Staying Challenged

As strange as it may seem, Humans do their best when challenged. As life's challenges decrease, self-indulgence increases.

Self-indulgence itself poses a challenge to avoid. It denigrates one's character, and narrows a person's perspective into one of selfishness. At its zenith, self-indulgence destroys the underpinnings of the society which spawned it.

Unless a society has a focus on some challenge to keep it unified, the unity breaks down into local concerns. These local concerns can be strong enough to rip apart the whole.

Our society is broken down into two main groups. On one side are those less motivated who achieve little, and on the other side are the people who are motivated to achieve. My father used to tell me that there are two kinds of people, 'doers', and 'dreamers'.

Achievement groups subdivide into smaller groups. The following listing illustrates this hierarchy from the bottom to the top.

1.) Dependency Class: The bottom achievers include those on welfare that perpetually depend on the mercy of the higher achievers, and the generosity of others.

2.) Minimum Wage Earners: -Clerks, fast food, day laborers etc. (Those who never advance beyond entry-level positions.)

3.) High Risk: Those who work low skill, but in higher paying jobs that carry significant personal risk such as a miner or fireman.

4.) Trades' People: The trades' people are those who have acquired skills they can market such as electricians, carpenters, healthcare workers, plumbers, and air-conditioner repairmen. This is certainly not a complete list, but enough to give flavor to the statement.

5.) Professional: This group belongs to college graduates. They answer only to those who are higher achievers than they are. This group includes the engineers, doctors, lawyers etc.

6.) Business Entrepreneur: This highly motivated self-starter creates and manages business. This person can be from any educational level.

7.) Power Seekers: This is the last group. It includes our politicians and those who are never satisfied with what they have. The power seekers drive themselves to want more.

Of the seven groups mentioned above, the first four make up the vast majority of Americans. Those seeking power exploit these groups to gain political power. After all, in a majority rule society, numbers of supporters translate into power.

This piece will confine itself to the power seekers. The largest two power seekers in our society are the Liberals and the Conservatives. The liberals seek power by redistributing from the higher achievers to the lower achievers. Liberalism is attractive to lower achievers because their vote is the only cost to them. By giving their political support, they can have things without all of the effort of earning them. Their support is like feeding chickens, just toss out a few grains and they will keep clucking and being happy. But since every coin has two edges, there is another side to this story,

The Conservative power seekers seek power by motivating those who achieve less. Those who do get motivated to succeed become loyal devotees to Conservatism. By any stretch, it is the harder sell to the masses. The main weapon in the fight for Conservative followers is by rewarding achievement. Life is meant to have challenges, and those who manage to fight off adversity and achieve, find a pride that is absent in the ranks of those who achieve less. It is an abrasive rub to Conservatives when Liberal power seekers take what they have achieved and give it away to those who have not earned it. Conservatives deeply believe that everyone should be able to pursue and have equal opportunity for happiness, and overcoming life's challenges produces real happiness. Conservatives also believe that receiving undeserved benefits from politicians does not lead to happiness.

The destruction of so many of life's challenges by Liberals hurt our society. Many adherents to the Liberal cause feel strongly about helping those who are needy. I recognize that everybody who feels for the poor are not political hacks. Where we differ is the way that we choose to help the poor. Handouts do nothing but create a dependency that is difficult to overcome, even by those who want to break the cycle of poverty. Certainly, nobody should starve or have no shelter when the weather turns bad. But, believe it or not, personal discomfort is a great motivator.

There is nothing like having to scrounge around the private shelters and soup kitchens to make a person realize that there might be a better way. Those people who like living under underpasses and pushing grocery carts with all of their worldly possessions around probably will need those charitable organizations all their life. But among those down on their luck, some will find the bottom rung of society rough enough to motivate them to do better.

The danger with over helping is getting a lot of people stuck in the welfare system. Those who are stuck in that system get just enough to get by. They get used to having 'just enough' and do not try and change their status quo. Liberals who buy their votes with a continuous trickle of doo-dads and goodies harvested from those who are meeting life's challenges make it even harder for the poor to escape this vicious poverty trap.

My gripe against Liberal power seekers is that they have no conscience. They fully realize that their policies steal the desire for self-reliance. To the Liberal Politician, it is all for political power to have large numbers of people look to them for their sustenance. The sad truth is that they could care diddlysquat about the misery that they inflict upon those people. No, not the rank and file of the Democratic Party. The rank and file has no understanding of the misery that their Party is causing because they are the true believers in the Government helping the poor and using the power of the Government to control the wealth of the achievers.

Remember, underlying our society is the danger of self-indulgence. When we as a people are relatively at peace, without National challenges, we turn inward. We have to invent reasons for our existence. What we find that occupies our time and thinking to challenge our existence is not a unified structure. We rally around those groups that pique our interest and stir our passions. Some work to eradicate poverty, some want to make life happier for everybody. And some just want to use those passions to build a political base of power.

Christianity used to be one of our unifiers, but not anymore. Our esteemed preachers have jumped onto the millionaire bandwagon and become mega-rich television heroes. Yes, as a banner carrier, Christianity is only a shadow of its former self. There is no escaping the hue and cry for money, even in small town churches. Attending a service is like going to a board of directors meeting. You have to hear about the building fund, the orphanage fund, the missionary fund, the alms box for the poor, and the preacher needs a new car. Nowhere in this society can you find refuge from those who have their hand out.

My email box is crowded daily with solicitations from political parties, politicians and PAC's. Why would I want to donate to any of them? Over the past two decades, they have taken a substantial bite out of the freedoms that we once had. The only thing that matters to these power seekers is your vote and your money. The email solicitations don't even allow you to make a comment. That is because they really don't give a hoot about what you might be thinking, they just want your contribution. I say a pox on all their houses.

You can be sure that things will only get worse. We can't spend our way to Nirvana with money we don't have. If we sell all of this debt to foreign investors, they will become our owners. If we print the money, it will devalue what we already have. It is a fine kettle of fish to be in.

We have a President - not raised in this country during his formative years, so he thinks like a foreigner. His education, given to him because of his minority and foreign status was a gift from the American people. And now, with very little real experience, he portends to lead us into the promised land of indebtedness.

For all of you Obama lovers, not to worry, I am an equal opportunity political basher. The Republicans nominated a weak candidate who espoused no reason to vote for him. At a time when the country was crying out for leadership, Obama was able to articulate his vision. At least he believed in the power of Government and convinced a majority of the voters of his vision. Whether you agree or disagree with the job Obama is doing, he is staying true to his Liberal philosophy. The Republicans cannot claim that they have remained true to their ideals of smaller Government.

The National fracture is perpetuating because of a lack of inspiration, National purpose, and lack of personal accountability. We are so laid back that we have no National purpose other than worrying about our next electronic toy, computer game or saving the polar bears. As long as somebody else says, "They will solve our problems!" and it doesn't interfere with our daily do nothing lives, we just say, "Go ahead!" We could care less about any thoughts deeper than looking for a lost TV remote.

Absent a National purpose, we will continue to fragment into an unrecognizable Nation. A Civil War is not out of the question. Feelings run deep for the philosophical mantras we have adopted. Each side proclaims that they are right. Already, just associating with those who don't believe the way you do is uncomfortable.

I only wish I could articulate a light at the end of the tunnel. I cannot, because I only see darkness. If we don't find a National purpose soon, there may never be a light.

Cheers - I think-,

-Robert-