This is why I hate that phrase "give back". Commonly used to indicate doing something to benefit a community, it translates to be like an entitlement by and to society. An obligation, as in "what are YOU doing to ‘give back’?". After all, you owe us. Yet, I thought we were a "free people"!
Not according to Elizabeth Warren! She was supposed to be ‘Bam’s head selected head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (you know those Progressives, have to protect "their children" who can’t make their way in the world; here, take Daddy Govt’s hand). In the FRONT of her Progressive / Socialist mind lives that normally "back of the head" sense of obligation to society, and that on steroids. No, it is not that you HAVE to "give back" at some point but that Society gets to TAKE back and that extends to any credit for your success – and she gets shrill about it (added emphasis by me):
Below is a transcript of Warren’s remarks:
“I hear all this, you know, ‘Well, this is class warfare, this is whatever. No. There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody.
“You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did.
“Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless — keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
Now, I have no problem in doing what used to be called a "civic duty" or even a "civic responsibility". I have, at times, been a volunteer swim coach at a Boys’ Club, doing community work while in Christian Service Brigade (think an explicitly Christian form of Boy Scouts), different service programs when in college, TMEW & I have been active in church positions, and am now an elected official in my town (a voluntary position – there is no pay, not even a stipend). All of it down because:
- I liked doing what I was doing at the time and had fun at it
- I recognized that others, while I was growing up, did the same for me
- It kept me out of other trouble.
At no time, however, did I ever feel that it was an obligation upon me other than whatever sense of "obligation" I put upon myself. Never did I feel that I was expected to do any of this to feel like I was a ‘good citizen’, or worse, to be done just to be seen as such by others. It just "was" and never seen as a debt. I did these freely because I decided to, just as those that did such as I was growing up did the same – of their own free will. And never did I think to myself that they, or society, could lay claim to any success I have had (for trust me, I can easily say that most of the failures have been suffered alone). Don’t get me wrong – I am grateful for those that did the things they did as I was growing up. But just as they have NEVER made a claim on me, materially or otherwise, for any of my success, I will never insert myself into somebody else’s success that may have come about because of my efforts. I would be grateful to hear a ‘thank you’ but neither is it due or owed me – remember, I have done what I have simply because I wanted to and not because I wanted to feel entitled to demand something of someone else.
The bottom line of her premise (and by many in power here in NH and in DC) is that you don’t own your success; if anything, society owns a major part of whatever you have achieved. In fact, you are incapable of success without society. You aren’t successful individually – you may enjoy success but only because of us. You cannot do it by yourself – it isn’t that society sometimes contributed but that you need us. Your efforts count for little – Horatio Alger was a lie. After all, the rest of us paid for it. Is that a sense of reverse entitlement, or what?!
Translation: we are the Borg and you are but a cog. Individualism? Nope.
And this is one reason why they seem to have no shame in demanding more and more from those who have earned their success. As the Democrat Socialists say in their own papers concerning private property – oh wait, there is NOTHING concerning the Right to Private property in their statement of faith (e.g., "…we reject an international economic order sustained by private profit…")!
This partially explains their lack of reticence in claiming more and more in taxes from those that have succeeded – it shows they believe since that Society has preeminence in all things and is responsible for someone else’s success, THEY can speak for society and say "hey, you owe me us". And believeing that it isn’t yours anyways gives them the bald-faced ability to never answer the question of "How much" because they believe they should have it all! Ha, such a quaint, old fashioned notion you have there, that if you show up, work hard, you can achieve success and that what you have earned yours.
Problem is now, Progressives now have the new, dangerous notion that only they can determine who should be successful – and that has nothing to do with hard work and persistence.
