St.
Paul, upon learning some folks were gaming the new Thessalonian
Christian community and living off its charity -- thus robbing those who
really needed a helping hand -- wrote, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
Primitive social welfare policy? Not really. Remember, a primary
command of Christ was to provide for the poor and widows and orphans.
So, Paul's admonition was to the point. Those who could work, should; those who could
not, a loving community had your back.
Today, though, many folks truly
feel entitled to the proverbial something for nothing. They won't work because it is too stressful, or not their
"field," or doesn't pay enough to supply both their WANTS and their
needs.
You need food, shelter and clothing. You may want a big screen TV, new car or a house no lender in his or her right mind would give you a mortgage to buy. If you cannot work for legitimate reasons, we should help with the former -- not the latter. Your needs do not include taxpayer-underwritten entertainment, the best ride on the block or a $500,000 home when you need to rent an apartment instead.
In what many call the "Nanny State," though, we continue to pay regardless -- those who do work, through taxes,
and those who truly cannot work due to illness, disability and honest
crises, they pay through harder-to-get aid already taken by the undeserving.
The attitude of entitlement goes beyond the easily targeted
"welfare fraud," though. Do something stupid, you can shift the blame on
anyone but yourself; be lazy and end up with your just rewards --
little or nothing -- or fail to study hard enough and get a C-plus, you
can sue for a better grade that you deserve (a Lehigh student did this,
and lost, but still tied up the courts doing so).
It all makes me want to sing, no shout, no scream the lyrics to "Get Over It" by the Eagles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H-Y7MAASkg
