Government

With all of the recent talks about our government and this debt that has been racked up I cannot let this week pass without blogging it as one of my topics!  I just finished a sociology class last week and I have to say I did walk out of class (I had it everyday!) and felt like I was an island when it came to views on our government.  I don't think our government has our best interest in mind over their own personal agenda in many instances.  However, I cannot blame them entirely for what has happened.  Personal responsibility is still at the top of my thinking.  Just because the government says we should be spending money should we?  Do you really spend what you don't have in order to "stimulate" the economy?  Who thought of that one?  I was raised and continue to live that if you can't afford it you don't buy it.  If you can afford it you better make sure it is worth it.  Once money leaves your hands it may not make its way back around to you again.  And really is having "everything" really serving us well.  How did we get here!!!!  Did we buy the lie that everyone needs a ridiculous amount of "stuff" to be happy?  The more we have the more we have to spend our lives maintaining it.  Is that really living?  Thus begins the breakdown of the family.  The more money you have the more likely you are to be doing "other" things that are so much more important than doing the little things.  Some of my best memories where when the kids were young and we had NO money.  See that is ridiculous!  I lived in Carmel, was a stay at home home and we had plenty of food and air conditioning and heating.  Did I really think I had NO money!  I was not rich by American standards but who set those absurd standards anyway.  Why did I judge my own circumstances by those!

My grandparents raised 7 kids in a 2 bedroom house.  I wonder if they thought they were poor?  Were they unhappy?  Did they blame the government that they had that life style?  I doubt it.  They lived with family as a priority and did the best they could.  No handouts, no programs, nothing given and nothing expected!  When did we start believing that everything should be easy and that we should all be living a dream that I am not sure where it came from anyway.

My son is in the Dominican Republic on a missions trip as I write.  He could have gone anywhere in the world during the summer.  It is the highlight of his summer.  I am sure the more he lives in America (which I love with all my heart) the more he will think that he needs more, more, more.  I hope he never compares himself to someone with more.  I hope he looks at someone with less and sacrifices something he has to give to someone in need and then thanks God every day that he has more than he needs.  My hope is that we all could live like that.  Be thankful for what we have.  Stop feeling sorry for ourselves.  Stop letting anyone tell us how much we "need" and how much we should "spend".  If we loose it maybe that would be the best thing that ever happened to us.  Maybe instead of going out to dinner we would have a pitch in dinner with our neighbors.  Maybe instead of raising our children to think that Christmas is all about the gifts we could actually celebrate the true meaning.  Maybe instead of running after the latest and greatest we could spend more time with our families.  The more we have the less likely we are to do the things that matter most.

Yes I live well (and continuing to reduce my consumption).  I would give it all away if I felt like it would better this nation as a whole.  If we all thought that way what would we blame our government for?  Would we even need a government as big as it is?  Let's take care of each other.  Don't hate government or even blame them.  Start within our own lives and live to the standard that we believe in.  Then we have the power.

In my sociology class so many people talked of hating the government yet they continued to take advantage of the system and want more.  We can't have it both ways.  If we are honest and live within our own means and take care of each other how can we go wrong?  Well this just scratches the surface but I am always struck by the reports that say that people in the United States were the happiest during the depression and now that we are so prosperous we live on depression medication.  What?  Call me a dreamer but I believe we have what it takes to overcome this and to learn a few good lessons in the mean time.  God Bless America!