Playing By the Rules

If I were to choose one thing that could result in the downfall of the United States as we know it, I would choose death of personal responsibility. It’s not only responsibility’s demise, but the institutionalization of rewarding irresponsibility. In our country today, we punish those who act responsibly, and celebrate those who don’t. What lesson are we teaching our children? How can our culture survive? The deck is stacked against those of us who work hard every day, try to provide for our families, and live by some semblance of a moral code.

Let’s start with the entertainment industry. Look at the role models being held up to our young people. Gangsta rappers, drug users, promiscuity is the road to riches and success as we celebritize those people whose behavior is abhorrent by any measureable standard. The Octo-mom gets a new house and 24 hour free help to raise her 14 kids. Has anyone helped you raise your children lately? The key to success is not hard work. Do something outrageous. Get on Oprah. Write a book…and let the fun begin.

President Obama is outlining his new education policy. It’s the teacher’s fault little Johnny can’t add and has poor facilities, so he is going to “tighten that up”. Little Johnny can’t read because there is a complete breakdown of discipline in the schools. Parents of special needs children have dumped their responsibility onto the public school system so they, the parents, can feel better, and teachers are now the primary care givers due to mainstreaming. The schools are even giving breakfasts and providing babysitting service for these kids. What are we doing?

My family lived in an apartment until I was 36 years old and could afford to buy a house. Then we bought a modest home in Boardman. Then we moved to Canfield. I live in a nice neighborhood, but my house is a three bedroom ranch. My mortgage payment is $500.00/month reaching the end of a 15 year mortgage. It is nice house, but has Formica countertops instead of granite, Kenmore appliances instead of KitchenAid or Sub-Zero, and it has two a car garage instead of three. There is no great room with soaring ceilings, or a 50 inch flat screen television on the wall. A news show on television last week featured a sob story for a couple that was losing their house that had every conceivable feature. The wife was crying and it was portrayed as real tragedy. My house looks like a shack in comparison. Their mortgage payment started at $2300.00/month…and was adjusted up to $3500.00/month. And they need help to stay in this palace? Whatever happened to the starter house? Why should my tax money help them? Why should they get a break from the government? Who helped us?

We have one child. That is what we could afford. There was no Aid to Dependent to Children for us. When my wife lost her job, she didn’t collect unemployment, she started her own business. Her job carried our health care. We had to scrape and use some ingenuity to get coverage for ourselves. We sent our son to Youngstown State so we could afford the tuition. We borrowed a minimal amount of money to send him to graduate school. The debt is manageable. Where is the help for us?

All four of my grandparents emigrated here from Italy…legally. There was no social service safety net. They had to teach themselves English. None of them had more than a fourth grade education. There was no health care insurance. And yet both sets of grandparents raised large successful families who went to college, got married, raised their own children…all of them… and there are a lot of us floating around…are walking proof of an American success story. And my grandparents did it LEGALLY. Why should I care about illegal immigrants crossing the border and their attendant problems? Why should my government, which I pay for with my taxes (I am in the 48% of working Americans who actually pay income tax) pay for anything relating to these illegals other than sending them back across the border?

Sooner or later, the amount of people willing to play by the rules will decrease to the point where we, as a nation, society and culture, will not be able to survive. I fear that day is here and now.