Writing 4 Charity 2 Break The Poverty Cycle

Land of the Free and Home of the Brave? [1]

“Once abolish the God and the government becomes the God.” – G.K. Chesterton

“I owe, I owe so off to work I go” – paraphrased as: “Debt is slavery.”[2] Proverbs 22:7

If it cost me nothing – it’s valueless

If it cost me something – it’s valuable

If it cost me everything – it’s priceless. - JB

As a new American I have the privilege to celebrate this country’s birthday with a new set of eyes and ears. America’s beginning and her presence on the world stage has always been fascinating to me, even as a kid growing up outside her borders. America called to me then, even as she does now. I love this country like I was born here and lived here all my life and I think I will be buried here when it’s time for that. I even get choked up just listening to the “Star-Spangled Banner” or “America the beautiful” being sung, I am emotional that way, I guess. Maybe it is the emotion filled lyrics or the historical narrative of a very young nation, posturing how best to lay the groundwork of very lofty ideals for a brave people looking for a home where they could freely live and make a living.

I was a “green-card” carrying alien for a long time, I paid my taxes and enjoyed the benefits of residency without the responsibility of partaking in the democratic process. Although, I took my freedom to vote very seriously and very early on I decided that by not voting for my choice of leaders, I had no business complaining about the outcome, though I chafed at the constraints. I am beginning to realize that I was probably suffering from non-voter withdrawal symptoms all those years, but something good has come out of it though. I believe I have been able to observe the democratic process of this nation from the inside looking out with a foreign mindset. Looking, listening, studying and concluding that America (i.e. we the people) is starting to take the path of least resistance, like depending on her government to make life easy. When this country threw off the chains of an overbearing, tax happy, autocratic government, we the people, decided never again to subject ourselves to that kind of leadership. We tried to make it real difficult for ourselves not to take the path of least resistance and ease. [3] [4] If there is one thing that I am absolutely sure of and that is this: there is no such thing as easy - It is a fallacy! A myth! My parents love me but they couldn’t make my life easy, however much they wanted to. God loves me (as well as you) but He never promised us easy. And you cannot expect it from your government - that’s setting them and us up for failure.

America is following in the footsteps of the countries that were once great, but have lost their greatness or it’s hidden under a pile of mounting “social” debt. No government, no President, no King, no Queen, no husband, no parent, nor you nor I can govern our lives to make life easy. The more people we include in our Easy equation, the more complicated it becomes, and less capable of reaching its goal (call it group dynamics). Government, a big group of people trying to govern, is made up of very fallible, very self-centered individuals who are voted into Team America for short periods of time to accomplish extraordinary things. That is human nature: we want easy and we want extraordinary. Easy and extraordinary are synonyms for big ticket items, blockbusters, special interest or pork barrel projects, incentives, affirmative action and entitlements and it equates to big money that the governed need to pay at tax time. I have a hard enough time balancing my own check-books, I can only imagine what the Federal budget & fiscal oversight committees, IRS and the myriad other departments etc. must be going through at each accounting period. Many people’s check-books are linked with the Fed’s money tree, which seems perpetually green, yet our budget is suffering from bloating and inflammation, and our government has grown by 30% and so has their hold on our money to fund it all. Calling for our government to fix our social or economic problems (like poverty), causes the government to grow, according to John Stossel, and many others have lamented the same thing, and that is: You and me, the free-thinking individual should come up with the solutions to the social or economic problems that we have, and not depend or expect our government to fix them. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Others are warning of yet another major financial meltdown at the rate we are going, only those not putting all their eggs in the government basket, might weather the coming economic storm. [10]

For as long as I remember I’ve heard about the American Dream[11] and I’ll have to add to the conclusion that not too long ago every American had the freedom and opportunity to achieve their goals through hard work. I certainly feel it in my own family’s life, we work harder and yet it feels like we are making less. The picture that is painted nowadays speaks of our economic environment that’s completely turned on its head. According to Ellis and Morrison instead of “crushing” our competition we are to “collaborate” with our competition, thereby creating their version of “Collaboration Economy”. Especially, us little guys, little businesses, entrepreneurs, free-thinking individuals will benefit from this type of economy, even if we are no longer the backbone of the economy. [12] [13] I have seen the fruits of that kind of cooperative labor in other’s pursuit of happiness. I see it in the business, private as well as the philanthropic sectors of my community. I am telling you this because I feel you were looking for a way of helping solve your and your community’s problems, especially this cycle of poverty that we're in. That’s the essence of the American way after all? See a need, fill a need! And there is an entrepreneurial creed for you and it’s synonymous with American.

Anyway, I am thrilled to be American now, having the freedom to work towards our version of happiness & equality. Hope you take time today to think on this place where you live and work, I’m convinced it’s still a great one in this world. Happy Birthday America! And God bless us all.

[1] Star Spangled Banner Lyrics http://youtu.be/S2HNH9orkTQ

[2] From Proverbs 22:7 and http://www.daveramsey.com/article/the-truth-about-debt/

[3] http://jamieumbc.com/2009/12/04/ranking-the-most-important-constitutional-amendments-post-bill-of-rights/

[4] The Constitution of the United States of America http://constitutionus.com/

[5] John Stossel. “No, They Can’t: Why Government Fails – But Individuals Succeed.” 2012. JFS Productions, Inc. Threshold Ed, Div. of Simon & Shuster, NY.

[6] Michael Savage. “Trickle Up Poverty.” 2010. Savage Production, Inc. HarperCollins Publishers, NY.

[7] Tom Brokaw. “The Time Of Our Lives.” 2012. Random House Trade Paperback Ed. NY

[8] Deneen Borelli. “Blacklash.” 2012. Threshold Ed. Simon and Shuster. NY

[9] Ben Carson. “America The Beautiful.” 2012. Zondervan, MI

[10] David and Robert Wiedemer and Cindy Spritzer. “Aftershock.” Second Ed. 2011. Publ. by John Wiley & Sons, NJ.

[11] http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/chasing-dream-researching-meaning-30925.html?tab=4 The term “The America Dream” was first coined by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America in 1931.) Although there is no one definition of the American Dream, students often come to the conclusion that it is the freedom and opportunity to achieve one’s goals through hard work.

[12] John Spencer Ellis and Topher Morrison. “Collaboration Economy. Eliminate the Competition by Creating Partnership Opportunities.” 2014. Morgan James Publishing, NY. www.collaborationeconomy.com

[13] http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2013/10/06/sorry-class-warriors-small-businesses-are-not-the-backbone-of-the-u-s-economy/