It’s about living life. Sometimes we fall flat on our face, and sometimes we soar. The exciting part is in the striving and uncertainty, goals to chase, and dreaming dreams.
Here is our friend, Bill Whittle, again. As Bill points out, the Declaration of Independence is demonstrative that its writers understood the essence of the human heart:
When Thomas Jefferson came back with his draft of the Declaration of Independence, Franklin and Adams and all the other Founders must have been amazed: life – yes. Liberty – absolutely. But the pursuit of happiness? That wasn’t just revolutionary – it was transcendental.
See, Jefferson knew you didn’t have a right to happiness – who can guarantee that? But he had a vision of place that didn’t guarantee the right to be happy, but the right – the inalienable right — to try to be. What Jefferson guaranteed in the Declaration was not the certainty of success but the guaranteed opportunity to fail.
On a related note, I got into a conversation on Facebook yesterday morning over this visual:
In my view, this is the flip side of the American Dream. We have the right to strive, but we also must carry the responsibility of our actions. As I said to a guy who believes that “society” is responsible for the ills that man devises. His example was a drug dealer, who is arrested and goes to jail. He said:
I think that this is the mentality that keep our prisons full. If we keep putting the drug dealer in jail but don’t deal with a society that has an appetite for drugs, there will always be another drug dealer in an economy that produces no jobs.
My answer to him was this:
How is “society” guilty? The poor have always been with us. Any person who thinks it is okay to become a drug dealer, and blames society for his crimes, is making excuses for wanting to make a fast buck.
If “society” is to blame in any way, it is because we constantly tell people that the reason why they are poor is because the rich have all the money, and that it is the duty of the government to take care of them, that it is never their fault, and that it isn’t necessary for them to take responsibility.
Society should be hammering the idea of accountability, because positive things, as well as negative things, happen as a direct result of our efforts and actions.
If we tell a young man that he can become prosperous through hard work and education, that if he sets a goal, that is the first step in attaining it, that life isn’t fair, and that he is the master of his destiny, then more of those young men will do those things.
And this:
Question: Is it “society’s” responsibility to produce jobs? As James D-R says (see above), “society is a useful mental concept, but cannot be ‘guilty’ of anything, it cannot bestow anything.”
What we are trying to say is that individuals start businesses, and produce jobs. The drug dealer, even though it is illegal, has started a business, producing a job and an income for himself.
The concept of “society” is not useful, as it is too vague. By “society” do you mean government? Jobs are created, in a free society, by businesses created by individuals who are trying to improve their own lot in life, presumably doing something they enjoy, and providing goods or services to other individuals who want/need them. The purpose of a business is to make a profit – not to provide jobs. As a byproduct, jobs for other individuals are created.
The employees are responsible for making themselves desirable as employees. They do this by educating themselves, gaining experience, and demonstrating that they are honest and hardworking. In other words (see the poster at the top) “each individual is accountable for his actions”.
You keep saying that “society” is bad, but you haven’t said specifically what is bad, and how this specifically causes criminals to be criminals. After all, most people don’t commit crimes that cause them to be incarcerated. Are you saying that the drug dealer doesn’t know that he is committing a crime, or just believes that laws don’t apply to him, or thinks he won’t get caught? Are you saying that he shouldn’t be put in jail, because somebody else “made him do it”?
I’m not saying that you and I should not care about others and their plights, but it is still the individual who must save himself, perhaps with a bit of help from friends and neighbors. I am willing to give time and money to help someone who wants to succeed. I know, however, that I can’t do it for somebody else without their active participation. A man who believes he is a helpless pawn to “society” will never be as successful as the man who is aware and proud of his individuality and his personal successes.
James D-R added:
“A man who believes he is a helpless pawn to “society” will never be as successful as the man who is aware and proud of his individuality and his personal successes.”
True, AND he will feel beholden to those who give him false ‘help’ by eliminating the means for him to help himself and then re-gifting a lesser to him as a boon. This is the evil of collectivism and the harshness of “mercy”.
I don’t think that I (and a couple of others) ever got through, but you never know. He even went on to describe the Nazis as a “society” that was guilty. Sigh. In answer to that, James D-R said:
Was German society charged with war crimes? Was German society hung by the neck until dead? Were the babies Nazis as well? The Children? Were the Jews a part of society? One could argue they were, though oppressed. Were they part of society? Then do they share guilt as well?
If you cannot kill it. If it cannot speak and give a declaration of “I” the noun in question has no rights, no responsibilities, and no guilt.
Sometimes Facebook is a lot of crap and, sometimes, it is a salon filled with ideas.
In conclusion, Bill Whittle says:
Failure, hardship and setbacks are our companions on the roadway life. We must make them our friends, or they will be our mortal enemies. We can learn from what failure has to teach us, or we can go hide from them in a ditch for the rest of our lives.
I’ve lived in a ditch. It sucks. Get out there and fall down.
