“Give a man a free house and he’ll bust out the windows, Put his family on food stamps, now he’s a big spender; no food on the table and the bills ain’t paid, ’cause he’s spending it on cigarettes and PGA. They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please, they’re feeding our people that Government Cheese…”
– Lyric from Bob Walkenhorst and The Rainmakers “Government Cheese”
I first saw Bob and the band in 1981 in Kirksville, MO. The guy’s a really unique musical talent and a gifted lyricist. (The live show from Norway (click the link) is the same set I first saw them play — and I still can tell you where I was standing in the bar — but then live music is sort of an O / C thing for me…but I digress…)
Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. Gub’ment cheese…
But this post is not a political statement.
It’s about entitlement mentality in general.
The world really doesn’t owe me anything. You either.
In David and Goliath, Gladwell shows the effect of wealth and the easy street manner in which some of us raise our kids — and it ain’t a positive effect. So, it’s not just the government. We have to be careful to avoid the traps, too.
No, the world doesn’t owe me anything. You either.
Choices, decisions, crossroads and accountability. The world (and the Creator thereof) provides us ample opportunity to choose, decide, pick a path and own the outcome.
Society today, though, wants us to believe it’s not our fault when we choose poorly, decide incorrectly, pick the wrong path or try to pass the buck.
(Insert game-show-wrong-answer-buzzer-sound-effect here.) In fact, here’s the one from Family Feud.
Difference makers know that entitlements aren’t real. That they don’t count. That they don’t make a difference.
Difference makers know that choices, decisions, crossroads and accountability do.
Pam Wilson says
So true! Excellent thoughts, Steve.
John says
So, Mr Heston, I just got diverted by your verbal peregrinations, oddly while sitting in a hotel in WI, not so far from where you used to live before you got the big hat and boots.
A thought for you to ponder in another DD that pulls together a few recent ones. If you strive for freedom, real freedom, i.e. where you make all the decisions (which BTW we can all do, it’s more a question of are you prepared to live with the results of them) something interesting comes with it. The realization that there is no-one but you who is responsible for your life and it’s outcomes. Put simply, the burden of freedom is there is no-one else to “blame”.
Not sure everyone wants that. Who can I now complain about now……………………….?
Steve Heston says
Yikes. There’s lots of syllables there!