Many people who are 60 and older were brought up to be self-reliant, and disciplined. If we spoke out of turn in school, we could be scolded or given corporal punishment. Many people my age will remember the board of education applied to the seat of learning. When we played sports only one team got a trophy. That was the first place team. Awards meant something. At the end of the baby boom in the early ’70s, more people wanted a job than there were jobs. If a worker did not pull their weight in the office or factory, another eager new worker would replace them.

In 2010 to 2016 I was working at a call center for a large corporation with a strict adherence policy. If you came in late to work or missed a day, you got a partial to full point depending on how late you were. After 8 points you were fired. It was simple. There were exceptions for FMLA. The Union would not defend anyone fired for pointing out. One of my managers and I were talking, and she said adherence to the schedule was the hardest thing to enforce on the team. I asked why. Several workers told her that if they got fired, they could go on government assistance and get nearly what the company was paying them.

LBJ under the guise of the equal rights movement destroyed the family unit in many communities. By expanding the Welfare State he and the Democrats gave with a small finger and took with both hands and a foot from the lower rungs of the economy. By destroying the nuclear family, the government became the parent and provider. As the old saying goes “Eat my bread; do my bidding.” With no need to earn a living there is little incentive to go to work. That is human nature. LBJ is purported to have said, and I paraphrase “I’ll have them voting democratic for the next 200 years” It seems he is right.

With a safety net to keep you from starving. Why work? When the settlers came to this country, we had no government programs for those who fell on hard times. The churches and synagogues provided some help to its members. But everyone was expected to provide for themselves and their family. There will always be someone who needs a hand up. There will still be people that want a hand-out. We need the government to scale back all of the regressive anti-family policies. Let the chips fall where they may.

The free market is the ultimate equalizer. Without discriminatory laws and policies, everyone has an equal shot at the brass ring. To succeed in any free market, a person has to identify a need of the community and then fill that need at a fair price. The more people they help, the more they will earn. There are many stories of people who went from rags to riches this way. It takes hard work and the right timing. It is being prepared to take advantage of a situation when it presents itself.

Merit-based actions lead to everyone being better off. An unrestrained free-market gives everyone an equal start; not an equal outcome. If all results were universally equitable, I would be the starting goalie for the Manchester United football team, or I would have the pole position at the Indy 500. Those two things are not likely to happen in this reality. Those positions are merit-based. The people who are there have earned the right to be there.

They had a work ethic to go out and get the training and the discipline to work at the skill to make it on the team. The people who did not make the team or have success handed to them will say those people were "just lucky." Luck was defined by one of my teachers as the point when preparedness and opportunity meet. Prepare by learning a skill and then look for the chance to use that skill. Perfect the skill or talent as you work. Decide to be better than you are. Run the race against yourself; no one else matters.

When someone tells you; you have no opportunities remember there are always people with some needs. Find those needs and provide a solution for them at a fair price with a reasonable profit. That is the way to success. Being too proud to do something is the path to failure. The old saying holds "Pride goes before the fall."

Don't be too proud to help someone even if it means getting your hands dirty in the process.