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The Resentment Sentiment (Pursuit vs Laziness) Is it fair?

Posted by LetsShrug 13 years, 3 months ago to Culture
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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ” (Declaration of Independence).

You do NOT have a RIGHT to the following just because you exist:
Food
Healthcare
A home
A car
A driver's license
A job
A bed
A hot shower
Clothing
Day care
Free rent
Or free ANYthing

You do, however, have the right, and freedom, to PURSUE all of these things, and sometimes it's really really hard work. It is not written anywhere that you HAVE TO pursue happiness, it's up to each individual to decide how happy they want to be and to work toward that accordingly. However, the lazier you are the less happy you'll likely be. Or at least that's the idea.
We have become a society of rewarding laziness on a grand scale. Our entitlement programs cover everything, and more, on the list above, by our social welfare programs (wic, welfare, ssi...) So now we have the laziest of the lazy with every basic need and comfort paid for without any effort on their part. They live comfortably. They have big T.V.s, cell phones, manicures, nice cars, new cloths...the list goes on and on. And yet they have the audacity to be resentful toward those who work hard and have more than they do. The hard workers, in pursuit of their own happiness, now has a big chunk of their earnings taken, by force, by the government (via taxes, fees, fines etc) so the entitlement programs can continue to be funded and support the lazy.

Not only are the lazy resentful of the “rich”, the President actually encourages this sentiment of resentment in his, seemingly daily, media addresses. “Pay your fair share”.... How does HE determine what a person's fair share is? If I earn it, it's mine. THAT'S fair. If you earn it it's yours. THAT'S FAIR. Nobody else has a right to it... taking it from me is, in itself, UNFAIR (and it's also stealing, since when is stealing “fair”.) At some point the tables got turned and now it's “fair” for the lazy to expect the hard workers to fund their happiness instead of pursuing it themselves. Why, or why, are they entitled to anything they don't earn themselves? After all, they have just as much right as I do to pursue happiness, but they CHOOSE not to.

That's the beauty of having rights....they're there for the plucking, but you don't have to do it if you don't want to. What's fairer than that?

There are no negative consequences for being lazy anymore. If you exist then you are entitled to have your basic needs, and more, taken care of by those who work hard everyday. We need to figure out a way to instill a “work hard and earn what you deserve” virtue back into society. These days kids think a farm is a place where they take care of animals instead of realizing that farms are what keep us fed. They think food magically appears on a plate in front of them without any real effort by anyone to make that meal possible. I've said it before, but I'll say it again....there is a direct connection between not having enough to eat, or at least the possibility of not getting enough to eat (hunger), and motivation to work and earn for yourself and your family. As long as we keep taking that possibility off the table (--no pun intended-- ie: feeding people for “free” ), the motivation to work hard, among the lazy, will never happen.


All Comments

  • Posted by bigdog1100 13 years, 2 months ago
    Nothing reminds me of this more than crying children holding black iPhone, screaming that they hate their parents because they wanted white iPhone, and got the black one instead.
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  • Posted by 13 years, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Have you ever said that to them? "Gee I sure wish I could play cards and get drunk all the time, but I actually work for a living. Some people do that."
    Reply | Permalink  

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