We are living in a time of great uncertainty. Our economy is in bad shape and we are seeing stimulus after stimulus and bailout after bailout. We had a stimulus package last year, and another to be signed today. We’ve had bank and mortgage company bailouts. We’ve given money to the auto industry to prop it up. All of this comes at the price of bigger government. Most of you know that does not thrill me. And so much of what we are putting into these programs (and those of the past) are there to cushion, and in some instances, remove the chances of, failure and or struggle.
I love a good story. I like to tell them and I like to hear them. And there is nothing like a story that ends in triumph or redemption when the odds were against those involved. Do you remember Michelle Obama’s story about her father at the Democratic Convention? It was a moving story of a man who loved his family and worked very hard to take care of them. I can tell a similar story. My own Mother spent many years as a single Mom. She worked two jobs when she had to. She could have slacked off, taken government assistance and lived “easier”, but she didn’t. She worked hard and I took notice. She earned everything she had.
In the early 90’s I watched from college as my Dad lost a job and struggled to find another. I watched as he took jobs that maybe didn’t pay what he wanted or had him doing what he liked. But he took them and worked anyway. He never felt owed and didn’t expect help from his fellow taxpayers. He trusted those closest to him and made it through.
These days many look down on such rugged individualism. It is seen to be a detriment to the concept of “community”. Heck, I even bought into that thinking for a little while. I think it does just the opposite. It strengthens the community and adds value. I feel like I have been a responsible Husband and Father and owe much of it to my own parents and the work ethic they modeled for me. When struggles emerged they worked through them and became better for them.
A few years back I was laid off from a good job. My wife was 2 months pregnant with our fourth child. Things looked bad. I was out of work for 6 months. I found another job, worked for 11 months and was laid off again. I spent 8 more months looking for work. Through the whole ordeal we never lost anything. We paid our mortgage on time, always had food, and kept clothes on the kids. And the real meat of the story is this. We did it without the government. Our family, friends, and wonder people of Grace Evangelical Free Church got us through. Oh how I love to tell the story of God’s goodness and the goodness of his people through those very trying time for our family.
I understand helping those who need it. I really do. But trying to create a society bereft of struggles and failure will kill these stories. And don’t be fooled, that is exactly what the big government proponents want(and they are on both sides of the isle). What stories will our children have? Will they tell of the time their father lost his job and the government swooped in to keep the mortgage bank from foreclosing and gave Daddy more time to find the job he wanted so he didn’t have to take just any old job (or two)? Will they tell how Mommy finally got fed up and decided welfare and food stamps were the way to go?
Would Michelle Obama be who she is now without her father’s story? Maybe, but I can’t believe it would be likely. I know I wouldn’t be who I am now had I not watched my mother struggle and my Dad go through a job loss. I wouldn’t have handled my own struggles and losses nearly as well without them as my guides.
Oh Rich - leave it to you to ask the hard questions...
(Excuse my LONG response...)
Gosh you have my mind going in a million directions with this post. The idea of a bail out is one that I am still wrestling with. I can honestly say I have not come to a clear cut opinion and yet your post stimulated lots of questions for me. I found myself wondering if any of this really will have an effect on those who have a strong work ethic and seek to pass it along to their children. You see, I honestly believe we are in this jam because of this message of instant gratification and our need to have it all NOW. I don’t want to sound harsh and judgmental but many of the people losing homes were people who could never afford homes in the first place! They were misinformed and uneducated about the situation they were stepping into. In the hay day of interest only loans we had several friends try to convince my husband and I that we should get a home because the payments were so low. However, we understood the consequences that were possible if the interest rates changed so we did not risk it- agreeing that we’d wait until we knew we could really afford a home. One friend told us we were ridiculous and that we obviously ‘did not want it bad enough’. Two years later this same person lost his house in foreclosure when the rates increased.
So I wonder how much of this mess we are in is because of believing and buying into the lie that we NEED it all and can HAVE IT ALL – NOW.
I wonder how much people with strong work ethics have bought into this or if they are still chugging along and teaching their children the value of a dollar and the need to wait and save. I know it’s not all black and white but it really makes me wonder how others view this economic crisis in terms of personal responsibility.
And as far as welfare goes – your comments made me cringe. I think there are those who live off the system and those who use welfare as the LAST possible option. Those who abuse the system generally aren’t the same people with a strong work ethic. And while some of us are blessed enough to have supportive families and communities so that we don’t have to resort to taxpayer’s money, there are some who need to resort to welfare for lack of other options. If they are people with strong work ethics, they are the people we often don’t hear about – those who are doing everything they can to get off the system, to make their way so that their lives can be restored and improved. These people continue the narrative of overcoming obstacles through hard work- just in a different way.
Posted by: kristine | February 18, 2009 at 04:21 PM
Lest you think me heartless... I do understand some have to use Welfare as a last option. That is not the point I was getting at. Here is the real question, why do Obama, Pelosi, Ried, et al, basically want to repeal the welfare reform that Clinton enacted? I mean, it WORKED! Welfare rolls decreased and people actually went to work. This stimulus, if you read very closely, is the first step in yet again expanding welfare, thus expanding the nanny state. This is NOT GOOD no matter how a person cuts it. Why do we want to spend money to put people into government programs when we could just as easily do things to get them honest work?
Posted by: rich | February 18, 2009 at 04:41 PM
I don't think you are heartless. If anything I cringed because there's an assumption, a stigma attached to welfare as if all of its recipients are deadbeats....
Frankly I haven't fully wrapped my mind around this plan. I am just as baffled as you.
Posted by: kristine | February 18, 2009 at 07:38 PM