Month: August 2015

This morning I read some very disturbing tweets from a group purporting the killing of white people by black people.  They suggested that groups of blacks find white people alone and attack them.  They also openly engaged in this type of conversation on a radio blog.  Had this type of talk been broadcast by whites, there would be huge outrage.  Likely arrests for hate speech.

Why are we excusing racism for some individuals?  Clearly saying that white people needed to be killed is racist.  It’s as racist as any Ku Klux Klan speech.  What is wrong with people that they want to kill perfect strangers for the color of their skin?  I think these attitudes have arisen out of the idea that certain groups of people are somehow entitled to reparations for past grievances.  Why should the people alive today, who have done nothing, pay for what happened before they were born?

Yes, horrible things happened to black people.  Nobody disputes that.  NOBODY.   But does this ever justify committing atrocities on others?  If it does, when does the vicious cycle end?  After blacks kill whites for killing blacks, whose to stop the whites from seeking revenge and killing blacks again?  Revenge does nothing but perpetuate hate.  At some point, you have to say the past is the past and stop the hatred.  But hatred is easy.  It’s visceral and sometimes hard to overcome, especially when you feel somehow wronged.  But hasn’t everyone been wronged somehow.  So do we all deserve to exact revenge in like kind?

Heroes have changed as well.  Black heroes used to be Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman.  Now they are Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin.  Neither of the latter two had any positive influence on society.  I am not saying they were worthless human beings, but since when does dying a violent death make you a hero?  If so, then we should have millions and millions of heroes.  How did these two dubious characters get to be exhalted by other young black people?

It is very frightening for today’s youth to see what they are saying and what they think will help them.  Killing white people for being white won’t help anything.  Blacks are still the minority in this country and will remain that way.  If they randomly start killing white people, it will backfire and in a bad way.  Although they may feel superior in numbers in certain areas, the overwhelming majority in this country are white.  A backlash would be severe and only hurt the black people.  Where are young black leaders telling others to live together and stop holding up criminals as heroes?

I guess the problem is that people young folks look up to these days are not necessarily smart, honest, decent people…they are famous.  They got on TV and thus they are to be looked up to.  Miley Cyrus is no better role model than Michael Brown, but they both get plenty of attention.  Is this truly what has become the most important?  Whoever can say the most shocking, vile thing and become famous?  These blacks calling for killing random white people may be just that, saying ridiculously nasty and heinous things to grab their 15 minutes of fame.  And they broadcast from Texas…..were I them, I would be very careful of white Texans, they mostly carry guns and know how to use them.  If you really want to spew hatred about Whitey, might be better served moving to Detroit or Chicago.

 

An intriguing title for sure, but one worth exploring.  People are continuously accusing others of hatred in various forms–they call it bigotry, racism, homophobia, sexism, whatever.  It boils down to hatred of things not like yourself.  It is driven first and foremost by fear.

It is human nature to distrust and be uncertain about that which appears to be different than oneself.  This is not just human nature, but animal nature….just watch a horse the first time it sees a chicken, or a cat investigating a frog for the first time.  Humans are no different.  We are, after all, animals as well.  When encountered with something totally foreign, we react with suspicion, caution and if something bad occurs during that initial encounter or subsequent encounters, it may develop into a hatred for that which is new or unfamiliar.  For some, this propensity is worse than others.

Some humans envelop themselves in a cocoon of similarity.  They surround themselves with like minded individuals, never trying to understand or accept the other viewpoint.  Ah, yes, liberals are nodding in agreement–white racists, won’t let in blacks or homophobes, refusing to allow homosexuals into the inner circles.  But, I think liberals are just as bad.  They are, after all, human animals just like us.  They crave security and stability, just like conservatives do, they just have a different environment in mind.

I propose that all human animals have something to offer each other unless doing harm to others is their intention.  Having lived around and worked with homosexuals, blacks, mexicans, women, men, I don’t see much difference at all in the basic human emotions.  There are mean spirited, evil and bigoted blacks, just as there are generous, open minded whites.  Women can be just as hard hearted and matter of fact as any man, and many men are so emotional that they are considered ‘effeminate.’ I have seen no white person who fits a mold, any more than I have seen a black person or mexican who fits a mold.  They fit in where they were taught to fit in.

The thing ALL people need to keep in mind is tolerance of the other person’s point of view.  That means, that no matter that you understand or not, if a person’s viewpoint harms no one, you should tolerate it.  Conservatives are not dangerous people going around trying to hurt people.  They simply want fiscal responsibility.  If anything, that will help people, if they will only listen.  Is expecting people to work for what they want racist, sexist, or discriminatory in any way?  The fact that certain groups of people were born into poverty does not mean those groups of people are bad, but in order to pull themselves out, they must work for it or they will fall right back in if the support is suddenly withdrawn for any reason.  Liberals cannot tolerate this point of view.  They think it means that poor people are hated.  They are not hated, they are expected to do what they can to further their own agenda.  They are expected to ‘pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.’  This is not hatred or lack of conscience, it is simply a sense of fairplay.

Should these people need help to attain the goal of working to better themselves, most conservatives will lend a hand or donate money whenever asked.  Conservatives, however, do NOT want to lend any money or hands to people who refuse to better their situation.  They don’t want to throw money at drug addicts and criminals who repeatedly CHOOSE to live in the squalor into which they were born.  In America, and yes this is still very true, you can do whatever you want.  You may have to work harder than someone else.  So what?  I am short, I have to work harder to get cookies off the top shelf.  Should the rest of the world saw three inches off their legs to make me feel better?  It’s my load to bear and it makes up a part of me that is unique.

It is not impossible to succeed if you are black, female, homosexual, mexican, whatever.  It is never impossible to succeed unless you concede.  If you are constantly judging your success against the success of others, you will never be happy.  If you consider a glass ceiling to exist because you didn’t earn as much as someone else, and this eats at you, maybe you should sit back and ask a few questions.  Did you get what you needed?  Did you achieve YOUR goals?  Can you be happy where you are?  If you can answer yes to all these questions, then who gives a rip what someone else has?  Someone is ALWAYS going to have more than you somewhere.  They may be male, white, black, female, hispanic, homosexual, heterosexual.  If you are bitter and jealous about not getting something, you will find someone to blame–and it will be someone different from yourself.

I am NOT saying all people are created equal.  They are most decidedly not, and this is a wonderful thing.  It makes life interesting!!!

Yep, that’s the newest unfulfillable promise from the Democrats….Free College Tuition for Everyone!!!!

Let’s take a look at this idea.  Sure, sounds great doesn’t it?  Sounds great to all those younger people that have no idea about what anything costs and to the older people who still live in a John Lennonist fantasy of nobody having possesions(except of course for Yoko and himself).

These same people wish to forgive all the student loans made over the past several years.  Probably adds up to billions of dollars.  Dollars that have already been spent by universities and professors.  Where exactly does this money come from if it can be forgiven so freely?  Just it just appear wherever a student needs a loan?  Well, I suspect if these loans are forgiven, they will be made up by the taxpaying public.  That’s right, that 1% they are always talking about–they will pay for it, those rotten rich people.  Yeah, and I bet they all fire their accountants if that happens, because sure as shootin if taxes go up, the people that won’t pay is the super rich–they pay the politicians way way too much to not write a loophole into every new tax.  NO, the people who will pay for this forgiveness will be your average taxpayer.  There are millions of average tax payers and the politicians know that that is where the money is at.  Not with a few hundred multibillionaires.

And then let’s look at ‘everyone’ going to college.  Is this really a good idea?  Does everyone need to go to college?  What about your car mechanic?  Does he or she(gotta be PC) need to understand and appreciate Classic European Literature to change your fuel pump?  Is college good for everyone?  I say it’s not.  I don’t think the value of person is determined by their level of education.  College is a way to indoctrinate young people into a way of thinking when they are impressionable.  I know.  I have been there.  I was once a 20 year old in college classes and there was a distinct bent to the teaching.  That was 30 years ago.  I think it might be worse now.  I bought into it for a while, before I had to face the realities of paying bills with what was left of my paycheck after taxes.  Still, I remember thinking ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone had whatever they needed?’  The problem with this is the people who just prefer not to work at all and collect anyway.  Why in the world should they collect anything?  And they are much better at getting ‘free’ stuff than people who are truly deserving.

What do we require in return for a ‘free education?’  Right now, the idea is nothing, to require absolutely nothing in return.  Now, some of the student loan forgiveness programs are good–the ones that require the person to actually DO something in return for loan forgiveness.  I have no problem with that.  Work for what you get.  It shows that what you are getting has value.  If you just give things away, where is the value?  If everyone gets a free education, then how do we value it?  How many PHDs in early childhood education do we need?  How many masters of Greco Roman Art do we need?  So, a rebuttal would be to limit the numbers of certain degrees and fields of study.  Who would do that?  Who would decide what your future would be?  Would it be like the former Soviet Union where your destiny was decided early in your education and that path was what you followed based on what someone else thought your talents were.  Hmmmm, so much for freedom.  Will a government official come in and test the 5 year olds and determine their aptitude in particular areas and then channel them in the direction that most suits the government’s needs?  Give up control of who pays for the education and you give up the freedom the decide what the education actually is.

And what do you think will happen if you send a bunch of 18 year olds away to school knowing they have nothing to lose?  They already feel immortal at that age.  Now they know there is nothing at all at stake.  You think they don’t take college seriously now, just wait until they don’t even have to pay for it.  I don’t know the statistics, but I do know that a percentage of college freshman never make it to December of their first year.  Push a bunch of kids with no interest in education into a class because it’s free and you will see a huge jump in drop outs.  Is this a wise allocation of resources?  And what about those students who are still going because they are serious about what they are learning and not just pushing back getting a job for as long as the free education lasts?  How many 300+ freshman classes do the serious students have to endure before the posers are weeded out?  And the same people who are advocates of ‘free’ education are advocates of ‘participation point.’  You know, they tried so even though they failed, they still get a ribbon.  Talk about the fast track to a second class county.  Let everyone get a useless degree, and when they graduate, they still have to depend on the government to eat and have a place to live because their education is so devalued.

Higher education SHOULD  be hard to attain.  It should be difficult and should allow only the most persistent, most brilliant to survive.  Some of this involves financial hardship.  So what?  Teach students about finances and how to borrow intelligently and they will do fine.  Just throw money at them and let them borrow well beyond their ability to repay and you have what you do now.  It is not a crime to work during college.  People used to do it all the time.  Now, there are student loans available that let people take vacations on the loan money.  Students can borrow what ever they want.  Then, when they graduate, they are hit with the ridiculous payments they will have to make on their pathetic $40,000 a year salary, while the auto mechanic–a good one, makes $75,000 a year.  Why are we pushing everyone to college?  It’s a fools errand for many students.  And now the Democrats want to not only encourage more to go to school, but go to school for ‘free.’  The only ‘free’ education I would support is fiduciary education……for any liberals reading this–look it up.  The college most kids need to go to these days is the one that teaches them the financial realities of life.  What everything costs for real and if an education is actually worth getting.  I think a lot of people want to shame kids into getting higher education, like they are not worth anything without a college degree.  I disagree.  College is not a necessary component for a successful life.  Making the country pay for a bunch of worthless degrees is another liberal attempt to subjugate everyone they can to government control.  And people who can’t see the eventual reality of the government choosing everything for them when the ‘government’–meaning taxpayer money–pays for everything, just aren’t really thinking.

So, somewhere along the line someone suggested that giving minimum wage workers a 100% raise to $15/hr  would solve all their problems.  Finally, they would be able to afford all the things they couldn’t buy at $7.50/hr.  Their lives would magically be transformed into successful middle class lives.

Well, not so fast people.  The reality is that the people that proposed this ‘raise’ are not business people.  EEEWWW, nasty, mean, capitalist, greedy business people.  Yes, business people did not recommend this because it won’t work.  Like it or not, the people that own and run the businesses in this country have a pretty good idea what works and what doesn’t, or they don’t stay in business long.

What works?  Paying people according to their ability and contribution to the company.  So, someone that produces nothing for the company but performs an essential task, such as sweeping the floor is not entitled to what someone who designs and produces the product would make.  Also, business people base salaries on how easy it is to replace that person.  Is that person in possession of a skill set that is rare and highly desirable.  A skill set that took years to develop and that may give the company and edge?  Or is the skill set necessary something that virtually anybody can do and that there are a ready supply of these workers?  If the answer is yes to the first question, then the salary is high.  If the answer is yes to the second question, the answer is no.  That is business.

Is this fair?  Let’s consider this.  A person with a unique skill set that spent years to develop, that can enhance the company’s income, that not everyone can do, has endeavored to be the best at whatever they do.  Their ability to achieve this unique position shows a desire to excel.  A desire hopefully translated into the company’s work.  A person who can sweep the floor has not spent much time at all learning this skill.  They don’t significantly contribute to the income of the company, they can be replaced tomorrow easily.  This job can be done by a teenager.  Is this person worthless?  No, but they are an unknown if they just started.  Are they at this level and 40 years old?  Why do they not have a better skill set?  Are they unreliable?  Are they unstable?  Did they ever stick with anything long enough to learn a unique skill set?  These are all reasons to start someone out at a low pay.

Consider what offering someone top pay when they start will do.  Will it actually raise this person out of poverty?  Well, not likely.  If the business has to double it’s cost in salaries, they will either cut payroll hours or raise prices.  Either will result in someone paying the price.  Salaries are not raised in a vacuum.  Every expense a business has goes to the bottom line.  Unprofitable businesses don’t employ anyone.  If anyone thinks that the business owner is either willing or able to absorb 100% of the cost of doubling payroll, they are in dreamland.

Now, consider what this would do the best employees.  The employees that do everything excellently.  The employees that are loyal and have worked their way up from minimum wage.  The employees that spent years acquiring skills that make them more valuable.  Well, there will be less available for their pay.  They may experience no or decreased raises.  Of much more impact is what it will do to them psychologically.  Why do a good job?  Why be loyal?  Why learn how to do anything?  If I can sweep the floor and make the same money, why should I even try?  What is the point of learning new or extra skills?  It makes the good workers very angry.  It may totally turn them against doing a good job.  Certainly the incentive is taken away.

Consider as well what it does to those employee who are just handed top pay on day one.  Where is the accomplishment?  Can they be proud of this?  Are they going to care at all about doing a good job?  The only thing to work for is the same pay.  What incentive is there to do a good job?  If you double salaries, is there really an expectation that anyone will  get a raise for a long, long time?  These employees have no special skills still.  They can still be replaced at the drop of a hat.  Prices have likely been raised and they find that they are in the same situation they were before.  Sure, they make more money, but their cost of living has gone up.  In addition to that, their opportunity for advancement has been crippled by the effect the increased payroll has on the business.  They will likely have to work twice as hard as they would have because there are less employees.  They are expected to do more for this pay.  With these higher expectations come increased likelihood of being released if not doing the job well.  There will be plenty willing to replace them, so job security goes down.

The role of minimum wage jobs in this country has historically been for teenagers, for people starting out or as second jobs for supplemental income.  These jobs were never intended for people to raise families on.  People didn’t used to start families until they moved beyond these jobs.  People used to strive to move beyond these jobs.  Now, certain individuals think the world should accommodate their lack of ambition.  They world should reward them for not wanting to better themselves.  People can better themselves in this country.  It is more than possible.  Sure, it may be more difficult for some than others.  So what?  Is life equally easy for everyone?  Will it ever be?  Of course not.  But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive to improve yourself.  Giving people with no ambition automatic raises penalizes the ones with ambition that do try to better themselves.  So, you end up rewarding mediocre individuals and discouraging ambitious people.  Is this really the way to success for anyone?  Beat down those that do a good job and reward those that don’t seek to ever work anywhere but McDonalds?

One of the things that has always made this country great is the ability for someone from a trailer park to rise to where ever they want to go.  All you have to do is work hard.  There are people in this country that hate that.  They don’t want to work hard.  They are jealous and bitter.  They made bad decisions and now have to pay for them.  They want someone else to pay for them.  Instead of trying to do something to change the circumstances they find themselves in, they expect the world to come down and lift them up.  Raise them to $15/hr and in a year that won’t be enough either.  They will always be jealous of what others have and want it given to them.  They don’t understand the value of hard work and advancement and what it does for them personally as well as financially.  They feel that life is not fair to them, so they seek to make it unfair for someone else to better their situation.  There is no reason whatsoever to offer today’s minimum wage workers a higher wage just because.  They can raise their income simply by working hard and acquiring skills and showing loyalty.  Their salary will rise, but they have to have the ambition to rise it.  And when it does rise in response to their behavior, they will be proud of what they have done.  They will no longer be bitter and jealous.  Ask anyone who has come from nothing to tell their story and you will see the pride they have in their journey.  It made them a stronger person and they will tell you that.  These people don’t look at others and just wish they had what the others had, they find out how they got it and go after it!!!