Posted by Rick Denney--OT! on August 30, 2002 at 14:54:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: smaller sousa posted by Anthony on August 30, 2002 at 13:50:10:
Freedom to succeed demands the freedom to fail. Preventing failure can only be done by precluding success. Klaus's tax rate demonstrates that. What incentive does he have to work beyond his current lot? He may be content with that, but many are not, and strive to improve their family situation from generation to generation. Immmigration laws are made to address all sort of competing objectives and often make no sense at all. But eventually, your family will be incorporated into society, and starting with you each generation will be free to develop as far as their personal drive will take them.
That doesn't mean that everyone has an equal chance of success. Many must overcome monstrous deficits of one sort or another, but their stories serve as inspiration for others who face similar deficits and as a source of humility for those more fortunate.
The greatest gift I received from my parents was the expectation to continually improve. It was still my job to do it. As for money, I didn't get much of that beyond a typical middle-class education.
The freedom we enjoy doesn't mean that many people aren't evil and lazy, and willing to gather their own success at the expense of others. This is true everywhere--America has no corner on the greed market. But the media and movies do not portray typical Americans going through a typical day--that makes for boring news and drama. They show villains of great evil and greed overcome by saints equally unlikely. I suspect the view of Americans from those abroad is therefore skewed.
When one considers the cultural diversity in the United States, and the freedoms allowed for people to express that diversity, it is no wonder that we have conflict. People who are different don't always try to understand each other, and instead demand that the other conform to their cultural views. Where a people have more cultural homogeneity, these conflicts aren't nearly so common.
My own visit to Copenhagen several years ago revealed a beautiful city filled with beautiful and friendly people. But they all looked alike, and they all acted alike. Perhaps I missed something that was hidden, but any American city would have looked quite different. This commonality of experience and culture makes it much easier for those societies to agree about a great many things. Being of English and Scottish extraction myself, I have a good bit of that Danish blood in my veins if you go back far enough, and except for my inability to speak Danish I'm sure I did not look all that out of place. I wonder how that affected my perceptions.
Other parts of Europe are not so homogeneous, and they are not so peaceful in each other's company. And the EU does things only with great labor. Agreeing to do nothing is far easier than agreeing to do something, but friendly agreement to do nothing is not as valuable as obnoxious debate that results in needed action, unpleasant though the debate may seem. That unpleasantness also skews the view of our system, even among our own citizens.
In the U.S., I fear we as citizens have largely abdicated our responsibilities to be generous with our wealth. Instead of going to the shelters as you have, or at least sending them money, we would rather send the money to government and then demand that they remove the problem so that we don't have to be bothered with it. We seem to prefer government patronage than individual responsibility to care for the unfortunate. This has been a trend for the last 60 or 70 years, and not one I'm personally proud of. But which came first, the abdication or the patronage? That argument is not easy to determine, but too much of the patronage does prevent the expansion of generosity. I wish I was more confident that Americans would pick up the slack if government really backed off, as they have done in the face of crisis but seem unwilling to do day in and day out.
My wife and I just bought a house in the country, in an area where land is at a premium and wealthy power brokers build massive estates to raise horses they can't ride (which is not our house by any means--we are tucked into a corner). I feel both blessed and priveleged, and share my good fortune when I can. In most places in Europe, however, it would have been impossible for a middle-class professional like me with no family money or connections to have a house in the country--that sort of opportunity is not available. All societies have classes, but the mobility between classes in the U.S. is unlike anywhere on the planet, to those who are committed to improve their circumstances.
So, take heart. You will succeed if you work hard and stay focused on your goals. Then, you will be in a position to help at the homeless shelter not only with your time but also with your money, which will multiply the good that you do. Then, you will be an example for the rest of us.
Rick "who thinks that it is easier to be conservative when you have something to conserve" Denney