Hope vs. Aspiration
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Hope: to have a wish to get or do something or for something to happen or be true.
Aspiration: a desire or ambition to achieve something.
As the 2008 presidential campaign heats up, Barack Obama is in full gear selling his vision for the future of America. He is for “hope” and “change.” …and oh yes, peace. He is also for “peace.” Aren’t we all? Obama, the oratorical wunderkind with the speech cadence of Martin Luther King, is doing a fine job of telling us what we should hope for, and how he is going to give it to us. He is a riveting individual and a spell binding speech giver.
Hope is a good thing, right? Obama believes Americans are “hope” deficient. Americans “hope” for universal (read “government run”) health care, even though 85% of Americans have coverage, and 25% of those who do not aren't American citizens, and an additional 14% of those who don’t can afford it but simply choose not buy it, and a portion of the remaining are young people who don’t think they need it. Americans “hope” for higher wages, although on average, they have never been higher. Americans hope for a good economy, although unemployment is 5%, which most economists define as full employment. Americans “hope” for peace, although the bad guys are out there and they are not going away.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel hope deficient. My hopes are just a little different than the Senator’s. I hope for good weather. I hope that Ohio State University will win the national championship. I hope that the Cleveland Indians will win the World Series. I hope to win the lottery. But in my life, I aspire for a better income. I aspire for an education for my son. I aspire for my website to be successful. I aspire for financial security. I aspire to be successful in my profession. When I was in school, I didn’t hope for an “A”, I aspired good grades and worked to achieve them.
Do you see the difference? What I hope for are things over which I have no control, nor will I ever have control. I aspire to those things which are possible for me to achieve….for ME to achieve. Not the government.
There lies the difference between classic liberals and classic conservatives, which will be the foundation of the upcoming general presidential election. The liberal left believes government should give what is hoped for. The conservative right believes the government should assist people in achieving what is aspired for. Hope is based on a gift. Aspiration is based on achievement.
I believe most Americans prefer aspiration to hope. The guy down the street may have a million dollars, but I don’t think Americans are willing to sacrifice our personal aspirations to have a million dollars in exchange for hoping the government throws us fifty bucks.
Those who aspire are those who achieve. Those who achieve are satisfied with their total life, from which not only will flow economic satisfaction, but personal satisfaction as well. Classic liberalism destroys aspirations by taking away from those who aspire to give to those who prefer to simply hope for things. Humans being human, it is always to easier to hope than it is to aspire, and therein lies the appeal of Obama’s message.
Here is the irony; it is the taking away from those who aspire that ultimately breeds hopelessness. It is the worst kind of hopelessness as one simply gives up because the government has taken away our personal power and personal control along with the rewards of our efforts in favor of some other person or segment of our society. Aspiration empowers. Hope enslaves. It enslaves because what the government can supply will never fulfill the expectations of what is hoped for. It will never be enough. Both aspiration and hope are then lost.
At the end of the day, it isn’t money that is the issue, but taking away the aspiration to make money that is the curse of liberalism. What we are left is an ever shrinking pie to divvy up rather than an expanding pie to share with all. That is a dangerous thing.
Hope: to have a wish to get or do something or for something to happen or be true.Aspiration: a desire or ambition to achieve something.
As the 2008 presidential campaign heats up, Barack Obama is in full gear selling his vision for the future of America. He is for “hope” and “change.” …and oh yes, peace. He is also for “peace.” Aren’t we all? Obama, the oratorical wunderkind with the speech cadence of Martin Luther King, is doing a fine job of telling us what we should hope for, and how he is going to give it to us. He is a riveting individual and a spell binding speech giver.
Hope is a good thing, right? Obama believes Americans are “hope” deficient. Americans “hope” for universal (read “government run”) health care, even though 85% of Americans have coverage, and 25% of those who do not aren't American citizens, and an additional 14% of those who don’t can afford it but simply choose not buy it, and a portion of the remaining are young people who don’t think they need it. Americans “hope” for higher wages, although on average, they have never been higher. Americans hope for a good economy, although unemployment is 5%, which most economists define as full employment. Americans “hope” for peace, although the bad guys are out there and they are not going away.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel hope deficient. My hopes are just a little different than the Senator’s. I hope for good weather. I hope that Ohio State University will win the national championship. I hope that the Cleveland Indians will win the World Series. I hope to win the lottery. But in my life, I aspire for a better income. I aspire for an education for my son. I aspire for my website to be successful. I aspire for financial security. I aspire to be successful in my profession. When I was in school, I didn’t hope for an “A”, I aspired good grades and worked to achieve them.
Do you see the difference? What I hope for are things over which I have no control, nor will I ever have control. I aspire to those things which are possible for me to achieve….for ME to achieve. Not the government.
There lies the difference between classic liberals and classic conservatives, which will be the foundation of the upcoming general presidential election. The liberal left believes government should give what is hoped for. The conservative right believes the government should assist people in achieving what is aspired for. Hope is based on a gift. Aspiration is based on achievement.
I believe most Americans prefer aspiration to hope. The guy down the street may have a million dollars, but I don’t think Americans are willing to sacrifice our personal aspirations to have a million dollars in exchange for hoping the government throws us fifty bucks.
Those who aspire are those who achieve. Those who achieve are satisfied with their total life, from which not only will flow economic satisfaction, but personal satisfaction as well. Classic liberalism destroys aspirations by taking away from those who aspire to give to those who prefer to simply hope for things. Humans being human, it is always to easier to hope than it is to aspire, and therein lies the appeal of Obama’s message.
Here is the irony; it is the taking away from those who aspire that ultimately breeds hopelessness. It is the worst kind of hopelessness as one simply gives up because the government has taken away our personal power and personal control along with the rewards of our efforts in favor of some other person or segment of our society. Aspiration empowers. Hope enslaves. It enslaves because what the government can supply will never fulfill the expectations of what is hoped for. It will never be enough. Both aspiration and hope are then lost.
At the end of the day, it isn’t money that is the issue, but taking away the aspiration to make money that is the curse of liberalism. What we are left is an ever shrinking pie to divvy up rather than an expanding pie to share with all. That is a dangerous thing.
Comments
I find it interesting this was written in February and you still felt the economy was strong. Well, as you can see we are in a recession and in a huge economic crisis.
And people who work hard don't always get what they deserve. While CEO's work hard, to they really work harder than the lower-middle class worker who works 2-3 jobs just so that he can afford his trailer, his children's school supplies, and pay off their college debt.
I wish people would think and have compassion before they go off and say things like you did.