Is Government Help the Only Way?

Is Government Help the Only Way? How ridiculous!

It has been my habit most of my life to not turn to the government for help whenever I can. I also try not to run to my family. I want to make it on my own. It doesn’t always work but the attitude keeps me hopping sometimes when I could have sat around complaining.

I remember the first time I took welfare when a job loss kept me out of work for a few months. I realized over time that I could have taken a job somewhere for far less but did not because I considered it my right to be working in a job that was bringing in more money. What does this have to do with it? I don’t believe that is reality or clear thinking.

I prefer the other reality. I went to work at a bio technical company and saw a sea of companies around me that were striving to gain money from government grants to stay afloat. Our visionary leader had started up over thirty companies with good ideas. His overall focus was to do so only on the merits of it being a good business idea. He sought clients that would pay for research because it made good sense in the market place for this to be developed.

This prince of bio technology companies went on to produce over 50 successful companies before he went on to do other things in his life. What a relief to come to work for someone who strove everyday to be profitable and be of some value to the people and companies around us. We grew carefully as it made sense.

I realized that in my hobby life that my talent for setting bones in a martial art studio had led me to a satisfying talent that I wanted to share in my retirement years. I gave up a great computer career although I still teach in that area to study acupuncture and herbs. I live in a state that doesn’t even recognize acupuncturists as legally able to practice. Insurance doesn’t cover us. Still, I find clients the best I can and I live on less. I take care of the people around me the best I can and it slowly multiplies toward opportunities of service and work.

I think what I’m trying to say is that the American way should be standing on our own first and not depending on a government to hand us anything. I don’t want social security unless I absolutely need it. I don’t want someone to hand me health insurance unless I can’t provide for myself. By default, most of us should be striving to be doing business because business makes good sense to those around us whom we give service.

As I move toward retirement it is being clear to me that retirement is not my end goal. A long and successful life with good work habits and a healthy outlook on life is my end goal. Yes, I may retire as I can but the reality is that I’d prefer to work and help others work around me. Good employment for a good day’s wages is a pleasure in life even if it is not the top wages I pulled down in the computer industry.

At college a friend of mine went on government welfare. I talked him out of it. He and his wife took jobs while he went to school. They still made it. Our intention to take from the government first and not work on our own to pull out of it is not a healthy idea. I admire his fortitude of earning his way through college while raising a family.

Another friend was feeding his children on a government program because his children were underweight for their age. He earned good money in the computer industry but pulled in the government perks because they were there. Another bad idea. When I explained to him the idea of self-respect and self-industry – he quickly agreed and stopped the dole. How many programs do we have right now that give our children free lunches or other free programs from the federal and state grants? Does our government have the money to hand out treats. I personally believe that the federal response at the local level should be the last resort and only called upon when nothing else works – including us.

People should be looking after people – not governments. I think we have the roles reversed. Is that why we elected President Obama for change? To feed our children in lunch programs? To give out free health care and take away personal choices in how and what we believe to be our own personal health care choices? I think we have missed the point for the role of government and we pay a price with the loss of self-respect. We can and must be self-sufficient as a people, as a nation, and as a government.

I often helped people look for jobs while I worked in the computer industry. I helped fill out resumes, gave job interviews, did mock questions with feedback. I was often called upon by my companies to interview people to give a personal assessment, could they do a good job for us? It was thrilling. It was a blessing to me and I cherished those moments. We need that today.

In the job I work in today I often find myself giving care to those who can’t afford it because I am in the business of health care. Often people find themselves stuck without the ability to get better for many reasons. And after a few sessions for free, they sometimes break free and realize, “I can overcome this”. Sometimes the realize “I can live with this and I do have options”. We all have more options than we realize. I will always be grateful to the prince of biotech who led our company with a positive can do attitude and who made all of us think daily, we are here to contribute to the bottom line of profitability in every way. We can contribute positively in our life, in the life of those around us, and into the economy of an open market.

I am tired of hearing out the handouts, the programs, the guarantees, and the generation of good fortune from the politicians of our nation. In reality, I believe he that governs least, governs best.

I don’t believe it is a good idea to close your eyes while in government. Nor do I believe we should place people in homes who can’t pass the regular standards laid out for decades for good business transactions.

We need a return of common sense to our political scene. We need someone who will make the hard decisions to take government out of the picture where we have messed up large industries that were doing much better on their own. We need to savor the programs that are essential and pare down and remove what is no longer feasible because the money is not there. We need to return to moral values in this country that made each one of us self-sufficient, able, and willing to help our neighbors.