Every year I read the announcement in the paper: “Free meals available to area children,” and I cringe. Last year it even finally came to Greenlee County, and I cringed some more.
Why in the world would free breakfasts and lunches be a bad thing? I mean the price of gas and food is up. Why not take advantage of a “free” program? Hey, just send the kiddies down at breakfast and lunch and get them out of your hair for a few hours, sleep in, don’t worry about fixing meals. It’s free.
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Consider:
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
- Thomas Jefferson
“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.”
- Thomas Jefferson
“I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.”
-Thomas Jefferson
“With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.”
- James Madison
Why should I give the care and feeding of my children over to the government? I believe my husband and I are responsible to feed, clothe and shelter them. I am not speaking to those who fall on hard times.
I can justify programs for people who have hardship through no fault of their own. But it is wrong for the general public to take advantage of this kind of program. And it is equally wrong for the powers that be to provide a program for the general public.
My guess is that these programs are funded from tax dollars from Washington or the state. And all dollars from those places come from “we the people.” Through all generations since our founding, Americans have been proud to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and take care of themselves. Now, we as a nation are happy to accept any handout or “free” thing the government offers.
What if, instead of letting Washington or the state be the middleman, we all went in search of our freebies ourselves? Can you imagine sending your children out your door each morning and letting them knock on a different door every day, and asking that the neighbors feed them breakfast and lunch?
Most of your neighbors might indulge them a time or two, but after several days in a row, they would send the little darlings packing and tell them to have mom and dad put the food in their mouths. And yet we have no qualms sending them down to the middle school or the pool or the local park to do what we are not willing to do ourselves.
There was a time when the only reason you were standing in a soup line was because you had no food or money. Now, it seems the food line is the norm of the day. The inflation that we see today in gas and food is our own fault and the fault of our irresponsible elected officials.
If you are not willing to do your part, then you are to blame. Every dollar we vote to come into our own pocket robs us of our freedom. Well, when we have no freedoms left, ask yourself: What did I do to contribute to it?
Dawn Norton
Duncan
Comments
15 comment(s)JAguilar wrote on Sep 3, 2008 8:37 PM:
State of the Union wrote on Aug 27, 2008 2:26 PM:
J Aguilar wrote on Aug 26, 2008 9:17 PM:
State of the Union wrote on Aug 26, 2008 2:23 AM:
to Jodis wrote on Aug 22, 2008 11:09 AM:
Get real wrote on Aug 22, 2008 7:01 AM:
jodis wrote on Aug 21, 2008 11:50 AM:
Dumb idea wrote on Aug 19, 2008 1:57 PM:
My Cousin Vinney wrote on Aug 16, 2008 10:48 AM:
jodis wrote on Aug 15, 2008 3:35 PM:
For the Kids wrote on Aug 15, 2008 2:57 PM:
hard working mother wrote on Aug 14, 2008 9:07 AM:
Just my taxpayer opinion wrote on Aug 13, 2008 9:33 PM:
TADevil wrote on Aug 13, 2008 10:12 AM:
That is the best letter to the editor I've read in quite some time. That's not an easy feat because I often applaud F. Brent Moody's letters as well.
I've always been told by my dad that someone always pays the bill. It's simple but absolutely true. It's sad the direction that our society is going.
I better get back to work so I can feed my own child as well as for all those "free" breakfasts and lunches. "
I agree wrote on Aug 13, 2008 10:03 AM:
It's too bad that at least the milk / juice couldn't have been given to the elderly citizens here in the valley!!! "