question of the week: Which animal can be seen on the Porsche logo?

Rather than commemorate the 911 terrorist attack and the victims of same, President Biden, VP Harris, and DHS Sec. Mayorkas took last Sunday’s occasion to publicly reiterate the domestic terror threat represented by Make America Great Again (MAGA) Republicans. This is crazy, off the rail’s propaganda.

Gee, the inflation rate was 8.3% in August, up from 8.1% in July. Higher costs were driven by increases in food, shelter, and medical care services, offsetting a decline in gasoline prices. Real average hourly earnings adjusted for inflation rose 0.2% for the month. However, they remained down 2.8% from a year ago. We’re witnessing how demand decreases when you raise the price of almost everything, slow down economic activity, and lower wages at the same time? It’s all under control by the WH and Congressional ‘experts.’ Right.

In celebration of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, The President hosted 2,000 of his closest friends on the WH lawn last week. His remarks at the event centered on patting himself on the back for his extraordinary economic prowess. When I think about it, I realize that it truly is rare and difficult to fuel high inflation and a shrinking GDP at the same time. The stock market is in recession mode and IRAs – retirement nest eggs – have significantly shrunk.

Let’s see. While we’re now paying through the nose for gasoline and electricity, China is building more low cost, coal fired electricity generating plants – with a total of 3,037 operating last month (July 2022) – and 178 more planned. The US has 600 left. 10 years ago, 37.4% of our electricity was coal generated – now it’s 18%. Between 2015 and 2021, the US reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 6%. During the same period, China increased its emissions by 11%. Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, the US agreed to reduce emissions while China can increase its emissions through 2030. Aren’t we wonderful?

A getaway for the rich and powerful, Martha’s Vineyard, received 50 illegal immigrants via air from Florida last Wednesday. These people had been delivered to Florida the same day. Local Massachusetts’s officials complained the arrivals were without warning, echoing officials in Florida. Welcome to the club. BTW, the National Guard was mobilized to round up the immigrants who were quickly removed from the ‘sanctuary’ island to a military base on Friday. Residents are grateful.