Follow the Creed

In the history of Auburn University, my alma mater, George Petrie occupies a very important place. Petrie organized the first Auburn football team and the first football game in the Deep South, the 1892 contest between Auburn and Georgia in Piedmont Park in Atlanta.  In 1943, as an Auburn professor, Petrie wrote a set of beliefs and principles that he believed to be common to all Auburn students, faculty, and alumni. These beliefs and principles, known as the Auburn Creed, embody the spirit of Auburn.

The Auburn Creed

I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn. Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.
I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.
I believe in honesty and truthfulness, without which I cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow men.
I believe in a sound mind, a sound body, and a spirit that is not afraid, and in clean sports that develop these qualities.
I believe in obedience to law because it protects the rights of all.
I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.
I believe in my country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is my own home, and that I can best serve that country by "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God."
And because Auburn men and women believe in these things, I believe in Auburn and love it.

As a student, I accepted the words of the creed without question because I thought everyone everywhere felt the same way.  The beliefs and principles of the creed were the same as those practiced by my family.  It wasn’t right to get something you didn’t earn through hard work. That’s why everyone in my family worked.  An education was a privilege, not a right.  That’s why my parents made such a fuss over my grades.  A man’s word meant something because his word was backed by a history of honesty and trust. That’s why telling a lie incurred my mother’s wrath.  We obeyed the law because laws were meant to be obeyed. And we believed in God and country because God is the source of all our many blessings and the freedoms we cherish were paid for by the blood and sacrifices of those who came before us.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that not everyone shares the beliefs encompassed by the Auburn Creed.  For example, 21.8% of the total US population do not count on only what they earn and thus receives government assistance. (This percentage (67.3 million people) does not include federal government employees.) How much assistance do these people receive?  On average, each person received $32,478 worth of benefits from the federal government (source:  William W. Beach and Patrick D. Tyrrell, The 2012 Index of Dependence on Government, The Heritage Foundation, https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2012/pdf/sr104.pdf).    What message does this send when there is no incentive to stand on your own two feet?  Why work hard when the government, i.e., taxpayers, will provide for you? Combining a shrinking taxpayer base with a growing number of people who rely on the government for their daily existence is recipe for financial disaster.  Although the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 placed a time limit on benefits (two years consecutively and five years collectively over a lifetime), it is estimated that as many as 44% of welfare recipient cases are exempt from these time limits.  Furthermore, other benefits such as federal housing subsidies, which cost taxpayers over $33 billion in 2009, have no time limit on benefits nor are there incentives in place to wean people from these benefits.

Other core beliefs are honesty, integrity, and obedience to law.  According to the US Census Bureau, there were 10.6 million crimes committed in the US in 2009.  Violent crimes, including murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault accounted for 1.3 million and property crimes (burglary, larceny and theft, and motor vehicle theft) accounted  for the other 9.3 million.  Stated another way, there were 429 violent crimes and over 3000 property crimes committed in the US for every 100,000 people.  The US Census Bureau data indicates there were over 13,000 murders and over 81,000 forcible rapes in the US in 2009.  I can’t even imagine how one would quantify the impact of a violent crime; a 2008 United Nations report estimates that financial loss due to violent crimes totals $45 billion.  While the direct costs of property crimes, approximately $9,000,000, can be quantified, the intangible impacts are more difficult. The Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department estimated in a 1999 study that upwards of 5 million people received mental health therapy directly related to their victimization. And the cost of incarceration for offenders exceeded $68 billion in 2006.  I really don’t know how this situation got so out of control.  When I was a kid, a person was measured by their honesty and integrity; they did the right thing because it was the right thing, not for fear of reprisal.  How can we condone a society that lives off the victimization of another person?

I get it.  Not everyone shares the same values and beliefs that I do. To expect that is folly.  However, some beliefs should be common to us all.  The beliefs that “I can count only on what I earn” and “obedience to law because it protects the rights of all” should be fundamental beliefs which all of us share.  If this great country is to avoid becoming a footnote in history similar to the Roman Empire, we must each take responsibility for our actions and our well-being and accept the consequences, either good or bad. Can you imagine the change if each of us took responsibility for our own welfare and obeyed the laws of the land?  Each journey starts with one step.  Just for today, don’t be a burden on others and stand on your own two feet.  If you fail today, tomorrow, try again.