I’ve spent the last several posts
discussing and reminiscing of easier times in the prior couple decades. Well,
easier times depending on how you think based upon when you entered this world.
When did things start getting this bad?
What do I speak
of by “wussification of America”?
I speak of this
generation of kids raising kids as spineless, babied cowards.
I speak of the
fact that too many people are looking for a handout or not willing to work for
their earnings; of those who expect the handouts to get bigger each time and
throw a fit when they do not.
I speak of those
who have lost their jobs as CEO’s or corporate bigwigs in the declining economy
and have exhausted their unemployment benefits because they refuse to accept a
job with an income no less than that of a millionaire.
I
speak of neighbors running to the phone to dial 911 instead of being friendly
and communicating with others in their neighborhood when there is a problem.
I
speak of the increasing divorce rate and lack of communication among families.
The secrets and cheating and just tossing their partner aside over small things
instead of working through their issues.
I
speak of the diminishing respect and values displayed by the future adults of
society.
Kids
having kids is an issue all in itself. I saw a slideshow online recently of
America’s youngest parents. Some of these kids were only 13-15 years old! But
yes, kids are raising theirs as spineless babied cowards because they have not
grown up themselves prior to considering reproducing. They are not mature
enough to handle the responsibility so they baby their children because the
parents are babies themselves, which brings me right into the next fact.
I
think one of the reasons society has gone to hell is due to the influx of those
who expect the government or others to support them. Those who reproduce just
so they can get BadgerCare and food stamps and child support because they do
not care that they have six kids under 8 with five different daddies; they just
expect not to have to work because they know how to swindle the system. And
they cannot tell me that they are unable to find a job. I assisted a single
mother of 4 the other day with job hunting and within 3 hours of being out
there (not including drive time) she had two interviews scheduled and one job
offer, and a handful of applications to fill out. There are consequences to
actions and if those choices resulted in new life entering this deranged
society, you had better be prepared.
When
I saw that beginning July 1st this year, three counties in southeast
WI are requiring those receiving FoodShare to either work at least 20 hours per
week or be enrolled in a job search program, I could not have been happier. It
will become mandatory state-wide as of Jan. 1st, 2015. When did this
STOP being a requirement? I was homeless in Jan. 2004 and staying at a homeless
shelter. One of the first things we had to do was go apply for FoodShare
because that automatically enrolled us in the job search program through the
Job Center. They required a minimum of 10 job contacts per week (applications
turned in or interviews/follow-ups) and related classes until at least 20 hours
of work a week was obtained. It was a requirement then… what’s changed in the
last 10 years?
What
has turned us into such a lazy society? Are the government handouts that good
that nobody wants to work anymore? Yes, I understand that you need
transportation to get to work to get money to obtain that transportation. I got
to work AND school for two years via foot, bicycle, and bus. 7 miles one way.
Once my transportation failed and I could no longer get to work, I relocated to
a place where I could utilize public transportation. So nobody can tell me it
cannot be done. Laziness is the only reason (excuse) it could not be done.
Same
was the case when the economy crashed and corporations were shut down. Those
employees were able to receive unemployment benefits… until they ran out. Even
after a couple of government-funded extensions, many of those people were still
not working. Why? Because they refused to find ANY job to make ends meet or to
attempt to get there; they wanted a job of equal or more pay.
When
I was on unemployment for the necessary times I needed to be, if I or an
employer reported that I refused a job offer, there was an entire blown out
investigation and it would be two or three weeks before I received a check
again. I swore my whole life that I would never work in fast food but I ended
up working at a Dairy Queen part-time for three months and continued seeking
employment until I found a better job. Apparently these bigwigs thought they
had it so good and would not settle for anything less. That’s pathetic. Do you
really need that $400/month car payment and the $250/month cell phones and the
mansion in a gated community to survive? No. Oh, maybe that’s why nobody is
neighborly anymore.
Scanner
pages have been popping up on facebook recently. These are pages or groups
where someone posts the calls that come across the police scanner and leave
open for social media discussion. Some of the calls are pretty ridiculous. But
what happened to the days where if you had an issue with a neighbor, it was
resolved with a simple knock on their door or a phone call? The days where
everyone knew who was who, and we could leave our doors unlocked, and neighbors
looked out for each other?
I
see it frequently on the scanner pages: one person calls the police on their
neighbor over something that could probably simply be solved with a quick visit
instead of police intervention. But no, this is where the spineless, babied
cowardice comes into play. Are you afraid your neighbor will answer the door
with a rifle in your face? Unlikely. Communication is key. If my neighbors have
their music blasted and are keeping me awake at 2 a.m., I am going to go knock
on their door and nicely ask them to keep it down. The police are not needed
unless I am aware of illegal activity occurring. If they punch me point blank,
well then I will have a black eye and they will go to jail.
But
these days a person would rather grab the phone from the night stand and make a
quick, anonymous phone call without even getting out of bed. Laziness. Why
don’t people care to be friendly and neighborly anymore? Hating your neighbors
just makes for unnecessary stress in what is supposed to be one’s safe
haven.
And
again, communication within the home (or more lack of it) is what keeps the
divorce rate so high. Why do couples feel the need to cheat and keep it a
secret? What happened to “for better or for worse, til death do us part?” Are
those words no longer sacred? Some of the questions that come into The Dear
Mike Page on facebook I just cannot believe. Dear Mike is a community advice
column that can get pretty interesting in the questions and responses from the
followers. I just cannot believe the amount of questions posted regarding
relationships that can all be solved with some communication among the couples.
Many are adult-oriented so I will not sum them up here, but come on now. It
seems the norm these days is keeping one until the other does something they do
not like, then toss them aside and move on to the next. I guess I just do not
understand this mentality, since I
am one of the few people I know whose parents are still married… yes, to each
other.
All
this has also diminished the respect and values of our “children raising
children” society. The young adults who are raising these overprotected,
bratty, respectless, gimme, gimme, gimme children are not making the future of
America any better. It does not help that parents are too afraid to discipline
their children out of fear of being charged with child abuse. Without
discipline, there is no respect. I was scared of my mama without her ever putting
her hands on me, so one cannot tell me that discipline only comes in the form
of beating your children. And you know what? I have respect for her and my
elders.
I
have witnessed this recently, and close also. I have been out with family
members who have children. In the first instance, the 4 year old told her
mother what she was going to do prior to doing what her mother told her to. Oh,
hell no… I put that kid right on her sitter and made her sit and think about
it, while lecturing her about respect and her attitude. In the other instance,
I had a 2 almost 3 year old climbing on the table and I told her to get down
and sit on the other side of the table. The child told me “no” but she was in
MY house. And you bet I put that child right in her place. I picked her up off
the table and set her in the chair where I told her to sit and let her scream.
I did not hurt the children in any way either time, and had permission from the
parents in both instances, but this is what I mean. Or parents tell their children
to do something once, twice, three, four times and the kid ignores them and
eventually the parent gives up and ends up doing it themselves. How does a
child learn? I will tell you how they learn… they learn how to get away with
disrespecting their parents and this is exactly where the lack of respect
begins. I saw a Dear Mike question posted a couple of days ago from what
appeared to be a parent about how she cannot control her 14 year old son and
she was wondering what amount of allowance to give him for doing simple tasks
such as taking a shower. THIS is the
future of America… the people who will be taking care of us when we grow old.
Although with this kind of outlook, I am betting our kids will not want to care
for us when we are old. They will just want whatever they can get and take it
and run… because that is all they know, right?
This
is what I mean by the wussification of America. Why are we all living in such a
paranoid society? Is the media to blame for glorifying violence in their news
broadcasts? Is the economy to blame because so many have lost their jobs and
willing to sink to any level to obtain necessities to survive instead of
getting off their lazy butts and finding a job, even if it is less than they
were making prior? Is it because this “bullying” thing has been blown way out
of proportion? Everyone I know, including me, was bullied as a kid and it
taught us all how to stand up and defend ourselves,
not run home cryin’ to our
mamas and consider suicide. Babies raising babies. As mentioned above.
Maybe
this is the reason I like being “old school”. Because I respect others and
refuse to live so paranoid and uptight that I miss out on enjoying and living
my own life. I believe in working for what you want and earning it, not taking
it by force or criminally or expecting it to be handed to me. And if the day
ever arrives that I do decide to bring a new life into this corrupt world, I
will ensure they have the respect and work ethic that this generation is
severely lacking.
