Settling for Mediocrity

As I watched the results of the elections pouring in last night, and woke up this morning, it was very clear we are in a different America. It is becoming increasingly clear by the results of last night, that we are in a country that applauds and celebrates mediocrity and punishes achievement. We are in a country that the harder you strive to get ahead, the more you are going to be taxed and beaten back down. We are in a country where working hard and becoming wealthy is a bad thing and therefore you must now support the person who isn't willing to work hard to get ahead. We are in a country where 1 in 7 people (47 MILLION) rely on food stamps, and there is little to no incentive to get off of them. We are in a country where you can have food stamps, medicaid and even TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and still have an iPhone, Nike shoes and drive an expensive car. We are in a country where the fight has been taken out of the dog and it is rolling over and asking for it's belly to be scratched, it's food bowl to be filled and it's bed to bed soft and flea free. We are a nation of entitlement not betterment.

There's an example of this that has been discussed frequently. The example goes like this:

You are sitting in a classroom and working your tail off to get good grades so
you can go to college and have a good life. You are getting straight As at this
point in your schooling. You are tired, overwhelmed but feeling hopeful and
determined. Next to you sits a student who goes home everyday and plays
video games instead of study. He too hopes to go to college, but he is more
interested in the feelings of the moment than the future. He is failing his
classes, but he still expects to go to college, somehow.

The teachers decides that they are going to start normalizing all the grades.
All students tests will be graded and then everyone will be given the median
grade for the test. The A student does his thing, stays up late, studies hard and
gets an A. The other student does his thing, plays his video games, parties
with his friends, hangs out at  the mall and fails. The class is graded and all the
 students get a C on the test. The top student feels frustrated and defeated. The
bottom student feels exuberant that he got a C.

The next test comes along and the top student decides it's not worth it to study
so hard. He now gets a B on the test. The failing student still does what he
does. The grades are normalized and all the students how get a D. The top
student is extremely upset with this process. The bottom student is still excited
cause he still passed and did nothing for it to happen.

The next test comes along and the top student gives up. There is no reason to
study at all if he is likely to fail anyways. He decides to just take whatever the
teacher gives out. The grades are normalized and all the students now get an F.
The entire class fails and is weakened.

The object of the story is that as we take from the top to give to the bottom, what is the incentive for the top to continue to work so hard? They won't reap the benefits of their hard work. Those benefits are normalized and given to those who refuse to put in the work. The top start to not push as hard, not fight so much and eventually, everyone finds themselves dependent on a failing system. The top, by giving up, no longer are paying the high taxes, which are needed to fund things like education, road construction projects, and every other tax based project. The entire nation suffers!

After the election was over last night, I posted a comment that said "OBAMA WON!!! OBAMA WON!!!! I'm so excited! I don't have to work anymore! Obama's going to pay my rent! Obama's going to buy my food! I'm getting me an Obamaphone!!!! WOOHOO!!! I'm never going back to work again!!! No more responsibility for me! YES! Life just got EASY!!!!!"

                                    


I really upset a lot of people. One 'friend' ended up deleating me this morning after mentioning it on her own page and having someone say that 'sometimes they just don't understand' and 'some people are so closed minded. You just have to pray for them'.  I understand far more than this person thinks I understand. I understand struggle and I also understand working hard to overcome the situation. While I was half joking last night, I was also quite serious. If you take a look at YouTube, there quite a few videos of people saying the exact same thing I said! People who have found that it's easier to live off the government than work for themselves. Here's just a couple of them:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGLB8LO1aM

Instead, how about we start to find creative ways to empower that lower section to rise up. Give  incentives. Currently there are no incentives  to work harder. They are given the 'grades' based on  non-performance. Empower the lower sections of our culture to better themselves, go back to school, get their GED and Associates degrees. Empower them to further their education. I'm 100% for putting more money into education and higher education. While going through school, help with their food and health insurance, but give a way to get off of these programs. I can speak from experience on this that it is hard to get off assistance once on it. While going to chiropractic school with my large family, I qualified for $1000 a month for food! It is encouraged that students not work while going to any sort of post-grad program so this is a way to help with that. After graduating, it was a major struggle to overcome $1000 of 'free food'.  Where in the budge would I pull that money from? Shoot, that might mean giving up cable or down grading my cellphone from an iPhone to basic service. Heck no! It's easier to lower my income a bit, keep my $1000 of 'free food' and keep all my luxuries.  The system was NOT set up to be this way and we need to find a way to help people who are ON 'the system' get OFF 'the system'. 

As we awoke this morning, we are divided. Roughly 50% of the nation supported each of the candidates. We are split down the middle. We need to stop settling for mediocrity. We need to challenge the status quo. We need to empower the lower classes, not so they can feel entitled to more, but to raise them up to level of contributing citizens. We are only as strong as our weakest link and when 47 million people are on food stamps, we are no longer strong. We are a nation that is government dependent. We are entitled not empowered. We are emaciated as a nation instead of emancipated. We are in need of unification, not more division. 

So Where DO we go from here?

As we move forward, I challenge you to raise the status quo in your own life. Step up and do your very best in everything you do. Don't accept mediocrity, not from yourself, not from your local government, not from your federal government. Stand close with your elected officials and push THEM forward to success. Pray for them. Hold them accountable to the standards they say they are going to follow. A house divided can not stand. We are divided and we need to work to find ways to stand together. This goes for BOTH parties, all races and religions.  Find your brother and come along side him. Nudge him along in love and empower him to greatness. We were ALL designed for it and we all have the same opportunity to achieve it.