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How To Be Kind and Cruel

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408

 

A friend of ours recently underwent knee surgery. She said it was so painful, that if she knew it would be so bad, she would rather wait a few more years, until she could not function without it anymore.

After surgery came physical therapy. It felt like torture, every day, and with no mercy. Pushing to the limit, when you cry, and when sweat is all over you…

You can’t take it anymore but they push you, there is no way out, you got to do it…

This is the only way to make her knee working. So doctors and nurses are freaking cruel to her for her own good. She knows it. She knows that they can’t do it for her, she has to do it, and that mobility will come as a result, and she would dance again…

Isn’t it the same with entitlements? Getting back to normal life means a lot of effort, exercise, going through pain. And if you do not do it, you may not get back your life, your independence.

So why is it that doctors and nurses understand it and our politicians don’t? Why doctors and nurses would torture you for your life, for your own good, but with entitlements, we would just give freebies and not make people push hard to rebuild their lives?

There was a work requirement for welfare recipients, a weak one, but current administration removed even it. Is it because of the value of unrestricted welfare for the government, as making happy slaves is a sure way to get the votes?

What is the motivation of people on welfare with food stamps and Medicaid to really work hard to change it? But now, since they become handouts junkies, you have all their votes as long as you keep feeding them… And these are angry votes from angry people. There is no happiness there. And they need more, as more is better…

You start feeding a bear, and the bear would forget about looking for food in the woods, and would be in your backyard…

Don’t we see how it destroys the lives of the very people it is supposed to help? Don’t we know that the best help is pushing people and forcing them to work, to reintegrate into the workforce, not to let them get used to freebies? And please, do not tell me that the unemployment is so high and people can’t find jobs. Because if this was the case, we would not have had this problem with illegal immigrants. We have plenty of things that welfare recipients can and should do.

If there is a muscle that is not trained, it becomes weak and dies.

Many, who are not working and who are not forced to work – wouldn’t. Is it because we, unlike doctors and nurses, would rather buy them misery, lock them in poverty, than be cruel? Cruel for their own sake…

What about choosing a surgeon as our next President?

Margaret Goss
@Properties - Winnetka, IL
Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate

You and I understand that - but as you clearly state - 

 as making happy slaves is a sure way to get the votes?

most of these programs do cause people to become dependent on the government, and in turn, on the politicians that promote entitlements.

Oct 25, 2012 12:02 AM
Fernando Herboso - Associate Broker MD, & VA
Maxus Realty Group of Samson Properties - Clarksburg, MD
301-246-0001 Serving Maryland, DC and Northern VA

I actually felt the pain when I started reading your post. .I have an MRI later today and surgery possible next week,

As far as your analogy, I'm not sure if I agree . . .there is collective responsibility where we are today. . no one in particular  is the blame . .we all are.. .  should we just ignore hungry kids and just  tell them tough luck? They are bad people that abuse the system. .they need a lesson. .but not at the expense of a kid that does not eat when there is no school that day. . 

That bear you talk about. . has cubs

Oct 25, 2012 12:21 AM
Than Maynard
Coldwell Banker Heart of Oklahoma - Purcell, OK
Broker - Licensed to List & Sell - 405-990-8862

If bear is taught to forage instead of accepting a handout then the cubs learn from the mother bear, right? What are the cubs learning? Certainly no 'work ethic'.

Lets go back to 'earning' assistance.  Instead of sitting at home getting a check, make them work. Yes, there are kids, but it would still be cheaper over the long haul to provide free daycare than let the parents(s) sit at home and get money for nothing.

If the kids never see mom or dad going to work why would you expect them to work?

Oct 25, 2012 12:31 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Margaret - the truth of the matter is that slaves are never happy. Socially, when you have a lot of them, it is bad for the nation

Growing this number helps politicians to be elected, but growing this number eventually ends in violence, ends in Greece

Oct 25, 2012 12:42 AM
William J. Archambault, Jr.
The Real Estate Investment Institute - Houston, TX

Jon,

I’ve been there.

Allot of Doctors and Nurses are like those on welfare, just after all they can get.

This is not an all inclusive observation, it’s just that we remember the bad ones longer than the good.

We also need to remember there are those that are using welfare as a stepping stone out of their problems, they’re just harder to remember.

Also remember there is a whole industry feeding off the entailment crowd, looking down their noses at them while buying their votes. Preaching hate and class envy. They are trying to keep in power the first of next month.

Bill

Oct 25, 2012 04:08 AM
Karen Fiddler, Broker/Owner
Karen Parsons-Fiddler, Broker 949-510-2395 - Mission Viejo, CA
Orange County & Lake Arrowhead, CA (949)510-2395

I'm with you....sometimes the only way to the other side is through it. Good analogy also, we have to create a new normal and get rid of what is holding us back.

Oct 25, 2012 05:18 AM
Steven Cook
No Longer Processing Mortgages. - Tacoma, WA

Jon -- as William (#5) mentions - there is the huge bureaucracy (both federal and state) that feeds off the entitlement groups by being the ones who process the claims, provide the checks, etc.

Oct 25, 2012 06:46 AM
Jill Sackler
Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc. 516-575-7500 - Long Beach, NY
LI South Shore Real Estate - Broker Associate

I like your expression, "handout junkies." You really told them, Jon, and I agree with you. Everyone in my family, including my 3 kids, was working by the time he/she was 12 or 13. We've always been a working class family with a strong work ethic.

Oct 25, 2012 02:01 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Fernando - that bear has cubs, and it is the responsiibility of the bear to provide for them.

People make babies, and they have the responsibility to take care of the babies. If they don't others do, but they force the parents to work and take use that money to provide for their children. If they don't, they can be locked up.

We tend to forget tat our responsibility is to tell peple how to fish, but not bring fish on the plate to them. Because this is very contagious, I mean placing our responsibilities on others.

Do you know why IRS scares people? because what you owe them does not usually and magically disappear. They know what you owe them and they will collect, or they can lock you up.

Knowledge that your responsibility does disappear would wrok magic. Nobody need explaining the benefit of working, when they know that starving is the only other option. But promise free food, and now you can talk till you die.

Oct 25, 2012 02:16 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Than - absolutely. There is tons of things they can do. make them work for food and room. Give the opportunity to rise instead of luring them to live in poverty.

Oct 25, 2012 02:17 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Bill - are there people who went through that and have made it to independence and living on your own. Of course. But as system, it does not really encourage them. You do not encourage by minimizing the handout. It just makes people used to it and make a few bucks on the side and keep the status quo.

The system failed to move them out of the system, it sucks them in. And it is not just unfortunate, it is dangerous for the society.

If this is the payof for the rest of us living better life, it shouldn't be. There is nothing wron in being successful, being stable, and we do not pay off those who often have chosen to be less lucky. How often it is not about luck?

 

Oct 25, 2012 02:22 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Karen - i think we developed a false sense of guilt. Guilt for what we have, because there are those who don't. And we are trying to pay our way out.

I think it should be about responsibility, and we should not feel guilty, but rather insist that they take charge of their lives, and get out of this system, that makes them dependents.

Oct 25, 2012 02:24 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Steven - yes, Bill and you bring this excellent point. Sucking more people into the cycle of dependancy and poverty is a very profitable business in itself, both economically and politically

Oct 25, 2012 02:26 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Jill - strong work ethics is what we need, not handouts. Maybe we are setting the wrong goals.

Oct 25, 2012 02:27 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Ha!  I was going to point out a sign at EVERY national park which admonishes us not to feed the animals as they will expect regular freebies and will no longer forage for themselves, eventually forgetting how.

Then I read the line about the bear.

Great post Jon.

Oct 25, 2012 08:45 PM
Ted Baker
Carmody and Associates LLC - Winter Haven, FL
MidFloridaMediation.com

Hi Jon... an excellent cautionary tale. 

Several of your commenters hit the nail on the head.  The politician is not creating a program to help anybody.  He (or she) is buying votes and trying to stay in office. 

It is a subtle corruption that is now everywhere - in both parties. 

But I am more confident that Mitt Romney will be a leader and cause some of the tough choices to be made.  He is enough of a business man to understand the hole we are in and to know intuitively that we must first stop digging.  Paul Ryan certainly knows the questions and some of the answers.  I have been writing blog posts about Ryan and his budget proposals including entitlements for five years now.   

 

Oct 25, 2012 09:23 PM
Mitchell J Hall
Manhattan, NY
Lic Associate RE Broker - Manhattan & Brooklyn

 The system failed to move them out of the system, it sucks them in. And it is not just unfortunate, it is dangerous for the society.

But you support a candidate and a VP candidate (sponsored the bil) that want to take reproductive responsibility away from a woman to choose, to plan parenthood and to control birth. They want to amend the constitution to define a fertilized egg "Personage Act" as a human being.

Because they know when life begins because they're smarter than the average bear. HA! How stupid is that?

Oct 25, 2012 11:52 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Mitchell - never heard that average bear and even an exceptional one can terminate pregnancy...

Oct 26, 2012 12:44 AM
Mitchell J Hall
Manhattan, NY
Lic Associate RE Broker - Manhattan & Brooklyn

reference to Yogi Bear an American cartoon. Sorry you missed  the meaning

It means that even though you may not be a genius, you are still smarter than the average man bear in the street. Like Yogi Bear!

Romney Ryan and their ilk are living in another famous Hanna Barbera cartoon "The Flinstones" a modern stoneage family.

Oct 26, 2012 12:51 AM