“You didn’t build that”
President Obama at a recent campaign stop…“If you got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
In some respects the President is correct. I had parents and teachers that helped to mold and shape my life. We’ve all had help along the way. It could also be said that infrastructure helps businesses around the country. But where I think that Obama and the ever-growing foolish crowd in Washington are missing the mark (on both sides of the isle) is that without the hard work and toil of taxpayers there would be no government. Those roads, bridges and infrastructure President Obama referred to were not built by the government in reality; they were built by the people (and yes, especially business owners that pay a higher share of the tax burden). Many small business owners took offense to the President’s comments across the country.
It seems that more and more politicians would have you believe that you should be reliant on the government, when in all actuality, the government is reliant on the people. The growing consensus among politicians is not that Americans should get out and work hard to earn a living, but rather hold your hand out and rely more on the government to take care of your needs. I guess this type of logic accrues votes.
So what will happen when all people stop working hard? How will the government then operate?
The late Dr. Adrian Rogers was a pastor in Memphis, TN, who also served three terms as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. He offered the following during one of his many sermons, “You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the industrious out of it. You don’t multiply wealth by dividing it. Government cannot give anything to anybody that it doesn’t first take from somebody else. Whenever somebody receives something without working for it, somebody else has to work for it without receiving. The worst thing that can happen to a nation is for half of the people to get the idea they don’t have to work because somebody else will work for them, and the other half to get the idea that it does no good to work because they don’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.” When was this statement made? It was made in 1984; almost 30 years ago.
One of my core beliefs about the United States is that it was (and is) the hard work of Americans that made this country what it is today. It was the entrepreneurial spirit of the people. Let’s hope that in the future politicians can remember that it is not the government that makes this country great, but rather her people.
-Jamie Gardner
It seems that more and more politicians would have you believe that you should be reliant on the government, when in all actuality, the government is reliant on the people. The growing consensus among politicians is not that Americans should get out and work hard to earn a living, but rather hold your hand out and rely more on the government to take care of your needs. I guess this type of logic accrues votes.
So what will happen when all people stop working hard? How will the government then operate?
The late Dr. Adrian Rogers was a pastor in Memphis, TN, who also served three terms as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. He offered the following during one of his many sermons, “You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the industrious out of it. You don’t multiply wealth by dividing it. Government cannot give anything to anybody that it doesn’t first take from somebody else. Whenever somebody receives something without working for it, somebody else has to work for it without receiving. The worst thing that can happen to a nation is for half of the people to get the idea they don’t have to work because somebody else will work for them, and the other half to get the idea that it does no good to work because they don’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.” When was this statement made? It was made in 1984; almost 30 years ago.
One of my core beliefs about the United States is that it was (and is) the hard work of Americans that made this country what it is today. It was the entrepreneurial spirit of the people. Let’s hope that in the future politicians can remember that it is not the government that makes this country great, but rather her people.
-Jamie Gardner
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