Friday, August 17, 2012

How's that Hope and Change Working Out for Ya?

This is one of the most disturbing articles that I've read today-and there have been dozens.

Virginia Farmers' markets now will be accepting food stamps. 

Wow.

It's come to this.

When my grandparents came to Canada, they had to hustle for every cent they made.

There was no such thing as a government handout for anything. The outstretched hand was only and simply their entrance ticket into this country-and that was plenty, and enough for them.

They were dirt poor. But they worked really hard. One grandfather was a tailor, the other a shopkeeper with a small store. One set of grandparents rented out rooms in the house to boarders to make ends meet.

All their kids went to work well before their teen years, doing what they could to help their families.

They led pretty dignified lives in relatively tough times.

All the kids grew up, got married, worked, bought homes and had children-and now grandchildren.

I certainly believe that there are circumstances that require outside help-but I would limit those generally to the most vulnerable of society-the truly disabled (clearly defined) and the elderly. But even then, the most loving support, the most genuine support comes from extended personal circles. Or at least that is the way it was only a couple of generations ago.

Self-reliance is a rare commodity nowadays.

Common sense, not so common.

I'm trying to remain optimistic-but reversing the trend of the culture of dependency and the complete infantilization of Western society is not going to be easy, if at all possible.