Priorties

Apparently my son isn't the only one with skewed priorities. It seems that most of our Federal government does, too. Now they're talking about giving grants to Iraqi businessmen to start new businesses.

I have no problem with giving people a hand up. Iraq needs a strong economy to survive, and right now they're importing a lot of stuff from Iran. If they start making their own stuff, their economy grows and Iran's doesn't, and that looks like a win/win to me. Why, though, do we need to give grants to start businesses? Why not make it easier for them to import US goods once they open their shops? We're going back and forth anyway! Throw some extra cargo on the planes, for pity's sake. Shoot, if the stuff they eventually manufacture is good quality, we could import their goods, too. They've got to be safer than what we're getting from China.

This wouldn't stick in my craw if that bridge in Minneapolis hadn't collapsed. Lawmakers are wringing their hands, whining, "We didn't know the infrastructure wouldn't last a century without maintenance! Where are we going to get the money to fix all these bridges?"

That attitude annoys me when my kids do it, but it annoys me more when adults do it. This nation was build on the blood and sweat of people who knew that if you want something good, you have to make it happen. You can't expect other people to pass by and make your dreams come true for you. A lot of people died making this country what it is, and I'm not including those who died in war. I'm talking about those who died coming across the ocean to settle here, or who got cholera on the Oregon trail. People died from broken bones and illness, and they died young from working so hard to eke out a living from untamed land. We've come so far, and now, in times of plenty, people have forgotten what work is. We take what we have for granted, and we think we're helping others by giving hand-outs, but we're just really not. What's it going to take to get our pioneer spirit back?