*NIXEDBLOG 3.0

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG 3.0

I snickered all throughout 2008.  I kept hearing and reading that hope and change was coming to America.  Hope for what?  What was going to be changed?  Those were the questions I kept asking myself.  2009 came and went.  Was there hope?  Was there real change?  Wait a minute here…

Why do we as citizens of this country keep relying on a nameless faceless entity that sees the individual as a mere number to solve our problems for us?  It makes no sense to me.  It also puzzles me how one blogger can equate a police department and fire department with socialism.  Mind you, they are advocating for more socialism in this country, but when one implies that such things are socialistic in nature, it does cause me some confusion.  The concept of public safety has existed way before the word socialism was a part of anybody's vocabulary.  There is a big difference between a county level and the national level.  Also, some fire departments are ran by volunteers, meaning they aren't paid for the work they do.  This brings up the next point of this post.

Elements of socialism, in which sharing of resources is deemed mandatory, may work in a small group setting, but it will fail on a national scale.  This is due to the fact that not everyone is for sharing of said resources.  When it comes to sharing, caring, and helping other people, it only works when others want to, not when they have to.  Case in point: Ken Starks was recently offered several computer systems that impoverished kids could use.  The problem is that he needs resources to cover fuel costs (and needed parts) so that he can service them.  Now, if the entire state of Texas were to mandate that every citizen help his group out, there would be plenty of people who would be very upset.  That is an example of forcing good deeds to be done.  That is why he has simply asked that people help out if they want to.  When I volunteered for something, I felt very good doing it after the fact.  When I'm told I have to, that good feeling just isn't there.

True hope and change doesn't involve politicians vying for votes.  It involves individuals deciding that they don't like what they see and actually choosing to do something positive about it.  This can include teaching somebody to read or introducing somebody to a computer for the very first time.  In other words, things work better when people do them because they want to, not because they have to.  That is the essence of true hope and true change.