Ten Reasons For Concern

SEE HERE So what's going on and what are the prospects? If someone asked me, and of course no one every does, the problem has been developing for a long long time, maybe longer than I've been alive. It takes time to develop a culture of economic dependence where everyone is a victim and no-one is responsible for anything so that it is always the other fella's fault. There was still a spirit of Yankee ingenuity and independence when I was a kid in the 1950's but it all went to hell in a hand basket as time went on.

It didn't happen all at once. It took a lot of time. I personally think that the Great Society programs had something to do with it. When you start telling people that their sufferings are caused by someone else, something that, even if there might be a grain of truth in it, isn't really true. Bad things happen. Sometimes you cause them by failing to pay enough attention so that when the train arrives you're still on the tracks. Sometimes you just don't have the strength or ability to overcome a particular adversity and so you get run over because you weren't fast enough, smart enough, or some other enough. The fault there may only be poor judgment.

Still, if you focus and push as hard as you can you can usually accomplish more than you ever thought was possible. That's what's increasingly missing in our society. Too many people are prepared to just lay back and let someone else do it. That doesn't work when everyone is doing it. Quitting never got anyone anywhere. So if you're thinking that things are tough then remember the Marine Corp recruitment saying: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" Find something that challenges you that you've always wanted and start pushing and working and the day will come when you've accomplished it. Marva Collins always taught the kids "How do you eat an elephant children?" "One bite at a time Mz. Collins." She also said “Determination and perseverance move the world; thinking that others will do it for you is a sure way to fail.” I was introduced to her ideas by a "60 Minutes" TV episode and she was an inspiration. Churchill says it too: "Never give up. Never, Never, Never!"