There’s a lot of talk about changes going on in our country. Have any significant changes come to your city? I’ve noticed for about a month now, grocery store shelves are left wanting with empty spaces to fill—the same as it was in spring of 2020. I wondered about that but didn’t question it until yesterday. It is harvest time in the Midwest. There’s usually a lot of food to sell in the markets. Why aren’t there more products available? Where is the bottled water? What happened to my favorite brands of this or that?
I struck up conversations with two employees at the local grocery store. They tell me that there’s a shortage of people to pick, pack, make, transport, stock, and sell the food to consumers. We have the food and water. Unfortunately, they don’t manufacture or distribute themselves. People who have a vested interest in their family and the economy do those jobs. “Help Wanted” signs are everywhere. I heard that the government pays you more to stay home and chill than go to work.
Isn’t work the honorable thing to do? I tell my students to look out the window. Then, I ask them what those people in that neighborhood owe them. Why should those people go to work for themselves and their families, and you plus your family? See, young people think the government is a fairy godmother that drops wages out of the sky. Hard to believe, but some people have to be taught that the “pursuit of happiness” is up to them, not up to their neighbors to pursue it for them. The “pursuit of happiness” is not sitting at home. It’s the freedom to build your life. It was never meant to make you build your life AND pursue someone else’s happiness for them. This quote from Josiah Holland says it all:
“God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.”
America was not built on specific welfare to specific people groups. Again, the pursuit of happiness is the freedom to build your own life, not sit back and depend on others to build your life for you. Yes, we all know there are exceptions. I’m talking about a great need for Americans to chip in, use their skills, fill the marketplaces of America with creativity, innovation, and products that are needed. When we work hard as a nation, we prosper. When we don’t, we won’t. And, eventually, the money runs out. When that happens, we create a crisis for ourselves. The government is all too happy to come in and provide a solution. It likely won’t be the one you had hoped it would be.
The government never is the answer to your personal life. You will generate a sense of dignity and worth from your work, no matter how big or small your job is. The jobs are there. Ever wanted to lead a team? Now’s your chance. Ever desired to try a new career path, but those jobs were never available? Now, they are. Ever wanted to have a work schedule that suits your needs? Maybe now, the opportunity is there. Ever wanted to add a new job to your resume’? Now’s a good time.
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship.??
