America: Land of Entitlement?

On July 3rd, 2013: I posted this on Facebook (and these series of questions were asked on a blog by a well-known author) so we can discuss due to the importance of what we are facing in America today: Why do some of the best entitlement benefits go to our leaders—the President of the United States, our Congressional leaders, and other government workers? Once a President or congressman is elected, we the taxpayers take care of them for life. If they are qualified to be our leaders, why can’t they take care of themselves?

My sister & fellow author Angelia Vernon Menchan responded that they can but one of the reasons those jobs are so attractive is because it has been written and decided they didn't have to. I loved her response so much, that I asked her to elaborate for this post.

Angelia: My answer was that politicians could take care of themselves but the perks of being cared for, for the rest of their lives made politics very attractive. Not all are attracted for those reasons but the perks are undeniable. Are they entitled to them, forever? Or do we as voters, taxpayers and citizens have a right to protest and vote these perks away? I feel we do have the right but it is not an undertaking that would be without consequences for all. Does doing away with high level perks trickle down to us and even more losses are incurred. For instance would government workers want to forego retirement or not have a percentage of the thrift savings plans go unmatched? Do we care enough about the overall country to make these changes for the coming generations?

Also we enjoy capitalism and to a great extent that has led to the bankruptcy of our county while many private businesses and CEOs reap millions, even billions. Do we regulate those entities to change that thus changing our culture?

A larger question is as Christians how political should we be if we know we must be in the world but not of the world?

Tremayne: If the truth be told, it’s almost like saying there are rules for a group of people, and there are rules for another group. One thing that comes to mind is the credit card companies (they have rules that we don’t). I’m going to correlate that to the parable of unforgiveness at the end of Matthew 18. A man owed a king a huge amount of money, and the king forgave him. Now the man had someone under him who owed a lot less than what was owed to the king, and the man opted not to forgive him. Now the credit card companies today are no different. They asked for a bailout and they got it, now when we want forgiveness, they closed down our credit, raised our interest rates and demand that we pay it. Sounds like to me, the credit card companies can’t take care of themselves.

One of the tragedies we’re facing today is that we feel that the world owes us a living. And when we don’t get our way, we turn to revolting and civil disobedience. Is this all because we feel entitled? YES!

I add to Angelia’s questions: what are we going to do about it? Complain and continue to allow us taxpayers to take care of them while we are only a day short of bankruptcy? Do we feel entitled or are we going to do whatever we can to make our dreams come true?

The Spirit of Indecision

Indecision - the feeling that you are unable to make a decision. As I look at the definition, indecision can be a good thing or a bad thing. It can be a good thing especially if we're yielding to the will of God. It can be a bad thing if we're indecisive and decide to take matters into our hands.

The focus of this blog is about the spirit of indecision and we taking matters into our own hands. Using the economy as a perfect example, many people are being attacked in so many ways, that indecision smacks them right in the face. Normally you hear, job cuts, pay cuts, healthcare costs rising, entitlements are being taken, no pay raises. That causes immediate indecision for some people.  

Being in the workforce, I find the typical traits. People come and go at a job in a quest for promotions and/or more income, but not really growing - just coasting where they are (hoping to reach retirement without a break in my service to my company). Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It wouldn't come as a surprise that on some level, there's a bit of unhappiness because there's you don't feel fulfilled in life. What eventually happens is having more money becomes a curse because there's no peace and increased stress (especially when you add the pressures of layoffs, and entitlement plans getting cut).  I know for me, having more money does me no good if I don't have my any peace in my body and spirit. I will even add that it doesn't do me any good if my health is deteriorating. It makes no sense to acquire additional money and it compromises everything you believe just so you can temporarily get ahead financially.

This is an excerpt from a blogpost I did April 25, 2011 entitled Complacency & Hebrew Slaves (you can find the entire article in the 2011 archive under the week of 4/25/11: has complacency gotten you to the point where you have amnesia? If so, what do you intend to do about it? Also, why is it that people who are truly complacent remember the insignificant things but ignore the hardships endured to acquire the insignificant things? Think about it, the children of Israel had their backbones beaten just for food. What they should have been thinking about was stepping out on faith to have freedom as well as freedom from the horrible treatment endured by the Egyptians. Now, let's bring it to us: are we being told to love your job and being fed from our employer that we should be thankful that we are working for them? Are you afraid to take a leap of faith and pursue the freedom and talent that God is calling you to because your employer is telling you that nobody is going to take care of you like we do? Remember, misery loves company. Now, those things (benefits and paychecks) are really insignificant; however, we ignore having our jobs threatened, having no raise and/or bonus, having our salaries reduced, and having our retirement funding be reduced in order to have the insignificant things. If we're smart enough, we should remember the horrible treatment more than the insignificant things given to us (which aren't even guarantees). That should in itself cause you to want to break free from complacency.

So, in closing: After you tire yourself from thinking money will make you happy, moving from job to job, seeking contentment in your job (or in your life for that matter), trying to make your OWN plans or solve your OWN problems; rest in the arms of the Father, who loves you, who wants to communicate with you every moment of your life and will cure you from the spirit of indecision by giving you His action plan for your life, and yes, even in these hard economic times. Don't worry if you don't have all of His action plan at this moment, just know that as long as you're in Him, your steps are ordered by Him.

Freeloading (Part 2)

This will conclude my series on Freeloading. Now, I promised in Part 1 that I was going to discuss homeless people in this part, so here’s what I have to say on that. Most people who have signs out aren’t beggars, they’re really freeloaders. Some of them will actually work 5 days a week but some of them feel they shouldn’t have to work if they don’t want to. So, they’ll put a sign out and collect money from well-deserved people. Making a $100 a day for a beggar is really easy, and as I think about it, most beggars are just hustlers. Now let’s think about that for a moment, if you make $100 a day working 8 hours that equates to $23K a year.

I’ve heard it said, “Its better to give them something to eat versus giving them money.” Not to worry, God will deal with them even if you give them money and they go buy drugs and alcohol. Note that I’m not bashing all beggars, because some of them are really homeless and honest about it. But when it comes to the beggar who’s freeloading, they really don’t want a job and they feel they don’t need a job. That’s what you call a deep sense of entitlement. Most beggars say that the government should give more entitlements to them. A little side note: most freeloaders want a handout and their mentality is “what’s in it for me?”

I need to revisit a section in Part 1 for a moment: remember when I was referring to a woman who was being evicted (and that story), let me expound on that for a moment: it’s wrong when an 85-year-old woman gets evicted because of foreclosure but another woman who hasn’t paid on the mortgage since 1985 and owes $100k but she apparently knows the law (she’s a paralegal) and refuses to leave the house. And then we turn around and blame the banks (this causes people to trash their homes before the bank can take their homes). There are companies that allow people to walk away from their homes (such as www.youwalkaway.com) even though they signed a legal contract. Freeloading is walking away from responsibility. Some companies encourage people to live mortgage free for 8 months. Let’s take a real-life story. Someone in California buys a home for $400K, and the house is now underwater worth $300K. The website mentioned allows you to walk away without owing a penny. Is it legal? Unfortunately, yes. This is saying, “we encourage freeloading!” Most people don’t care about their moral contract when they freeload.

Corporations also freeload. General Electric restructures its company wherever the government goes to receive their handouts. In fact, the government gave them handouts to where they owed no taxes despite the profits earned. In the early days, companies made profits by investors or made profits by ideas. Microsoft (Bill Gates) is the best example, and of course the government got upset and sued Bill Gates for offering free software (interesting thought, huh).

The rich aren’t off the hook also. They freeload just like the poor. Example: flood insurance. Why is it that rich people buy a house on the beach, knowing well enough their house could be damaged by a flood, hurricane or a tide? The answer is simple, because the government requires people to purchase flood insurance (so their house is covered). If you buy a hybrid car, invest in solar power, you get a tax break from the government (or better yet, it’s paid for by the government). Farmers also get handouts from the government – example is Bon Jovi who owns acres after acres and only pays $100 in state property tax (because he raises honeybees which qualify for a honeybee subsidy). Is it unfair? Some would say yes, some would say no. Note that no laws were broken, but they qualified for a tax break. The way to stop this cycle is for Congress not to pass so many laws that encourage freeloading.

Can somebody answer this question: why is it when people receive handouts from the government, they’re worse off (and they want more handouts)? I said to some people in the beginning of 2011, because of the state of the economy, the number of panhandlers will increase for two reasons: 1-survival and 2-some just don’t want to work.

A way to stop freeloading in its tracks is simply, “stop enabling those who are capable of working!” And yes, this requires the discernment of God and knowing that we can’t judge their hearts. Some states have signs in downtown areas saying to give money to a shelter or a charity, and do NOT give money to panhandlers! What about holding people accountable and being responsible unless you’re disabled? Another way to stop freeloading is to empower people and if they don’t want it, move on! When I say empower people, I’m talking about using the Word of God and letting them know they have a purpose in this life.

Freeloading (Part 1)

What’s your typical definition of freeloading? In most cases we think about freeloading friends or homeless people who stand on corners with a sign (I’ll talk about the latter in Part 2), but let’s look at it in other ways.

There’s a bible verse that says that the poor will always be among you. In fact, there’s another verse that says the soul of the sluggard desires but has nothing.

Think about this? Person #1 is a hard worker that’s not able to modify a loan on the house (irrespective if the house is under water) and only miss one payment, this person will be evicted from their home. However, if person #2 is willfully not paying their mortgage, they’re able to stay in the house – irrespective of the fact that person #2 signed a legal contract to pay for the house. Here’s an additional thing the second person can do that the first can’t do: they will also complain that they’re not receiving more benefits from others. What happens? We blame the bank and say they evil.

Now here’s my thought on that: if the bank offers you something and you know it’s not in the best interest for you, it does NOT mean that you should take it (if you know well enough you can’t afford it). This is common sense we’re talking about. 

Is there any wonder that freeloaders seem to be more needy than the diligent? Think about this, when freeloaders get a handout in some shape, form or passion, they are never satisfied. In fact, they are coveting (which is actually breaking the tenth Commandment). I can take that a step further, those who are diligent and struggle to make it are far better off than those who take the handout (in fact, people who don’t take a handout come out far better than those who take the handout). Now how many would classify freeloaders as enablers? If we enable them to freeload, then they see no need to be diligent and work with their two hands.

There are freeloaders in church also. They pray to God for health and wealth, but then they turn around and poison their bodies, and not making wise decisions with their finances. Or another group is they pray to God for health and wealth, but yet, they don’t want to work and still want the latest hook-ups. Then they turn around and complain to God, why aren’t you blessing me (they’re really saying, God, why aren’t you satisfying my greed)?

There are freeloaders in interest groups.  Their sole purpose is to seek benefit for themselves and is solely in competition with others. It’s every man for himself or every woman for herself.  Most diligent people are blessing others and will celebrate another person’s success in the group. I’m involved in an author’s group, and we’re all about keeping each other accountable and ensuring that we pursue our passions, dreams and that our talents don’t go to waste (and we encourage others to do the same without a selfish motive).

One way to solve the freeloading problem is to put more energy into our ideas and passions, the same way we put our energy into complaining and blaming. Also remember, what may be free to you will always be at the expense of something or someone else.