To put the best spin on it, I will accept that both the Republicans and the Democrats want what is best for the USA and the future of our children. Where I get off is the way each is going about it. To understand what is going on, all you have to do is to look at your own children and your relationship to your own parents. When I was a kid and wanted something or to do something and I asked my Dad and he said "no". That was the end of it. It did not do any good to go and ask my Mother. She knew better than to commit to something that was against what my Dad said. Like most kids, I used the argument that, "all the other kids are going or have this or that". It didn't work. My Dad always said, "he didn't care what other parents did, this was the way it was going to be". Now have things changed since you were a kid? What your Dad and mine were doing was giving us "tough love". I even heard my grandmother telling one of her grand kids who she was giving a spanking to say, "this hurts me as much as it hurts you". At the time, I thought that his was all just talk, but now after having my own kids, I know what she meant and it was true. There are many times when a responsible parent has to say "no" and stick with it. The first think that happens is a flood of tears, but as a responsible parent, you know that you have to stick to your guns. You know that the decision that you just made is the right one for the kid that you love. This is what I mean by "tough love".
As a kid, we passed down cloths and even shoes as the older kids our grew them. It was never a question of style. It was a question of warmth and economy. We mostly had enough money to afford new cloths, but we knew that the old ones were just fine and had a lot of wear left in them. We did not go to second hand stores in those days because all the cloths they had were already worn out and all patched. Now when you go into a second hand clothing store, every thing looks almost new and is often the latest style. How did this happen? Why is there so much waste? Why do we and our kids seem to accept waste as just a part of life now? Why don't parents have the courage to say "no" to every new style that come down the pike? Do you think it is because they did not understand that their parents really loved them when the said "no"? Looking back now, do you really feel that the fact that your parents often said "no" to you that you have grown up stunted in some way? Do you feel that you are less prepared to deal with life as a result of not getting everything that you wanted? Do you think that the "tough love" that you got was bad? Hey, things have changed and changed in a big way and not for the better. We need a lot more "tough love" from Washington DC.
Watch what is going on in Washington DC right now and ask yourself if any of those people know what "tough love" is? I never saw anyone go hungry due to "tough love" nor did I see anyone cold due the lack of warm cloths. "Tough love" is a little like making yourself strong by lifting weights. All of us have to do a little more lifting and doing without if we ever expect to gain the strength that is needed to keep this place afloat for the future. Remember the glass house space simulation thing from a few years ago? They put this couple inside this self contained space chamber that had all these plants for food, ect. Did you notice that limbs would often break off the trees inside the place due to their own weight. No one expected this, but it was because there was no "wind" to flex the limbs to make them stronger. Even plants need "tough love" to function. Look at our schools and you will see more examples of the "slobbering love" that I am talking about. Isn't it interesting that the more we spend the worse the educational results? If we had been keeping our eye on the ball, we could have predicted exactly what has happened. It would have been no mystery.
Back to Republicans and Democrats. They need to be reminded of what "tough love" means. Keeping someone alive well beyond the point where all quality of life has ended is not real love, and we do it at great expense to society. Why? Not letting your kids eat candy is not cruel. It is responsible. We have become an over weight country by all measures, so providing less food to those who don't work is responsible and just good old fashion "tough love". I want to hear someone say the words "tough love" on the TV news one of these days. Most of the people who watch TV would have to go to their dictionary to find out what the words mean. That's the problem. Try changing the world by saying "tough love" at least once per day and see what happens.
