The American Way...Went!

There is no room on the ark for entitled people. You better be able to contribute and be willing to work hard, if you can’t, you can’t get on – period! If you are looking for a free ride, you won’t get it here.

This country was founded on the American Dream, a philosophy that with hard work, courage and determination anyone can prosper and achieve success.  Or in the famous words of Mick Jagger  “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need.”  So why is it so many people feel entitled?

You are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the PURSUIT, not happiness itself.  Let’s break that down a bit. 

First of all that means you are entitled to try and obtain happiness, there is nothing in the bill of rights that says you are guaranteed to obtain it.  There is no clause that states that if you try to achieve happiness on your own, but come up short, that someone else will do it for you. 

Secondly there is some effort involved.  That means you need to work toward it.  You know work, that old fashioned concept whereby you exert yourself and you are rewarded by the fruits of that labor.  So sitting on your butt looking for a handout is not part of the equation.  Nowhere in the bill of rights does it say that I need to subsidize your lifestyle.  What happened to good old-fashioned capitalism?  The work ethic that our grandfathers and great-grandfathers built their American Dream on: the harder you work, the better the pay off.

The bill of rights entitles you to life.  The intent is that you are protected from being murdered, not that you are entitled to live your life in middleclass America.  The right to life is not the right to own your own home whether you can afford it or not.  It is not the right to live in the wealthier communities subsidized by the people who work hard to make enough money to live their without anyone else’s assistance.  And it is certainly not the right to a large screen TV, cable, a cell phone, or a car.  These things are not entitlements, they are luxuries and if you don’t understand that, well then you are a large part of the problem.

When my husband and I were laid off last year we sat down and figured out what we had to cut to get by.  We cut a lot of things on the above list and more.  It made life harder, but that is what responsible people do.  They buy what they can afford, they pay their own debts, and they don’t expect anything from anyone.  It is no one else’s job to feed, house, or clothe me and my family, other than my own.  That is why I am writing this blog, and searching for work in fields that aren’t necessarily what I want to do.  Because it is not about desire, it is about personal responsibility. What I can’t figure out is, why is that so hard for so many people to understand?

When did it become commonplace to expect other people to give you things you haven’t earned?  Where is the pride?  Where is the shame?  And before you get on me for being heartless, let me tell you that what I didn’t cut were my donations to the charities I support.  I can no longer give them money, but I can give them other things like time.  I had to cut back, but I didn’t cut them out.  But that is my choice and should not be forced on me by my government. The government is not in the charity business, or at least it shouldn’t be.  It should be in the business of upholding the written laws, securing our national security.  It should not be stealing from the rich to give to the poor. 

The government has no right to take away my hard earned money, the money I am trying to save for my children’s college educations, or my own retirement, and give it to someone else.  Many of our current taxes are levied so they can do just that, force their charities on the taxpayers; insist we give money we worked for to support the causes they think we should.  If I want to support the veterans or the homeless (and I do) I need my money in my hands to do so.  But they take it and give it to the lazy, or the deceptive, or the illegal.  Why is my money subsidizing a murder’s college education, or an illegal immigrant’s medical bills, or a liar’s lifestyle?  Welfare was not set up with that intent.  If you do your research (and I do) then you would know that welfare was originally intended for the widows and orphan’s of our men in uniform and expanded to encompass truly destitute families in the depression, UNTIL they got back on their feet, which they did because they had pride!  It has been mutilated now to give money to anyone who can scam the system and many, many do.  Not all, but a LOT.

You want a suggestion for some of that stimulus money?  Spend it on jobs securing people to investigate welfare recipients and revamp the system so that no one who isn’t truly destitute can collect.  Money isn't free; you have to work for it. Again, I quote The Rolling Stones “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need.”

For God sakes America, can we stop breeding entitlement?  It is not helping anyone, certainly not the hardworking Americans who subsidize the entitled ones, and not even the people you think it is.  See this article on the effects of welfare.  Teach a man to fish and all that.  So stop GIVING so much to so many for so little.  Let Americans earn the pride they are capable of having in themselves if they only put a little bit of hard work into going after the things they want.  The best feeling in the world is earning something through an earnest and strenuous attempt, not having it handed to you. The current system robs people of that feeling.  Not only does it steal money from the hardworking, but it's also stealing pride and potential from those who would be hardworking if they had to be.

So if you are reading this, I hope you have pride, and a sense of personal responsibility. I hope you know what it means to work hard and sacrifice when you have to.  And if you do, then I wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of happiness; you’ve earned it.  

Fences Make Good Neighbors - Hah!

Today’s biblical flood victim is my neighbor.  I know, I know, not very neighborly, but I think you’ll see why as we go on.

We moved into our new house in suburbia in the middle of the winter and not one single person came to introduce him or herself or welcome us to the neighborhood.  However, four months later, the woman who lives behind us decided to come over and make herself known.

 It started out innocently enough.  She introduced herself, said hello and then said she wanted to talk about the fence.  She had decided that the dilapidated picket fence in our collective backyard needed to be replaced and she wanted me to split the cost.  Okay, a little forward given this is the first time she has even acknowledged us; it is her fence after all.  But we are neighbors and I can see how that might be mutually beneficial.  I explained to her that since we had to fix up some things when we first moved in, we didn’t have any extra money right then, but perhaps down the line we could chip in on a new fence.  She was pleased and we started to discuss it.

            Now to understand where I am coming from here, you have to envision my yard.  It is bordered by 4 different fences.  My side neighbor to the left has a 6 foot white picket fence.  In the back there are about 4 sections of a 6 foot white fence that has a criss-cross pattern for the top, then the dilapidated gray picket fence about which we were just talking, then there is about 1 section of another white fence with a completely different decorative topper.  I am sure from each of their yards the fences are fine, but from ours, it is a mish mash of different styles and colors and gives the appearance that we patched together our fence with sections from a junk yard.

            Anyway, my discussion with my neighbor continued.  When asked, I explained that my ideal would be to put up a fence that matched the style of the 4 sections of white fence that her neighbor had and that began the line of fences across my back yard.  That way, at least it wouldn’t look so mismatched from my side.

No, she said. She didn’t want to have to paint a fence every year. 

Okay, understandable.  So I suggested that we consider the same style but in white vinyl so that we wouldn’t have to paint. 

No, that wouldn’t work; it would be too expensive, she said, besides she didn’t really like the style.

As the conversation progressed and road block after road block was raised for each of my suggestions, I conceded (or so I thought) and offered that any style or type of white fence would be fine because at least that way the color would be consistent across my back yard.

“That won’t work for us,” she tells me. “I don’t want a white fence.”

 “I understand that,” I say, “but if my husband and I are going to split the cost with you, it has to be something that works for us too.”

“Well we have a problem then,” she says in a very snotty voice.

By now I realize that no, I have a problem and she lives directly behind me.  “No problem. “ I tell her in as neutral a tone as I can.  “It is your fence, you can put up whatever you want.”

I don’t think that was unreasonable do you?  You compromise and put up something, anything, that goes with the other three fences bordering my yard and I’ll split the cost.  You won’t compromise, that is fine too, it is your property, your fence, I am not going to make a fuss about it, but don’t ask me to subsidize it.  Really is that so horrible? 

She thought so because it has been ten years since we had that conversation, I’ve given birth to three children since then and not once has she so much as said hello over the fence, which by the way, she never did replace despite the fact that parts of it fall down periodically.  Instead, she gets some string and ties them back up.  We, on the other hand, waited about 8 years until we could afford it and put up a beautiful border of 10 foot arborvitae trees that conceal all four of the mismatched fences, and provide a buffer from that particular neighbor.   Maybe I’ll use her fence as lumber to build the ark.

Unemployment For The Gainfully Employed

No unions on my ark.  Initially, unions were devised to allow the little guy to have a collective bargaining power against the oppressive employers.  They did their job.  When originally formed, unions were able to help: secure child labor laws, create a fair length work day/week, institute a minimum wage policy, and generally secure the rights of the everyman in the work force.  Most unions have outlived their usefulness.  Some have become the abusive power they were originally fighting against.  That is why there will be no unions on my ark.  Go ahead and strike.  Feel free to build your own.  But you won’t need a union card to get on mine and this is one of the reasons why:

So that same union I referred to in an earlier post did yet another thing that incensed me.  It’s no secret; I don’t like unions, or at least this particular one. Not only do I disagree with many of the positions and politics of the union, I was incredibly bothered by this latest mass e-mail suggesting that all part time professors should apply for unemployment over all breaks despite the fact that we are not unemployed.  This is an excerpt from the letter I sent to my boss when I was presented with the choice between joining the union or losing my job.

“…On the one hand, the Union tells us we should vote against the repeal of the state income tax because the state is already under-funded and we cannot afford to lose the revenue. (I voted for the repeal by the way, because the problem is not too little money, it is mismanagement of that money).  Then on the other hand, the same union advocates that all of us should go out and collect unemployment (from an under-funded state) when we are fully expecting to return to our jobs after the summer break. 

An intelligent independent thinker would recognize that by choosing to be a college professor, you are choosing a job with unique scheduling; some would even say that is a benefit of this profession. To act as if we are entitled to extra compensation simply because the college is on break is, if not illegal, certainly immoral and not in keeping with the way the unemployment benefits were intended.

Unemployment was intended for the people who unexpectedly find themselves out of work, people who are laid off and cannot pay their simple living expenses such as rent, and food, and heat without assistance.  It is not intended for people who chose a profession that has inherent breaks, to supplement their agreed upon income by manipulating the system.  Despite the fact that there is language that allows the union's advocates to get around the original intentions of this benefit, it is still wrong.  I do not want to be a part of a group that would manipulate the system in this manner.  If there is really an issue with insufficient funds, then the union should not be promoting that we take funds to which we are not really entitled despite the fact that our advocates have found away around it. 

This is just one of the many examples of union practices of which I do not want to be a part.  How do I rectify joining, not to mention funding, a group that acts in what I believe to be dishonorable ways?  I appreciate your sympathy and understanding and I also greatly appreciate your willingness to wait until hearing from me.  I would ask you to indulge me just a little bit longer, because this is an income I was counting on and to lose it on such short notice, especially in these hard economic times, would be very difficult.  I am put in a very hard spot where I need to decide between my income and my principals.  In addition, obviously, I want to look further into the matter of whether or not it is indeed illegal for the college to terminate me simply because I will

not join the union. So please do indulge me a bit longer while I do my research and discuss the matter with my family.  I promise I will not take too long in getting back to you.”

         Ultimately I learned that there is a fee you can pay the union that does not entitle you to full membership, but does allow you to be part of the collective bargaining with the employer.  The fee charged is less than full membership, but does not entitle you to any of the discounts or extraneous benefits that teachers get.  It also cannot be spent on anything other than collective bargaining, so no mailings, campaign funds etc.  Due to needing the income of this job, and for no other reason, I opted to pay this fee, forgo any union benies and go about my business.  Apparently I made too much of a fuss, because despite doing so, my contract was not picked up for the following semester and I found myself unemployed.  No one so much as contacted to tell me I was fired.  I just never received my classroom assignment so when I called in to ask about the day, time and location of the class I had been teaching for two years, I was told, “oh that class is no longer being offered.”  I looked it up. It was.  But someone else was teaching it.  So with less than two weeks until the next semester started and with no opportunity at this point to find work at another institution for the upcoming semester, I found myself unemployed.  Kind of ironic I guess.

On The Lighter Side

In a flood, blinkers probably won’t be of much help, but while the earth is still dry and we are driving cars instead of floating around at God’s will, they are not only helpful, but also required.  Those of you who are too self-centered to use them, will not gain access to my vehicle when the flood hits, and if God is as fed up with the @^$#* down here as I am, that might just happen sooner than you think.

So today, I am waiting to enter a rotary (or round-about for those of you in other parts of the country) and I sit there while three different cars exit to my left without ever putting on their signal.  But hey, I had all day and I like playing the equivalent of a vehicular Russian Roulette while I try and guess which cars are going to exit, which might let me on, and which will plow right into my side if I dare to pull out.

I also particularly enjoy being the second car in the left hand lane at a red light when the person in front of me intends to go left but doesn’t want to let me, or the oncoming traffic, in on that little secret. It is always really relaxing to be stuck behind him as 20 cars pass on my right and I get to sit through a second red light.  This is even more fun when I am trying to get to my son’s school in time to get him before the late dismissal fee kicks in.

It is also fun to be driving down the highway at 70 miles an hour having traffic dart in front of you without using those pesky little directionals. The only thing worse is to be driving down a one-lane road going 10 miles an hour behind someone who has figured out how to use them, but has NOT figured out how to turn them off.

Inconsiderate drivers drive me nuts.  Since when did blinkers become optional?  Why is it so darn hard to push the little lever up or down and let the rest of us know where you and your 4000-pound vehicle are going to go next?  I have actually been known to flag down the driver in front of me and very innocently tell him “you may want to get your car checked out, it doesn’t look like your blinker is working.”  In less agreeable moods, I have been known to stop the occasional luxury car and say “wow, for that kind of money you’d think the directionals would work.  I usually feel a little better after that.

Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen….You Go Girl!

Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen….You Go Girl!

Yes we need a flood, and in this post I think you can figure out who does not get to come on the ark, all you anti-Americans out there trying to destroy my country from the inside out.  I support personal responsibility, morality, legality and upholding the laws of our country. If you don’t, I hope you know how to swim.  Senator Allen, you have a spot on the ark.

You have to wonder why so many pro illegal immigration arguments ignore the obvious and can't argue the actual point. 

The point is ILLEGAL immigrants are breaking a law.  How can you support that?  If you REALLY feel that breaking laws is okay as long as it meets a need then you have to support people who steal because they want something, or drive drunk because they need to get home, or shoot someone because he was a horrible and harassing neighbor for the past decade.  The simple fact is a law is a law and you don't have to like it, you just have to follow it. By definition, you are a criminal if you break any law and criminals are and should be prosecuted.  Perhaps you’ve heard of personal responsibility and consequences to your actions?

We don't get to pick and choose which laws we want to follow.  So if you want to try and make a compelling argument in support of breaking laws, go ahead, but if you can't do that, then shut up about America persecuting illegal immigrants!  Because by definition, the people you are defending are in fact CRIMINALS!  They knowingly and willingly broke a law and they have to suffer the consequence of that action, just like any other person committing any crime would. 

And while we are at it, stop crying racist. You want these criminals to get a pass just because they are Mexican, THAT is racism!

Public Education Is Only Free If You Steal It

When the flood comes, I am not going to save criminals.  Yes they are people too, but they are immoral people and my ark is strictly for those with moral fortitude.  I wish my country were too.

When I was a public college professor I was forced to join the teachers’ union.  And yes I mean forced.  I fought it, and was told that if I didn’t join I couldn’t work there any more (by the way, I no longer work there) but I’ll get into that at another time.  The reason I didn’t want to join is because I don’t agree with their political agenda and unfortunately they use my money to advocate their politics sending out flyers telling me and all the other teachers, what to think, how to vote, and what our position should be on an issue, national issues, not just teaching related ones. As if simply because we are teachers we must vote as a block and are not allowed to think for ourselves.  SURPRISE!  I can (and do) think for myself.  So as much as it will piss off the teachers’ union, this is what I think about your mass e-mail telling me to contact my Governor and ask him to support in-state tuition for ILLEGAL immigrants.

LIFE 101: Despite what you may have been told not everyone is entitled to everything. You make choices in life and those choices have consequences, and they should.  I’ve heard you whining, “that isn’t fair” well let me tell you what I think isn’t fair.

As educators, we are always complaining that we do not have enough resources to adequately teach our young people and yet you want to stretch those resources even further to give a discount to people who are NOT citizens of Massachusetts, but also not even citizens of the United States. 

What is unfair is that these criminal families have been exploiting what resources we do have by stealing a FREE public education from this commonwealth and country at a cost of over a billion dollars even by the most conservative estimate. 

What is unfair is that legal immigrants and natural citizens have had to pay for this same public education not only for their own children, but also for those who are obtaining it illegally. 

These criminal families have been abusing the system for as many years as their children have been in this country illegally. At what point do we as a people expect the same level of personal responsibility from these people as we do from ourselves?  It is true that most of these children had no say in the criminal activity that their parents imposed on them; however, in THIS country, we hold parents responsible for their minor children and thus the decisions the parents make naturally affect the children.  What people seem to have forgotten is that these parents, not the rest of us, are responsible for their children.  Why should an illegal alien derive more of a benefit from our education system than legal citizens?  Why should a legal citizen wanting to attend U-Mass who happens to LEGALLY reside in a neighboring state such as New Hampshire, have to pay more to attend U-Mass than someone whose whole family has broken laws to reside ILLEGALLY in Massachusetts.

We need to stop subsidizing all the criminal activity currently taking place in this state and this country.  Reward good behavior not illegal behavior.  Stop enabling the entitlement of criminals to benefits neither earned nor deserved.

Random Act of Strangeness

Today’s flood victim is anonymous which is precisely WHY he or she has been voted off the ark.

Not only is common courtesy dead, but I actually think it has been erased from the collective memory of the human race.  This morning, as I am getting ready to take my son to his Karate class, I notice that a strange car is in my driveway.  There is also a large truck blocking the driveway so I can’t get out.  I go out, in my pajamas nonetheless, to let the 5 guys gathered out there know that I will be leaving in a half an hour and ask them to at least move the car so I can get out. 

It isn’t their car.  They don’t know whose it is.

Who parks a car in your driveway without asking or at least letting you know?

I guess given it is only 8:00 in the morning I should be glad that no one came ringing the doorbell, but have you heard of the phone?  Or you could leave a note letting me know who to contact if I need you to move it for any reason.  Or here’s a good one, park down the street.

It’s not that I mind anyone parking his or her car in my driveway; I have offered it before (we have a large driveway).  I just kind of expected the common courtesy of letting me know first.  It is startling to see a strange vehicle sitting on your property, especially one with random dirty clothes in the back that you have never seen before. 

But it must be someone affected by the work being done right?  It must be a neighbor, too coincidental if it’s not.  But if you don’t see another post appear by the end of next week, assume that it was the abandoned vehicle of a vagrant murder that broke in and slaughtered us all.