Poor Choices

Another post by John Galt

Recently, I read an article honoring people for performing acts of service to their communities.  It is inspiring that so many want to help those less fortunate.  One story caught my eye, not because of the honoree, but because the condition exists in this country—many kids in this country don’t have enough to eat.  The article honors the local churches that provide students on free lunch programs with food for the weekends.  Although they get breakfasts and lunches at school during the week, they may not have food over the weekend.  According to the US Department of Agriculture (www.fns.usda.gov), in 2013, almost 20 million students participate in the free lunch program.  The number has doubled since the 1980s.  I wonder if this is a measure of our country’s economy, or of people’s choices.

What would cause a family to live below the poverty line?  Well, if you get down to it, it is all about our choices.  In a society that rarely holds itself accountable; we blame others for our condition.  What if we saved up to go to college or to learn a trade rather than spending our money on cell phones and status, showy purchases?  What if you pursued a degree that is in demand and would afford a comfortable lifestyle rather than a degree that fills a square, but nothing more?  I’m not slamming history majors or psychology students, but without advanced degrees, what are your employment options?  In many cases, an in-demand junior college trade degree will give you earning potential and a flurry of employment offers at graduation.  Consider the value of your education dollar.  Have you seen what an electrician or plumber makes an hour?  And for half of what your bachelor’s degree in British Literature cost you.  Education opens doors to opportunity, probably more than any other factor.

We have to get past demanding instant gratification.  You don’t need the biggest, best, shiniest bauble in the store window.  You don’t need the latest iPhone.  Looking up the latest scores or notifying the world that you just stuffed your face at an expensive restaurant on your facebook page doesn’t have to happen right this second.  You don’t need a new car; you need a quality means of transportation.  Most $50 sneakers are just as good as the $200 brand.  Why pay $100 for a pair of jeans if you can buy quality below $20 a pair.  It’s a choice.  Credit card debt is not a badge of honor.  It is a strike against you and a notice that you are unable to manage your money.  Save up for something that matters, something that will improve your life, not just impress your friends.  Consider your needs, not your wants and make a choice. 

Personal choices aren’t just about money or education.  Teenage pregnancy alters your life by taking away choices.  Losing your virginity at an early age is not a badge of honor and it doesn’t define you as a man or as a woman.  Parenting responsibilities change your priorities and the course of your life. Oftentimes education has to wait while you work to feed your family.  Sometimes you just drop out of school and demands keep you from ever going back to school.  Some people choose drugs or alcohol over education or their job.  Addiction can consume them, destroying their health and their prospects.  Still, these are personal choices.

There are some factors that are out of our control such as the loss of manufacturing, technology and research jobs in this country, natural disasters like flood and drought, and crime.  We should honor those that render aid and those that pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and try again.  Americans are a resourceful lot.  I hope that our economy will recover and spawn new jobs that grow our economy.  I believe that we will always render aid to those affected by natural disaster and by crime. 

Notice that I didn’t say anything about anyone owing you anything or spreading the wealth.  I don’t agree with entitlements.  They make people weak and willing to accept handouts.  Reliance on handouts and entitlements will never lift you over the poverty level.  The math just doesn’t work.  Taking charge of your own destiny and self-reliance are the key to success.  That used to be an attribute of the American spirit.  Over the years, it has been replaced with political rhetoric creating a divisive mistrust between the haves and the have-nots.  Just as it is a crime to break into my house and steal my hard-earned money, it is a crime to force me to pay into entitlement programs.  I don’t get a say in either situation.

So, is it choices or the economy that determine the amount of poverty in this country?  Although the unemployment rate has declined in the last year, job growth isn’t in high-paying jobs; it is service industry and retail jobs.  These aren't the kind of jobs that grow the economy of a country.  A poor economy drives up crime rates and the use of drugs and alcohol.  Those factors either directly or indirectly affect our society. 

The answer to the causes of poverty in this country is not all one or the other.    Maybe the key is hope.  A society mired in a poor economy can lose hope and stop trying to succeed.  Without hope, people throw away their choices and search for an escape or instant gratification from shopping, sex, alcohol, and drugs.  Maybe without hope we just live for today and not for tomorrow.  Without hope, our society doesn’t aspire to something better or create opportunities to do great things.  We fail to look beyond the end of our nose.  Without economic growth, poverty will continue.  Distrust and dislike will grow between the perceived haves and have-nots, fueled by rhetoric and the media.  We have to stop this slow, painful demise of the American spirit before it is too late.