In these uncertain times, we tend to re-think many things, that for years, we have often taken for granted. Certainly, things like salt trucks, trash collection etc., are fine, even expected things that we would likely want our tax dollars to be used for; I can not see many people disagreeing with that, however, with talks of cities and states going bankrupt, it does make one wonder about even the most basic of services that we, for so long, have taken for granted.

I agree that adversity, while painful at the time, certainly makes us stronger, and more importantly, wiser.

As I was writing the post, the lollipop that came to mind was a “possible” stimulus check that may come from the government. The government may want to give us this, and offer that, however, we may need to be strong and resist some of these so-called entitlements, if it means that we are going to sell out our values, and if they are trying to use these things to manipulate us into a direction that we may not want to go in.

The other night, I heard a commentator use anesthesia as a great analogy; prior to surgery, what does an anesthesiologist do? Simple, he administers the drug that dulls the pain, or puts you to sleep. After that, the scalpel comes out. Hence, why some people likely prefer to stay awake during surgery.

We often think, only of ourselves, and many people often will say, “I just want my slice of the pie”, however, many people (myself included), in the past, never really stopped to think that there is really only one pie, and every slice that comes out of it, will effect us all. This is likely one of the most fundamental theories taught to economists in school.

Here is my fear…
After seeing the government giving all of this money to failing institutions, which further leads to more corruption and abuse, I fear that many are asking, “where is mine”? If people are asking this question, I can certainly understand it, especially after what has been going on with this bailout mania. However, if we start allowing ourselves to feel an exacerbated sense of entitlement, then we are all going to be hurt by it. And that is the lollipop that we may need to refuse; while demanding that this madness in D.C. comes to an ends.

As far as stimulus, I say, keep the lousy money, lower our income taxes, lower corporate taxes, and lower sales tax for a while, until the economy picks back up; while keeping the billions of dollars where it belongs, in The National Treasury. God forbid, but what if we have another natural or national disaster, and we are in further need of our military?

Mark

I am not saying that running water and electricity are bad, but what I am saying is that we have forgotten how to survive without them. Thousands of generations survived, evidently miraculously without electricity or running water. I am not saying we should all turn out the lights and start dipping water from the well, but what I am suggesting is that the methods that most people consider archane and outdated, often are the simplest and best methods to surviving in times of need. We sometimes forget that adversity makes us stronger. In this instance, that lollipop has made us weaker, and will continue to do so.