Tuesday, August 10, 2010

People Who ALWAYS Need Help

Are people who will always need help.

In a conversation with a woman, whose new home I was in the process of building, the topic turned to people who were paralytic or injured or maimed.
I mentioned that I knew; a guy with one leg who turned his home based casino into a legal computer gaming company, a woman paralyzed (for the second time due to car accidents) who owns a successful insurance company, a guy paralyzed from a fall who owns a successful construction company, a woman with one leg who owns a successful ticket brokerage company, a guy with one functional arm who owns an automotive repair shop, and on and on... .

But why do these people succeed where others with more use of their faculties fail?
Why do some let simple things such as gossip at the water cooler, the heat of the day or low pay hinder their success?
Are some people only able to prosper under the limited scope of optimal conditions?
Are others "hard-wired" with the adaptability required to succeed regardless of the conditions?
And can these traits be taught or learned?

My initial thought was that many from the hood could be taught to do better for themselves, if only given the resources and knowledge of those who live middle-class lives.
Maybe this is true but this change has to first come from within.
One must have the volition to change.
Such a change must be seen as being in ones best interest and follow the path of least resistance.
Such a change must either be accomplished by removing oneself from oppositional forces or be strong enough to overcome the inertia of the established memes, culture and traditions of these forces.

But at what cost?
And is that cost worth the result?
In many cases the basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, education and even medical care are met by our government.
Even with these ''needs'' being met, many still fail to remove themselves from the condition of being a member of the subjugated class.
Even if taught that work is the requirement for success, many still imagine that they are free and successful because they may have the same material goods as the middle or upper classes.
Many still buy a bootleg copy of an original luxury item before paying their bills and establishing good credit.
Appearing seems to be more important than being.
Many people who confuse 'class' with 'money' are those who have neither.

Much of what is spent in the form of government entitlements is wasted.
As an example; try filling a funnel with water.
How much water is wasted because the funnel is not built to hold water?
In the end, isn't there more water on the floor than in the funnel?
In the end, how much water does the funnel actually hold?

This is why government aid often fails.
Most of the people who require constant assistance would fail regardless of the conditions.
Most of those who succeed would succeed regardless of the conditions.
Maybe some people are meant to fail.
Maybe government assistance fails because it postpones the culling of weaker (and in turn, less desirable) individuals who cannot adapt to environmental, societal and/or economic hardships.

Most government assistance is wasted because it fails to reach those who would benefit.
Most of the money and resources are spread out so thinly that it becomes diluted to the point of being almost non-existent.
Most of those who receive such aid just see it as another resource and not as a temporary state.
Most government aid programs have taken over the responsibilities of the family, community or even church.
While I am not a Tea Party member I don't feel that is my legal responsibility to clothe, feed and educate those who should be doing so for themselves.

I know, I know...
I've said it before.
But this time I mean it.
I'm done trying to help people.
I'm done trying to fix the problems of those who created the conditions for these problems in the first place.
I'm done robbing these individuals of the character gained from these struggles by my assistance.
I'm done with giving resources to those who squander them on impressing those who don't matter to begin with.
I'm done.

6 comments:

Reggie said...

Excellent post!!!

The world will forever need ditch diggers and there will always be ditch diggers available.

FreeMan said...

Ok let's cut to the chase educating the kids to be smart is the best anyone can do to stop this problem. If you can't get to them early then you are asking the 5%ers to rise out of that group and they usually do with or without help...

Next, what makes someone keep fighting is that they won at one time or another. So when someone compares someone who made it out to someone who didn't you'll hear they tried this and it made money and they tried it again and again and again. What you are seeing is a lot of people who didn't have a winning moment and no one person or government can make a winner.

Next, the government is here to provide aid so people don't die not to make them great. The system works by having this underclass mass of people who feed at the trough. McDonald's would not make it if all of a sudden everyone was educated as they would stop eating shit that's not good for them. The system accommodates people because it keeps the system afloat. If everyone wore a rubber there wouldn't be STD's and thus no need for clinics or herpes cream.

Lastly, the government can take the problem as all these people are just a number the ones who can't take it are you because you actually live next door to them. Isn't it funny that the people who pay taxes don't want their tax dollars to go to these people instead of demanding the government be efficient and effective.

Overall you did what one man can do against the tide. Sure if there were 1 million of you together you would turn Texas around but since you guys are all individuals and usually don't like to be in groups because of all the politics you're the lonely guy on the beach picking up trash.

You're heart is in the right place but you keep exposing it to the elements instead of keeping it in your chest. Change is cold not warm and once we understand that and move accordingly things will change. If the government cut off aid the people would survive so is the solution appealing to the people or is it changing the structure?

brohammas said...

Sure, sometimes, some people, even a lot of people, just can't be helped. But...
IS it true that people can't be helped or is it that we are just doing a poor job in how we are trying to do it?
Govt. programs help plenty. I know lots of people who are on food stamps, kids on WIC, govt healthcare, most get lots of cash from the govt.
These people are all in Medical school.

There are outliers at both ends of the spectrum; spectacular success and spectacular failures, but most are in the middle somewhere.

I spent 8 months on unemployment. Were it not for that I would have been forced to take a more menial job to pay the bills, and the time and effort taken to do so would have prevented me from gaining the lavish lifestyle I now lead (insert sarcasm). I havent neaded a govt. check for over a year, have written the govt. three quarterly, and quite large, tax cheques, and I owe a large part of that to help from others... including the govt.

It is for some reason natural to judge actions meant to help by the lowest common denominator. Just because some are beyond help why would we assume helping is wrong?
Do we assume that because some are successful that they never had help?

Anonymous said...

Great post! Great comments! I agree!

KonWomyn said...

Wsup UBJ,
Yea, you can't stop helping because you're not built that way, neither is the universe. People are simultaneously givers and takers - for someone that you give to, there is always someone else you will take from knowing or unknowingly.

If tomorrow one of the cousins you helped makes it in life bec of the handup you gave 'em, you'll be blogging abt the joys of giving. Treat it like a business, that's what philanthro-capitalists like Warren Buffet do, that way you'll have targets to meet to measure whether your giving's been a success or not rather than feeling uncertain like this.

uglyblackjohn said...

@ Reg - Yeah... but many ditch diggers think that they should be paid like doctors.

@ FreeMan - Yeah... I'll probably be back at it again but with a slightly different twist.

@ brohammas - I said, "Those who ALWAYS need help...".
Everyone can benefit from help from time to time - but those who depend on this 'help' are those who don't often bother to do the work themselves.

@ desertflower - Thanks. (How are your treatments going?)

@ KayDub - I know...
I'm just trying to figure out how to get the most done with an acceptable loss.