July 4: Happy Hypocrite Day...

[Guest $iLk]

July 4: Happy Hypocrite Day...

hypocrisy (n): the act of pretending to have beliefs, virtues and feelings that one does not truly possess.

July 4 is the holiday where we as Americans celebrate our independance. Tomorrow; many of my fellow Americans will be grilling hamburgers and hotdogs, lighting pyrotechnics, and downing a cold one in celebration of, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This is during a time where most Americans are anything but independant. While bragging about the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and talking tough about their independance - you can ask the average American if they would like to take control of their own destiny by planning for and handling their own retirement instead of having the government mandate their retirement and issuing checks from a central planning office - while seizing the remainder should they die before expected... you will be met with "Well I don't know about that, I'd rather the government tell me what to do there."

It is true that independance, liberty, and freedom are gifts which require responsibility. But in a time where Americans are anything but responsible, and practice anything but personal responsibility - you cannot get them to make that connection. While Americans claim to celebrate freedom, in their personal lives they flee from true independance. The responsibility of relying upon one's self and one's family is too daunting... and so they look towards the government to seize money from the public trust in order to fund their retirement lifestyle. Americans today don't want independance. You have a class who wishes to lord over those who "don't know any better" and a class who wishes to be lorded over as part of the welfare state. In the words of Samuel Adams: "If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Whether or not we want the responsibility as Americans, it is a fact of life. In as much as the responsibility of not getting fat requires you to exercise and eat healthy, in as much the responsibility of not eating Alpo in your twilight years requires you to plan and budget and save, and in as much as the responsibility of putting food on the table requires you to work - the responsibility of keeping our freedom lies with 'We the People'. People love to point at the military as being those who secure our freedoms - but this is a false dichotomy. The responsibility of securing our freedom, our independance, and our liberty lies with those of us who elect our representatives. We were given a gift in the form of the United States of America... but just as you can't continue driving your vehicle if you don't change the oil and perform regular maintenance... just as you can't eat off of your dishes if you don't wash them... you can't expect the country to remain free and independant if you don't take an active role in keeping it that way. As Benjamin Franklin once said:

"A republic if you can keep it"

The question you have to ask yourself - is do you want it?

[Wolferz]

Well said Coop.

Sadly, much of it is the truth.

But, what is this active part you speak of?

We vote.

We write letters to our representatives. What do we get out of it? Form letters, thanking us for our interest, then our wishes are totally ignored that's what. Our government has been taken over by those who wish to usurp power and money.

They legislate in favor of minorities, criminals, and corporate lobbies.

What do we do now?

Plan for our retirement and forget about everything else while we toil to salt away for old age?

Not something you can easily do when your wages are taxed into nothingness and every modern convenience carries excise taxes out the wazoo, to the point of making saving for retirement a pointless exercise in futility, because you need the money now to live on. Especially if the only job you can find pays minimum wage.

The Federal minimum wage is currently $5.15 an hour. Unless you are lucky enough to get on a Federal contract job that pays a federally mandated prevailing wage. You're pretty much screwed.

The last time minimum wage was increased was 1997. Alot has changed since 1997.Most people I know can't live a healthy lifestyle on minimum wage. Much less save for retirement.

Let's do some math......

$5.15 X 40 hours = $206.00- @ 23% for Federal/state taxes,FICA, etc etc ad nauseum. = $108.40 net pay a week.

That won't buy groceries, gasoline, insurance, light bill, telephone,rent, etc etc for a single man, much less a family. Many people I know work two minimum wage jobs just to sustain themselves and thier families.

Our elected representatives made sure that they earn a living wage and that they will have comfort in thier retirement and all they had to do to get it was raise thier hand and say aye.

So, while many Americans enjoy the independance holiday with Hamburgers, hotdogs, and cheap beer. Our elected reps will be grilling porterhouse steaks, drinking champaign and toasting the ignorance of all the poor working stiffs who won't get a paid holiday unless they work it.

All because they were dumb enough to cast thier ballot for these guys and gals.

Americans aren't lazy. They're not free either. Americans work to support thier families and the government entities from sea to shining sea.

Now, please don't get me wrong. I'm not against government. It's a necessary evil to prevent total anarchy and chaos. No matter how you spin it, we are governed. Therefore we are not truly free and won't be until we die. Only then is a man truly free. For now we are merely slaves to the human condition and those who seek power and wealth If could find and elect another president like Thomas Jefferson, who never accepted a penny from the treasury, for his service to the country, we would be much better off I think.

Tomorrow celebrate Americas' false seperation from the crown of England if you will and think about the descendants of the first settlers of New England. The English monarchs and so called royal blood lines that immigrated to America, or were sent by the crown, they are the ones in charge of our government right now.

Oh,please don't blow your appendages off with cheap Chinese munitions during the festivities.

[Guest $iLk]

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, all change begins at the dinner table. In my view - local accountability is the first step toward securing your state. If we can't handle things at the local level - we definitely aren't going to be able to fix things federally. Alabama is one of the worst cases of good-ol-boyism I have ever seen in terms of local politics.

Staying quiet and stepping up every two years to cast a ballot isn't enough. True change will come when people have a vested interest in their communities. When people step forward charitably and cooperatively to solve problems.

As an aside, the minimum-wage argument is complicated. For one, when discussing personal responsibility I would like to tell anyone thinking they should attempt to have children while working a minimum wage job that they are displaying poor decision making.

You aren't meant to raise children on a minimum wage job... in fact - most of those working minimum wage jobs in my experience are those fresh out of high school, and not long out of 'retirement' trying to supplement income.

Where I agree with you is that the Congressional pay-raises are b.s. Plain and simple. My raises are based on performance. I am not guaranteed one, but I have received two based on accomplishments at work.

I don't believe we have the 'right' to a living wage in any job we choose to work. I believe it is our responsibility to develop marketable job skills, and to make ends meet however we must.

I speak also as someone who had children at age 18 fresh out of high school. I've stumbled and made some poor decisions - but I also decided that I would rather not be looking at minimum wage jobs my entire life. I have developed skills to where I was able to better myself, and better my own situation.

It didn't require an increase in the minimum wage to do that. It required looking in the mirror and realizing who's responsibility it was to 'get' a living wage.

[Wolferz]

I had a really good job once. At least until some French company bought the company and then moved the operation to Mexico in favor of cheap labor and whatever incentives they could screw the Mexican government out of. Damned Frogs!

And you're right. Each of us must take the responsibility upon ourselves to make a decent wage. I don't think it's right that newly graduated high school seniors are forced into what amounts to servitude, in an unforgiving job market where companies use lame excuses like lack of experience.

For that very reason, I taught my son how to make his own way because the public schools sure weren't doing it.

We also have college graduates working at Mickey D's because, again, they lack experience.

If you are fortunate enough to be born into a family that can afford to send you through college and play the nepotism game during summer break, you've got it made.

As for poor planning in regard to a family. Even the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go awry. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, wore it out, and last I looked I checked my oil with it.We have alot of problems facing all of us at the moment, with no easy answers. But, no my friend, Americans are not too lazy or irresponsible to insure thier retirement years are spent in relative comfort. They are just the victims of an unforgiving corporate oligarchy called the United States Government.