The Demise of Personal Responsibility in America

Last night, my son brought home a stack of paper work for me to fill out; paperwork from his Jr. High School. That’s right, he goes to school and I get to do the homework! OK, it’s not the paperwork, per se, that has me hacked off, it was the content.


First of all, it turns out that five of the “forms” I had to fill out, were all from one teacher for a single class! One form went on about class conduct and behavior while another pointed out that the computer equipment is expensive and that the students, by signing the form (as if before they signed the form no such responsibility existed), agreed to treat it with respect.

Really, I need to sign a form that says I understand that my child is responsible for any physical damage he causes to school property? Has our society degenerated so, that we must sign legal documents stating we have a personal responsibility to take care of expensive equipment entrusted to our care?

When I was in school (oh man did I just write that?) the principal still had a paddle that he, boldly, hung on the wall directly behind his desk; and he used it regularly! We didn’t need our parents to fill out stacks of paperwork describing our “personal responsibilities” for public property; WE KNEW OUR PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITIES and if we forgot the paddle was a great reminder!

I remember when this BS all started, for me it was 6th grade (1978), the program was called “The Positive Reinforcement” plan ( or something like that, come on it’s been a few years). The plan called for each student to be tracked all year with regard to behavior and if you had not received any “cards” ( of varying colors ) you could participate in the “positive reinforcement” which was to be something like a dance, a field trip or some other “whole school” activity. This lasted one year. At the end of my 6th grade year, all the “eligible” students were treated to a movie in the Gym (The Nutty Professor staring Jerry Lewis; it was in black and white!). My 7th grade year, the decision was made to keep the negative aspects of “The Positive Reinforcement” plan -- the colored cards that were handed out when you got in trouble—and do away with the “costly” positive reinforcement ( the cheesy movie ), now that is liberal thinking and policy at its finest, bait and switch!

I recall a 7th grade teacher who used to love to wax nostalgic for the days when the school could leave playground equipment out on the playground overnight and on weekends so that children could use it after school; those days were gone even back in the 70’s. He used to tell a story about how, at the beginning of every year, he would take a .50 cent piece and drop it next to one of the desks and NOBODY would pick it up, and if they did, they’d bring it to him to see if he knew who had lost it; the lesson being that each child knew it did not belong to them and would naturally figure that the owner would, sooner or later, discover it missing and come to claim it. By 1979  those days were LONG GONE. I have to admit, had I found a .50 piece laying on the floor, I’d a picked it up and turned it in too, only I’d a turned it in at the snack bar in exchange for a candy bar!

What have we become? We now live in a society that is so “sue happy” that our own public schools ( schools and equipment we pay for with our taxes) must send home reams of paperwork for students and parents to spell out their exact responsibilities with regard to personal behavior and respect for others and their property. I think it’s time for some parents to get involved well before their children start school! It’s time to return to our Christian heritage and start teaching our children about the founding principles that made this country the greatest the world has ever seen. At the very least, imagine the number of trees we’ll save!

Considering Katie’s Krops

I came across the story of a young lady named Katie Stagliano. Katie found that she had a talent for growing cabbage; a 40 pounder started her on her journey.

You can read more about this remarkable young lady on her website here: http://www.katieskrops.com/

Please don’t get me wrong, this is a feel good story about a well-intentioned little girl who’s just trying to make a difference; and for that I applaud her. I’m afraid she simply needs to refocus her energy into pursuits that can make a lasting difference.

Katie found that growing vegetables in her backyard could help to feed a lot of people in her community. So Katie founded a non-profit organization and now oversees six gardens in her neighborhood; all of which grow vegetables that are then donated to local soup kitchens.

As you can imagine, Katie has been featured on a number of news shows; including CNN. But as I read her website I realized there is a bit of a problem with her organization’s stated goal:

“My dream is that there are no hungry people.
I may only be 11 but I know I can do it.”

The question is, can she? The answer is of course she cannot!

Katie, like so many before her, has failed to see the flaw in the nobility of her quest. Katie’s “plan”, thus far, has been to plant a number of small gardens around her community and get others to do the same. Consider this from her website:

“If people (I hope lots of kids too) could grow even one vegetable
plant and donate the harvest to a local soup kitchen we could make
a huge difference in the fight against hunger.”

Fast forward to a world where every family, in every town, around the globe, grew their own garden and donated the harvest to their local soup kitchen; what would happen? Sooner or later they would realize that they no longer needed to buy their own vegetables from the local market and could begin saving money by growing for their own consumption. What affect would that have on the local market, its employee’s, and the farmers who make their living growing vegetables to supply the market? Sooner or later, these farmers would find other uses for their land, like condominiums or strip malls. Now, the food that “normal” families used to supplement their home grown garden would no longer be available. They would realize that to survive they would have to begin devoting more time to their garden. Eventually, we would become an agrarian society and join Ma and Pa Ingalls back on the prairie!

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “what a jerk this guy is! She’s just a little girl trying to help feed a couple of homeless people”, but you are wrong! While she may not know it, she represents one of the most dangerous political theologies known to man; socialism! If her dream was realized and everyone had a garden in their backyard, hunger would survive. You see, the dirty little secret, no one is telling Katie, is our planet has an abundance of food; enough food is thrown away every day to feed entire countries. Plane loads of food are dropped over third world countries on a daily basis; ship loads of food arrive daily in ports all over the third world from “faith based” organizations and where does this food end up; in the hands of the powerful few socialists or communists who claim to know what best to do with it; they claim to know what’s best for the people! And what is always best “for the people” is that the food stays in the hands of the powerful and while they entertain at lavish parties for their comrades, the masses go to sleep hungry!

Socialism has failed “the people” every time it’s been tried.

Now, instead of spending her time in a garden growing free food for people who have no means to buy food, clothing or shelter, what if Katie spent her time focused on building a business that could support 100 employees and started a campaign to get other, like minded, caring, individuals to do the same? What if she lobbied congress for business friendly policies that promoted small businesses that hire people in good paying jobs? What if instead of the socialist ideal of giving free food to people (who then become dependant slaves to those who enable them) she embraced the concept of self-reliance and the power of the individual to take control of their own pursuit of happiness?

Jesus told his disciples that they would always have the poor with them; and I am not saying we shouldn’t help those in need, what I am saying is we should not be helping those in need to stay needy; dependent upon a daily handout.  We need to teach them to fish!

The answer to the problem has always been freedom to fail as many times as it takes one to succeed!