A Mirror to Government Control: Are Dems Right?

August 16th, 2009 | By Sonnie Johnson

My sister came to visit me this week. She brought her friend. Not like that, he is just a friend. In fact, he’s been our friend for over a decade. That means I’ve seen him up, down, and every level in between.

O.K. We get into a conversation about politics. He isn’t a Barack Obama Fan nor did he vote for John McCain, he hates all politicians. But it doesn’t stop there. He also hates the military, the police, and all other government entities. He says, “I don’t believe any of them have my best interest at heart”.

Then he starts, “The government should pay for healthcare, jobs, food, house, and everything else because it’s not fair”. “I work two jobs and don’t have money to feed myself, that shit is fucked up”.

So I ask, “What kind of car do you drive?” He looks at me for a moment before he tried to rationalize his answer. See, he doesn’t have a place to live, his job cut back his hours, and he drives a 2005 BMW. A couple months ago, he was in a car accident. Guess what, no car insurance and no health insurance; so his check is being garnished to pay for the repair to the other person’s car.

None of this is mentioned in his original tirade about the state of our Government. Nothing about his own self-responsibility or lack there of. He made all the same mistakes I’ve made. He’s spent money on the here and now and not planning for the future. The only difference, I understand these were my mistakes and not that of the government. He, on the other hand, looks toward the government as a scapegoat.

Let me give you a little more back round before I make my point. His father was in the military. They traveled all around the world before they retired as a military family in Virginia. His father worked a blue collar job and his mother worked in Academia. They didn’t make alot of money, but they raised three kids in a nice neighborhood and they always had food and clothes.

His father doesn’t complain about his life, his father takes what comes like a soldier. They decided to sell their house and now my friend is mad, “My father worked his whole life, it ain’t right they have to sell the house”. Well, the father sold the house because he didn’t need the space or maybe it was to let the last chick in nest know it was time to branch out on his own. They still are home owners, it’s just now, they don’t have a mortgage because they own a smaller house.

While in the process of moving, the father fell from a ladder and hurt his back. He went to the hospital and when all was said and done, he owed a $7,000 bill. My friend was mad all over again, “My father served in the military for 20 years, he shouldn’t have to pay anything when he gets hurt”. His brother and sister, on the other hand, split the bill and paid it off for their father.

My Point

Throughout this post, I’ve referred to this person as my friend. The truth is, I’ve never really treated him like a friend. When it’s time for “grown folks” conversation, he always reverts back to someone else. I don’t have the tolerance for that. Example: We were in the deep country at my Aunts for a cook-out. He walks up to me and starts to talk. Normally, I’d blow him off and run as away as fast as I could, but this day I stayed and listened.

He told me he wanted something different for his life. He was tired of trying and trying but never getting anywhere. I knew he was full of it. I knew he was just talking to hear his own voice but I listened. When he finished, I felt bad because he was going through a lot of the same things I was going through. He was sad, unsure, and scared out of his mind at the idea of what the future held for him.

You ever experience a time when you’re not thinking of prayer, yet God enters your head? Well, I had one of those moments. I took the time to sit and talk with him. I told him, “we keep going through the same things because we keep doing the same things. We have to self-analyze and figure out what faults we have that are keeping us down.”

Now, I gave him every opportunity to admit a self-fault. Like, I had to apologize to him because during the course of our conversation, I started yelling at him. It is a fault I have but I own up to it. (Quite often, I’m ashamed to admit) But he stood in my face and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He stood there like he did everything right and this is his reward.

Actually, he continued to do everything wrong and this is his punishment. He actually looks through the Bible and finds the verses that excuse his laziness or explains his inability to persevere. I quote the same passage to him every time. “To thine own self be true”

He told me upon leaving my house, no matter what the conversation, he always leaves with a different perspective on life. But this is what I don’t understand, I’ve been talking the same way since…….forever. How can I constantly keep changing your mind?

As flawed as I am, I still know one thing to be true. The only person I can really trust is myself. That means I have no choice but to look in the mirror and recognize my faults to make sure I’m trustworthy. Just as you would examine the acts of another to determine their level of trust. If in that self-analysis you refuse to look at self, then you’ve got a problem.

If in that self-analysis you refuse to look at self and turn your focus to government, then we’ve all got a problem. “By the people and for the people” used to be a good thing. Religion was front and center for majority of Americans. They believed in God’s word and that meant “reaping what you sow”. If you want food, you have to plant crops and hunt for meat. If you wanted to survive winter, you had to plan properly in spring, summer, and fall. If you wanted to be treated with respect, treat others with respect first.

Now we believe we must reap what our forefather’s have sown. They were slaves, so we should be treated better BY GOVERNMENT. They were persecuted, raped, and ripped from their families, so we should be taken care of BY GOVERNMENT. They were whipped, hung, and called every name but the child of God, so GOVERNMENT STAND UP AND DO WHAT”S RIGHT.

Did we forget to mention, Government made us slaves? How flawed are you personally, if you overlook all of this just to avoid looking at yourself in the mirror? You can blame Government for putting crack in the inner cities but are willing to let them take over your healthcare. You can blame Government for capitalist theft in inner cities, then let them become responsible for job creation and economic leadership. You can blame Government for failing to educate, then allow the entire Public Education system to be run by Unions that endorse more Government.

If you blame Government for all these mistakes and grievances, why would you want them to have more control over your life?

A. You are in the controlling body of Government and you understand the amount of power coming your way. Our founding father’s didn’t know what they were doing. You can’t trust the American people to make decisions for themselves, they refuse to even look in the mirror. We need centralized power to enrich people’s lives by telling them what to eat, what to drive, where to live, where to work, and how many kids to have. They will love us because we will structure their lives for them and if it doesn’t work, they won’t have any power to change it back. WIN WIN

B. You don’t care. Government will do what they want to do, why bother? I’ll do me and that’s all that matters. Plus, Barack Obama is black, he knows what’s up!

C. Slavery wasn’t all that bad. I mean, this time we wouldn’t actually have to wear chains. We’ll be more like the people in Cuba and Venezuela. We’ll already know who to vote for, so we don’t have to pay attention to politics. Who cares if we no longer have freedom of choice, that means we don’t have to think for ourselves. Who needs a mirror anyways?

D. I’ll keep blaming Government as long as it means I don’t have to self-analyze.

If the majority of Americans pick an answer to this question, we are getting government we deserve. Even worse than that, the Democrats would be right, not in their campaign pledges or well put together speeches, but in their overall focus. If we become a nation not willing to fight for our own freedoms or our own right to make mistakes, then I can’t blame them for usurping that power. It would be like a Nanny walking past a baby and not picking it up.

Give your power away and someone will take it. Don’t set firm morals and beliefs and someone can come along and change them. Forget we became the greatest nation in the world because of individual strength and the Government will collect and consume until there is no more value in the individual.