A little while ago, Obama took a lot of flak for this (H/T: Weekly Standard):
"I mean, there are a lot of things we can do," Obama said. "The way I think about it is, you know, this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft and, you know, we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last couple of decades. We need to get back on track."
Now combine that with this from ABC (via The Corner)
At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America.
“The one thing that we absolutely know for sure is that if we don’t work even harder than we did in 2008, then we’re going to have a government that tells the American people, ‘you are on your own,’” Obama told a crowd of 200 donors over lunch at the W Hotel.
“If you get sick, you’re on your own. If you can’t afford college, you’re on your own. If you don’t like that some corporation is polluting your air or the air that your child breathes, then you’re on your own,” he said. “That’s not the America I believe in. It’s not the America you believe in.”
Do you think that one is related to another? If being self-reliant is a bad thing, doesn’t that truthfully lead to conditions under which one would become "soft" – lazier, more indolent, and a sense that someone else will take care of things (and I’m not going to touch his unstated and wrong-headed premise that it is only Government that keep us from ‘being on our own" or being "painful")?
A simple example of why he is wrong.
The Eldest, a couple of years ago, called us up and said "I need some help!". Turns out, the landlord of the house that he and a couple of friends had been renting had been accepting their payments but not paying the mortgage – it was eviction time through no fault of their own. Of COURSE, we grabbed his stuff, loaded it up, and stuffed it into our house (I keep joking that his stuff is in every room of our house except my bedroom). Parents are and should be there for their children in times of need – that’s a given.
Well, we came to a rent agreement as it became obvious that he was not moving out soon; knowing that I’ve got a really bad back and limited physically in what I can do, we also agreed that part of the rent would be "labor in kind" for the things that I could do (but for which I would pay a high penalty later in pain).
To be truthful, it has been a hit or miss situation with…
…the "labor in kind" deal. I’d ask, he’d assent, but then the waiting would start. Don’t get me wrong, I much appreciated what he did for once he gets going, he is a real hard worker and pays attention to details. But his timing was not always my timing, and I fell into the trap of "well, he said he was going to do it – I will hold him to it" instead of just picking up the necessary tools and trying to do the deed in my miserable capability.
Well, he’s temporarily living elsewhere for the time being and I was finally confronted was that I had become dependent on him. True, I had thought about it for a while – "Hey, he’ll get around to it". That said, it truly was a case of getting slapped in the face with "my son, he will take care of me and my needs." A CLASSIC case of dependency.
So on Monday, I grabbed the broom and cleaned the driveway of leaves, twigs, and branches. Then raked the front lawn and then cleaned the driveway again (if you know my house, this is obvious). And yes, I paid the price. It was painful – all the rest of the afternoon, the evening, and into yesterday morning. It is no fun getting old and stuff stops working right.
But there is a smile on my face – I have taken the first steps in taking my burdens and my responsibilities around the house back (even as they kill my back) and made them mine instead of his. I am not dependent on him – simply only on what this bod can do (or not). A tiny, almost insignificant example, but one I needed to relearn. At the risk of sounding like one of those "touchy-feely" moments, it does feel good. And right. Being self-reliant also means being responsible for myself, my family, and my friends – a valuethat Progressives all want us to outsource to others with their insistence that only Government is the answer.
Self-reliance. President Obama is wrong in categorizing it as a bug – it is a Feature! Even as says that we are getting "soft", he denigrates one character value that would make us strong.
Now, how am I going to move that dead 27" CRT style from the second floor to the garage…..where’s that heating pad again? And I still gotta go rack the bigger BACK lawn now too….
Yeah, this self-reliance may get to be a pain in the a** back, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
