Get MAD! Defend yourself. Conservative values are worth defending.

One of our greatest thinkers.

A Founding Father who helped the poor, but didn't entitle them.

Efforts by the Liberal left, or do we call them “Progressive”, continually question the wisdom and the morality of those with Conservative political values. It’s about time to call them on it. It’s about time the majority of Americans who believe in the values categorized as “Conservative” stand up and quit taking it. To do otherwise is to concede your morality. To do otherwise is cowardly.

Some of my Liberal friends have been taken aback, recently, by my strong defense of my views and my response to their personal attacks. I think some of their surprise has been brought on by the sheer newness of such rebuttal. They are too used to calling Conservatives greedy, selfish, uncaring, and hypocritical without adequate response. So they continue their unthinking, unintelligent and amoral attacks. They claim the high ground and hold it because we’re to pansy to tell them they’re wrong. Either that or they’re right. We are greedy, uncaring, selfish, hypocrites. I for one, don’t think that’s the case; which is why I’ll swat down the mean-spirited attacks every time, even when they come from friends.

Recently in an on-line stream of comments I refuted using China as an example of a nation to be emulated for a lot of obvious reasons. A Liberal friend said I had my head buried in the sand and then offered a sarcastic swipe of the idea of China providing more freedoms for their citizens. When I pointed out to my friend that they were being rude and sarcastic I was excoriated and have not enjoyed this friends thoughts since.

In another recent discussion I trudged down the dangerous path of debating abortion. I stated that life begins either at conception, at birth, or somewhere in between; clearly a reasonable statement. My liberal friend stated that he believed life begins at birth and that I was insensitive to a mother wanting an abortion and uncaring about a baby that might be born with a heroin addiction. Now I had not even stated when I thought life began but had only postulated that it could be debated that it occurred some time prior to birth and for that a very good friend characterized me as selfish and uncaring and mean-spirited. It’s got to stop. It’s got to get to a point where reasonable ideas are treated as such and those voicing them are not demonized for doing so.

The most obvious of these Liberal attacks is the charge of greed and selfishness. In the words of Liberals those who make substantially more income than the majority of Americans and don’t want to pay more taxes to pay for more Democratic welfare programs are greedy. They furiously claim the GOP is taking food, medicine, education or nurturing away from the poor and starving. They claim Conservatives don’t care to help the less fortunate in our Society. We’re uncaring. The fact is if we didn’t have better alternatives they’d be right. They’d be right if numerous surveys didn’t reveal that those who call themselves Conservative give a higher percentage of their income to charity than do those who call themselves Liberal or Progressive. They’d be right if evidence showed that Democratic Government spending on such things like education actually worked. They might be right if the money they claimed was going to programs that benefit society as a whole actually went to programs that benefit society as a whole. Liberals might be right in calling us selfish, greedy and uncaring if illegal immigrants were taking the jobs and social benefits of college educated, more affluent Americans.

But while Federal tax dollars going toward education have skyrocketed in the past forty years graduation rates, and test scores have remained static or declined. A half-billion dollars went to solar company

Image representing Solyndra as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Solyndra and its failed business model rather than building roads and bridges and other “shovel ready” projects from the 2009 $700-billion stimulus package. And for every dollar that goes toward AIDS research to placate a loud but relatively small minority of staunchly Democratic victims of the disease, an equal number of federal dollars is denied research on heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Multiple-Sclerosis and other diseases that affect everybody. And while our Liberal friends advocate for the rights and more hand-outs for illegal immigrants they ignore the poor and less educated legal American or legal immigrant whose job and who’s government benefits the illegal immigrant is taking.

Illegal Immigrant rights protest in the US/Mex...

The fact is my faith and my morality dictate and require that I help those who are truly in need. All that makes us human dictates that the least capable among us be given food, shelter, education and nurturing by those who are more capable or more well-off. But my question is when did it become wiser or more compassionate to give a hungry man a fish, than to teach a hungry man to fish? Why are you a better person than me because you look at people and consider them incapable of individual achievement and devoid of personal fortitude; while I understand failure to be an integral part of success?

I don’t mind debate. In fact I love it. But I detest the personal attacks and the moral superiority the left perpetually presents. You don’t need government to be caring and compassionate. It’s harder to be caring and compassionate when you’re Conservative because of the name calling Liberals will subject you to. But don’t take it. Stand up for what you know is right. And in closing I’ll just point out that one of our Founding Fathers and greatest thinkers agreed with a more Conservative approach to helping the poor: “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.” —Benjamin Franklin

Signature of Benjamin Franklin.

Image via Wikipedia

November 8, 2011
Categories: National Politics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: 1 Comment

The fishermen, the hungry man, and the wise man.

Michael Schuett in a river

The Author hooking something

This is an essay written and originally posted on-line for a small select audience in May 2009. It’s timeliness remains appropriate.

 

 

A hungry man sat along side a vast river in the early evening sun. His clothes are old and worn. He watches the fishermen returning to the shores from a day of harvesting God’s plentiful waters.

The hungry man has no boat, and he doesn’t know the craft of fishing. He knows of no craft for which he can adequately feed himself or his family. For in his youth opportunities passed him by, as he passed them by. And though he caused no harm to anyone and though he wished no one any ill will he was left with a sad existence of hunger and despair.

One day a liberal fisherman who happened to be a Democrat saw the hungry man sitting along the shore. The liberal Democrat thought how sad that this man should sit along the shore hungry while all these many other fishermen brought forth God’s bounty from these blessed waters. The liberal Democrat correctly thought “there are plenty of fish to go around. Nobody should go hungry”. So the liberal Democrat surveyed the shoreline and spotted the conservative Republican unloading his boat. As usual the conservative Republican was bringing forth a hall of fish greater than that of anyone else along the shore; for the conservative Republican had toiled many years to earn what he had and to buy the best boat and to procure the finest nets, and to hire the best workers. So naturally he regularly brought in the most fish.

The liberal Democrat, wanting to help the hungry man, walked away from his own day’s catch and marched righteously to the dock of the conservative Republican and grabbed up an armful of fish, He then loudly proclaimed for all to hear “You have more than enough fish Mr. Conservative Republican. I am taking some of your fish to give to the hungry man there on the shore so that he will be hungry no more”,

Well, the conservative Republican was most upset. How could this liberal Democrat righteously and arrogantly come and take that which is rightfully mine. But seeing that the eyes of many others were now upon him, and fearing that he would somehow seem greedy to those who witnessed the liberal Democrat proclaiming that he would give the fish to the hungry man, the conservative Republican fisherman said nothing. Instead he harbored his ill feelings for having his possessions stolen from him. And he became embittered.

The liberal Democrat indeed did take the armful of fish to the hungry man. He then jumped up and down, waving his arms to attract the attention of anyone else along the shore who was not already watching him. He then said loudly, “Here Mr. Hungry man. I HAVE BROUGHT YOU FOOD. Through MY generosity you will now eat.” The liberal Democrat then walked away feeling quite good about himself, never to be seen again by the hungry man.

A week later the hungry man was again along the river’s banks hoping for the generosity which had been bestowed upon him the previous week to come his way again. Sadly, the liberal Democrat was nowhere to be seen and the hungry man feared he would go with no food. As the final fishermen completed their days work and indifferently walked by the hungry man to their homes, the hungry man spotted the conservative Republican. As was the norm the conservative Republican was one of the last fishermen to wrap up his days work for he again had a very large haul of fish and such bounty required hard work.

As he walked toward the hungry man in the direction of his home the conservative Republican noticed the hungry man shyly smile at him and extend his hand in the direction of the prosperous fisherman. Still bitter from having his hard-earned reward diminished the previous week by the liberal Democrat who took from his catch, the conservative Republican tersely said to the hungry man, “I will not give you any of my fish. Why is it that you don’t go fish for yourself instead of sitting here all day doing nothing? Why is it that you should be hungry again this week instead of fixing the situation with which you found yourself last week when the liberal Democratic fisherman took from me and gave to you?” The conservative Republican then walked away more embittered than before. The hungry man went hungry.

The next day the hungry man was again beside the river bank, for he had no place else to go. He had no trade. He had no family. A wise fisherman approached the hungry man and gave him one fish. Having witnessed the false generosity of the liberal Democrat and the embitterment of the conservative Republican the wise fisherman wanted to help the hungry man and boldly told the hungry man what he intended to do.

“You are hungry and that is unfortunate. But you are hungry because of the opportunities you failed to take advantage of in the past. So your hunger is of your own creation. If you wish to toil as you have in the past you will remain hungry. But if you wish to learn and work you will never be hungry again.” Never being hungry again did interest the hungry man so he humbly paid attention to the wise man.

The wise man continued. “This one fish I give you will only feed you for today. If you do not change your circumstance yourself, you will be hungry again tomorrow. This fish will give you sustenance and strength to carry on tomorrow. When the sun rises in the morning you will meet me at my boat and you will work hard for me all day. You will sweat in the hot sun; you may develop calluses on your hands from throwing and pulling on the nets; you may even get sea sick being that it will be your first time in the boat. At the end of the day you won’t feel very good. You’ll be tired. But you won’t be hungry, for you will take with you that which you reap from the river. And you will have learned how to fish.”

So the hungry man did work hard the next day. He sweated, blisters developed on his hands, and he vomited from having sea sickness. The wise man let the hungry man fish with him for the whole week and as the days passed it became easier for the hungry man. At the weeks conclusion the wise man told the hungry man “I can no longer take you on my boat for you have been taking place of another man who I must honor by keeping employed. But you now know how to fish.” The wise man’s final gesture to the hungry man was to give him an old worn fishing net.

“Take this and fish from shore. It’s not as nice a net as my others. You won’t catch as many fish from shore as from a boat. But if you start early and work late you’ll feed yourself, and you will eventually earn enough to buy a new better net, and in time your own boat. And you will catch more and more fish.” Then the wise man admonished the hungry man and said, “If you return to sitting along the banks hoping for the generosity of others you will again be hungry.”

The hungry man took the words of the wise man to heart for the foolishness of his youth had left him and now because of the wise man he knew how to fish. He started early and worked late and he prospered. In time he became wise. In time he taught another man to fish.

Comments are welcome. Thanks for visiting.

November 3, 2011
Categories: National Politics . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: Comments Off on The fishermen, the hungry man, and the wise man.

The Dependency of Dogs and People.

This article was originally written and published on Facebook in February 2010. Since that time my dog Nero has died.- M Schuett

Kid and Old fella

My dogs

I have some pretty smart dogs. Of course, anyone who’s had a dog as a pet feel’s pretty sure of what I write. But a recent demonstration of my dogs’ intelligence had me wondering if humans are more like dogs than the other way around. Or are we cats? Or are some cats and some dogs?

I have two labs. Nero is the old man. He’s a black lab working on his seventeenth year on this planet. Dakoda is a two-year old yellow lab, though really he’s white and tan.

The dogs’ intelligence is demonstrated in many ways from recognizing my moods to communicating that they have to go poop. Most frequently and notably it is demonstrated at feeding time. Once a day, every morning around 8:30am its feeding time. The routine is the same each and every day. I direct them to their respective kennels; though lately they go on their own without me telling them to do so. Upon scooping the food into their bowls from the metal garbage can in which it’s kept I bring them out tell them to heal and sit. These days, with the dogs being so intelligent, and so used to the routine that I actually say VERY little, if anything. Mostly, it’s just hand gestures.

Some 14 years ago my family began to routinely eat pizza for Friday night dinners. It was a tradition began out of necessity. My wife worked a corporate executive position that frequently had her out-of-town Monday through Friday. I would care for our, then, two kids through the week. I don’t mind saying that by Friday afternoon I was as worn out as a clothe rag used to scrub cement. I wasn’t about to cook dinner. So the pizza tradition started.

The dogs benefit from the pizza tradition too. They get treats. They certainly do enjoy their pizza CRUSTS, and are so sad and let down when we get Round Table pizza. Round Table is about the only pizza we have that has a crust that most of my family likes and regularly eats. This leaves the dogs with bupkiss.

As happens very infrequently this past Friday came…and we didn’t get pizza. The dogs are kept outside while we eat. When I let them in they furiously looked around for the pizza and for us to give them crusts. It’s not the first time I’ve witnessed this behavior. It’s happened often, when we don’t get pizza or when the pizza is a Round Table and there are no crusts to pass out. What struck me this time was that the dogs knew it was Friday. They knew it was pizza-day. They always do. Now, it’s easy for me to get my mind wrapped around a dog knowing when it’s feeding time on a daily basis. Their stomachs tell them so, if not their minds. But the realization that they know when its Friday and pizza day at my house just tickled me.

As with any dogs my dogs are dependent on me to feed them. They’re also dependent on me for love, and for petting and occasionally for disapproval. Any dog trainer will tell you this dependency is what enables a dog to be trained. When you consider a cat, you don’t get that dependency. While it’s true that cats are regularly fed by their keepers; they’re not like dogs. For instance, a cat’s food is left out. They eat it when they want. Often, they’ll eat some of it, leave some, and come back to it later when they’re hungry. I’ve never seen a dog leave food in the bowl. And as gruesome as it may seem a house cat can and does get its own food sometimes. Or what do you call the small bird or mouse your feline occasionally brings to your door? Cat’s whole personality is about independence. “Sure Mom and Dad; I like you and I’ll let you pet me and I’ll purr to show my satisfaction. But I can take it or leave it.”

The habits and training of a dog come from routine and the dependency soon follows. So the thought occurred to me are we any different from our fellow mammals? Calling humans “creatures of habit” is a cliché and like most clichés is based on truth. If you regularly have coffee as your morning pick-me-up you’re going to find it difficult to function without your cup of Joe. If you go to bed every night at 10 o’clock it’ll be hard to sleep if you turn-in at 9. Or you might find it hard to stay awake until midnight.

And if you are used to someone giving you something, deserved or not, you are going to develop an expectation and possibly a dependency. You won’t be a cat you will be the domesticated dog. I think of Chevy Chase in the movie “Christmas Vacation”

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

when for the first time in years his boss doesn’t give him the Christmas bonus Clark Griswold has become so expectant of, and dependant on. When he doesn’t get it, he goes a little nuts. As we all know the domesticated dog was not always domestic. Canine’s historically were hunters, scavengers, survivors. Now if Nero and Dakoda were turned loose in the wilderness I fear they wouldn’t survive long. Or at best they would go through an extremely difficult time before learning to fend for themselves. Their knowledge, experience and even their drive to survive has been weaned out of them. They still have the claws, the fangs, and the running and jumping ability to catch and subdue prey. But they are dependent on me, so they use none of their God-given abilities.

When Government gives farmers money for not farming and for crops given a fixed price; when non-working low educated folks are given food and rent; when criminals continue to be let loose in order to re-offend; when the Government gives students all the necessary funds for college; and when corporations can spend money recklessly and still be given more money to fritter away, dependency is created. And though the recipients maintain all the claws, fangs, the running and jumping ability and all else that’s required to survive and thrive, loosing that which they’ve been given leaves them as defenseless as my dogs in the wilderness.

Our superior intelligence over that of Nero and Dakoda and their kind enables us to properly discern those from amongst us that truly need help. And collectively we’re caring and giving enough to see to it that such individuals are well cared for. We’re not animals. And yet we are. For when we rely on the pack to feed and nurture us entirely, like a wolf, we lose our ability to hunt. And soon we die. Or at least, like me, and like my dogs you badly want your pizza.

October 24, 2011
Categories: National Politics, Uncategorized . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: Michael Schuett . Comments: Comments Off on The Dependency of Dogs and People.