I was born a poor black child...
WARNING - Conservative opinion to follow. I know that because when I voiced this opinion to an aquantence of a more liberal ilk, she said, "My, how Republican of you!", like it's a bad thing.
As I mentioned a mere two days ago, we weren't well off when I was growing up. My dad was an enlisted guy in the Air Force and we moved every 4 years. I spent kindergarten in Germany, 3rd through 6th grade in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 7th and part of 8th grade in Pennsylvania, the second half of 8th grade in the San Juaquin Valley of California before he retired and we moved for the last time, back to Pennsylvania, and I got to stay put for high school. There he got a government job, and things got a little better. Growing up, we made due a lot, but we were happy. There were many times I wanted things I couldn't have, but I survived. We always had a roof over our heads, but I remember not having enough clean school clothes in high school to make it through a week without washing.
It wasn't long into high school that I realized if I was going to college, it wasn't going to be on daddy's back, unless my ambition stopped at the community college level. It was going to be on something I figured out on my own. I will grant you that this realization required a bit of intelligence and ambition on my part, and God gave me the gift of having enough of those to get there. Still, I know other people can come to the same conclusion. Therefore I agreed to trade several years of my life for the education I wanted. I got a ROTC scholarship in return for agreeing to serve my country for four years. Then I had a lapse of really bad judgement when asked which branch of the service I'd like to join. I wanted to fly, and I thought, how cool, and how much more challenging would it be to learn to land on a moving boat. Anybody can put a plane down on a huge fixed landing strip, but how many guys can do it when the landing strip pitches and rolls? Unfortunately that's where the thought process ended, and I didn't figure out, until it was too late, that once you land something on a boat, chances are you'll be expected to live there for a while. I came to hate that part.
I did learn to fly though, and I taught others how to fly, and I spent some tense days in and around Beruit International Airport in the early 80s among other things. In 1990 I listened to buddies who told me I should get out of the Navy and be an airline pilot, so I got out and got all my license stuff, only to watch Pan Am and Eastern go under, and my world flood with unemployed airline pilots looking for jobs, and no matter how many resumes and letters I wrote or who I talked to, I couldn't get so much as an interview. So I had to do something. My wife had a good job and I stayed in the reserves for an income, while I went back to school to learn about software, and how to make it. We got by and paid the school bills and I started working as a software geek, and have ever since. I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm not selling pencils, or crack, on a street corner either.
The point of the story is, people tell me that low income kids are trapped and can't get a leg up and out of their world, and the government needs to step in and do more. No they aren't and for the most part, no they don't. They make choices and sacrifices and need the support of their families, but if I can do it, so can most people. I'm certainly not special in that regard. Sure there are exceptions, but I don't need Hillary Clinton telling me it takes a village. I don't need anyone telling me I can't get where I want to be without their help. Personally, I like my chances without Hillary in tow. Don't underestimate me, or overestimate you. Left to their own resources, most people can make the right choices to achieve their goals if the government gets out of their way and gives them the chance, instead of a bunch of ready made excuses why they can't do it on their own and need a bunch of help.
As I mentioned a mere two days ago, we weren't well off when I was growing up. My dad was an enlisted guy in the Air Force and we moved every 4 years. I spent kindergarten in Germany, 3rd through 6th grade in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 7th and part of 8th grade in Pennsylvania, the second half of 8th grade in the San Juaquin Valley of California before he retired and we moved for the last time, back to Pennsylvania, and I got to stay put for high school. There he got a government job, and things got a little better. Growing up, we made due a lot, but we were happy. There were many times I wanted things I couldn't have, but I survived. We always had a roof over our heads, but I remember not having enough clean school clothes in high school to make it through a week without washing.
It wasn't long into high school that I realized if I was going to college, it wasn't going to be on daddy's back, unless my ambition stopped at the community college level. It was going to be on something I figured out on my own. I will grant you that this realization required a bit of intelligence and ambition on my part, and God gave me the gift of having enough of those to get there. Still, I know other people can come to the same conclusion. Therefore I agreed to trade several years of my life for the education I wanted. I got a ROTC scholarship in return for agreeing to serve my country for four years. Then I had a lapse of really bad judgement when asked which branch of the service I'd like to join. I wanted to fly, and I thought, how cool, and how much more challenging would it be to learn to land on a moving boat. Anybody can put a plane down on a huge fixed landing strip, but how many guys can do it when the landing strip pitches and rolls? Unfortunately that's where the thought process ended, and I didn't figure out, until it was too late, that once you land something on a boat, chances are you'll be expected to live there for a while. I came to hate that part.
I did learn to fly though, and I taught others how to fly, and I spent some tense days in and around Beruit International Airport in the early 80s among other things. In 1990 I listened to buddies who told me I should get out of the Navy and be an airline pilot, so I got out and got all my license stuff, only to watch Pan Am and Eastern go under, and my world flood with unemployed airline pilots looking for jobs, and no matter how many resumes and letters I wrote or who I talked to, I couldn't get so much as an interview. So I had to do something. My wife had a good job and I stayed in the reserves for an income, while I went back to school to learn about software, and how to make it. We got by and paid the school bills and I started working as a software geek, and have ever since. I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm not selling pencils, or crack, on a street corner either.
The point of the story is, people tell me that low income kids are trapped and can't get a leg up and out of their world, and the government needs to step in and do more. No they aren't and for the most part, no they don't. They make choices and sacrifices and need the support of their families, but if I can do it, so can most people. I'm certainly not special in that regard. Sure there are exceptions, but I don't need Hillary Clinton telling me it takes a village. I don't need anyone telling me I can't get where I want to be without their help. Personally, I like my chances without Hillary in tow. Don't underestimate me, or overestimate you. Left to their own resources, most people can make the right choices to achieve their goals if the government gets out of their way and gives them the chance, instead of a bunch of ready made excuses why they can't do it on their own and need a bunch of help.
John put this out here at 1:01 PM
3 Comments:
Amen to that!
I dont know much about USA politics... but i do dislike Hilary Clinton
Yeah, what painter lady said.
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