Shrug?

Note: Since I've started blogging, I've been approached by friends and co-workers inquiring about guest blogging. Today's post is the first guest blog and is penned by John Galt. I hope you find this post as thought provoking as I did.

To shrug or not to shrug, that is the question.  Whether it is nobler of the mind to persevere under the looming burdens of out-of-control government spending or to shrug, quit trying and exit the workforce.  Frustration? Heck yes!  More so because I have no direct control over the decisions, yet I suffer the outcome.  If we tumble over the fiscal cliff, my household will lose over $200 a week directly.  Under the threat of Obama-care, my medical costs skyrocketed by hundreds of dollars a month years ago.  My federal salary has been frozen for years now with no hope of a cost-of-living increase, yet the cost of gas and essentials continue to soar. 

So, that only affects me, right?  Because money is tight, I eat out less and almost never go out.  I don’t buy more than necessary and I scrutinize every purchase.  I shop with coupons and for generic brands.  I am putting less into the economy because I have less to spend and I am uncertain that the money flow will improve. So I am holding onto my money.  There are a lot of small businesses in the area that have closed because people like me are staying home, buying less and hunkering down while awaiting the fallout of the inactivity of Congress and the pigheadedness of the President.  Even the larger chains are closing, consolidating, changing their marketing schemes or whatever it takes to stay in business.  Companies change to stay in business;  I’ve changed my practices to stay within my means. 

Yet, the government wants to continue to spend and spend and spend without making changes.  Fiscal responsibility--do they understand the term?  If Congress men and women don’t pay their personal bills, don’t they endure the same penalties that we do?  Must not, or they would realize that we no longer own our country because the debt we accumulate is held by other countries.  If the mortgage company owns your house until you pay off your mortgage, don’t these other countries that hold our debt own us until we pay off our debt?  But the debt continues to climb out of control.  At some point, the bill is due and we will not be able to pay.  Where are we then?

I can shrug, quit paying my bills and put my hand out for entitlements from the government.  My kids would probably qualify for money for college, they could get free lunches in school, and I could get unemployment, housing, food stamps and benefits of all of the government entitlement programs.

To do that, I’d have to first shrug off my pride, my self-respect and throw away my potential earning power.  I’m not implying that all other people are taking advantage of the programs, but because I have the potential to do more, I feel that I and others like me are being punished.  It is not that I live lavishly; it is that I live within my means because that is what my parents taught me to do.  Don’t spend money you don’t have.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and go on.  Honor your commitments.

My parents promised that if I work hard I will be rewarded.  Well, maybe they weren’t prepared for a President with a socialistic lean, bipartisan antagonism and unrealistic expectations to undermine that promise.  At this point, if I strive to work harder for some gain, I won’t reap any of the benefits because they will be taken away either directly by the government or through the mess the government has made of our economy.  So, while I think about shrugging, I’ll eat my delicious lunch of Kraft macaroni and cheese while I sit at my desk and hope no one slips a pink slip under the door today.