Shrinkwrapped: "Those of us who play by the rules are increasingly made to feel like chumps. This is not a healthy development for our society's future.."
posted by Helen at 3:48 PM
Friday, August 13, 2010
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12 Comments:
Upholding what you believe, being honorable, faithful, forthright, respectful. These are all things that take effort. Sometimes a lot of effort. It's even harder when you attempt to practice them in an environment where many others are not.
It's always been this way and this article smacks of the old saw "Back in my day...". B.S. I see no evidence of "increasingly made to feel like chumps" and the article doesn't produce any.
Having scruples is harder than not having scruples. Welcome to the real world (as it ever was)
Don Quixote, guest blogging for Bookworm, is concerned about how much stress our system can take when the common assumption of trust erodes:
My wife grew up in the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship. She told me stories - confirmed by many Filipino friends - of the rampant corruption at every level of society. They had no trust because virtually every official from Marcos down to the town cop was corrupt.
I'm returning home from a business trip. In about an hour, I'm going to board another airliner for a 3 hour flight. During those hours, I'm literally putting my life in the hands of many people that I have to trust will do their jobs correctly, from the mechanics and linemen who serviced the plane to the crew that flies it and including the air traffic controllers who'll keep us separated from other planes. If any one of those people cuts one corner too many, you'll be reading about it tomorrow.
There is a lot of corruption in American society but to date it doesn't look like we've gone the way of the Philippines. That doesn't mean it can't happen here. We have to keep it from happening.
I see no evidence of "increasingly made to feel like chumps" and the article doesn't produce any.
Those of us who pay our bills and have paid off our mortgages are being made chumps. We could scam the system like countless others are doing. Those legal immigrants like my wife and her friends are being made chumps by those who insist on giving a free ride to those who entered the country illegally. Those of us who pay our taxes in full each year are being made chumps by the likes of guys like Rangel and Geitner who cheat on their taxes and still get high government jobs. Do I need to go on?
Those of us who pay our bills and have paid off our mortgages are being made chumps.
All your points are valid. My issue was with the term "increasingly", not that those who have scruples aren't impacted by those who don't.
Are these things more egregious than the poorly spent soldiers during Bush the Younger?
Worse than the excesses of the Clinton years?
The corruption of the Nixon years?
The soft pacifism of Carter?
The robbery of McCarthy?
I'm just saying the keening of "It's worse now than it was when I was younger" sounds like whining.
Being honorable is hard work. That's how it was yesterday, that's how it will be tomorrow. Part of your responsibility as an honorable person is to protect other honorable people and educate the dis-honorable that honor is the better path. Either because they finally take the long view and can enjoy it, or because being the dis-honorable in the face of the honorable is NOT where you want to be.
HMT indicates that it is hard and it has always been hard. That is true, but the situation is definitely worse today than it was 50 years ago. It becomes much more difficult when the level of societal support drops away as has happened drastically in the past 20 years especially.
Yes, people have always cheated on their taxes, their spouses, etc., but in the past it was not openly bragged about as it is today. It was done covertly, hidden, because it was done in shame. Today, the sense of shame has been taken away and now it is done in pride and the doer wants to brag about it. That makes it more difficult for the honorable person because the community support now goes to the dishonorable person, rather than to the honorable person. As a society, we shoot ourselves in the foot because we recognize and honor bad behavior.
It also makes it much more difficult to instill good values in young people when they see that good values are disregarded while misbehavior is rewarded and recognized. Again, society shoots itself in the foot.
The biggest chump making is the message that those of us who work, pay our taxes and support the rule of law should give as much of our country away to illegal aliens as the left deems.
TO: Larry J
RE: Depends....
Those of us who pay our bills and have paid off our mortgages are being made chumps. -- Larry J
....on your perspective.
Is is 'short term', as in this particular venue? Or do you take a 'longer view' of Life?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive.]
Most of the mostly corrupt forms of governance do this on purpose. By creating rules and laws which are selectively enforced, though in a draconian manner, they make everybody criminal. Those systems set aside rule of law and replace it with antipathy toward such systems and kill any interest in being obedient or lawful. It is corruption by design. And this particular government, from the lowest czar to the quota in chief is swimming in it.
I hope Americans do not go down that path. The only way not to do so is to fight, and hard. To group up and fight even harder. And to maintain a real and true respect for the rule of law. Though, we have been fighting a bad government since at least Bush, Sr. If we do not figure it out soon, we never will. It is a dark path if we fail, in every aspect of American life. Look to the lowest common denominators, the slums, for a vision of America without reliable, true, and functional rule of law.
It helps to have children, but maybe it doesn't help enough.
What keeps me honest and playing by the rules is that I must look my kids in the eye. I must tell them to grow up to be honorable, and that makes me honor bound to behave the same way.
Children are the hope. Young ones might scheme, lie, wheedle, rationalize, but you can see their drive and desire. My children are not quitters. There are others like me out there raising their children not to quit, not to cheat, but to behave with courage and honor.
There are others like me out there raising their children not to quit, not to cheat, but to behave with courage and honor.
I like to count myself among that group. But, I sure feel like a chump sometimes.
Long ago I spent quite a bit of time in a third-word s___hole. I always recall one very long conversation with a very insightful local fellow. I asked him to boil it down....why did they have so many natural resources and so much possibility yet so much poverty and discord?
He said, "there's no pill for corruption."
It spreads like a cancer.
One only has to look at the fact that women are excused crimes such as perjury, kidnapping, extortion and theft to know that there is no rule of law in any western country. I challened the 'so called good women' of the Irish Free Man Society to fairly and justly try my ex in a common law court for the crimes she committed. I proposed to present evidence and allow the 12 women of the jury to come to their own conclusions and issue their own remedy statment. In short I proposed that they meet their onerous obilgations of enforcing the common law and telling us men what their decision was. I only got 3 volunteers (with at least 200 adult female members) in 5.5 months. So I declared that the women had made themselves irrelevant and I will bring this case before 12 men.
One woman who did volunteer for that jury duty reported to me that she was abused by other women for even suggesting that trying a woman for crimes committed sounded like the right thing to do.
Western women consider themselves above the law. This is a very destructive thing. I am putting an end to it.
One only has to notice how women have abused me, up to and including calling for my death, even though I am an honest man of honour and integrity, who has committed no crimes, was a loving and faithful husband, dedicated and committed father and a 'model citizen' for more than 20 years. Women 'demand respect'. But do they show any when it has been earned by a man? No. They don't. They just want to dominate and control men. And many of us have had enough of it. The fact that ALL western women condone perjury as they will NOT convene common law courts to punish women who commit perjury, as they have an obligation to do, shows us men just exactly what western women think of us men. We are shit. We know you think of us like that. So we are quitting engaging with you. In rapidly increasing numbers.
I, personally, will not rest until every man who wishes to bring a case before a common law court for crimes committed against him by a woman, has had his day in court and justice is done and seen to be done.
Playing by the rules is laughed at by women. Well? Not for much longer.
Doom said...
"If we do not figure it out soon, we never will."
Doom, it has been 'figured out'. Not many people know of Sam Kennedy and the 'Restore America Plan'. In the US, right now, there is a titanic struggle going on. Sam and his fellow freedom fighters have re-constituted Grand Juries in each state and are working towards the quiet re-introduction of common law all across the US.
More here: http://guardiansofthefreerepublics.com/front-page.html
They need all the help they can get as it appears the PTB are making efforts to undermine this valliant approach. As you say. Failure will be bad.
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