[note – though I reference the funeral in the title it is only because listening to part of the funeral for Coretta Scott King is what started this particular ramble … my condolences go out to the King family and this is not about the funeral.]
I want to start by saying that I do not mean any disrespect to Mrs. King, her late husband Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., or their family. I won’t say that I have always agreed with their views on the role of government in social affairs, but I do have a great deal of respect for Dr. King and his wife for what they went through and what they achieved.
Dr. King shared an inspiring vision of this country and the world in which people shared freedom and opportunity regardless of race or religion. It was a vision that in many ways we have made great strides toward achieving. In other ways though, we are as far as ever from making it a reality.
Interestingly enough though, the reason that we are as far from that dream now as we are is in most ways because of those that picked up the mantle and took over in the wake of Dr. King’s assassination. In any such transition there is always a corresponding change to the vision … for the new leaders dreamed a slightly different dream. In my perception the change swung away from the goal of equality for everyone to entitlement to the minority.
“Any man who tries to excite class hatred, sectional hate, hate of creeds, any kind of hatred in our community, though he may affect to do it in the interest of the class he is addressing, is in the long run with absolute certainly that class's own worst enemy.”
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of US (1858 - 1919)
I want to see us move closer to true and lasting freedom and equality for all and away from the entitlement mentality that pervades this country now; away from decks stacked in favor of ANY group and back toward a ‘fair deal’.
The problem is … most people only consider the deal ‘fair’ if they win….
“When I say I believe in a square deal I do not mean ... to give every man the best hand. If the cards do not come to any man, or if they do come, and he has not got the power to play them, that is his affair. All I mean is that there shall be no crookedness in the dealing.”
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of US (1858 - 1919)
The idea of the ‘fair deal’, as President Roosevelt said, is not that everyone wins, rather that everyone has the opportunity to win or loose on their OWN merit.
Yes, it does mean that someone coming up from a poor family has to work harder … but they are also the ones that have the most to gain in the process, and therefore have the most incentive to work hard to get it. What we shouldn’t do is ruin that incentive by handing them everything …. There is a place for charity, but that place is not in the hands of government.
[Related rants Who’s holding who down and bring back the stigma]
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2 comments:
In your article you refer to the sectionalization of our population as a minority entitlement, which is true in some ways, untrue in others. I have found it much more thorough and easiest to convey a similar point to others by pointing out that what our country is trying to do is recreate a mentality of "separate but equal". The problem is, as history shows us, separate but equal does not work as some always use the separations to their own advantage to try and rise above all others. We need to move beyond the separationist attitude our country has come to embrace. A prime example can be found on most employment applications where it asks race and lists out Caucasian, African American, Latino, among many others. The problem is that there is no check box for "American".
The problem is that many minorities believe that they are 'entitled' to programs that give them an advantage over others ... no one wants equality ... they'll say that they do to get more support but what they want is an advantage because they feel that they are entitled to one. The leaders of the individual minority groups and other special interest groups (this includes unions) make a lot of money off of trying to keep entitlements flowing to their minority group. This is why 'seperate but equal' doesn't work.
An employer, for example, should only ever be worried about hiring the best person for the job ... not the best Hispanic for the job because he needs to fill his afirmative action quota and having to pass over a more qualified applicant to do so. It's harmful to the business and degrading and harmful to the minority as they soon learn that they don't have to compete on the same level and so stop trying to improve themselves.
They're entitled to a job, to healthcare, to retirement plans, and if they can't get it then they don't have to worry ... the government will provide for them.
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