Trade Your Door for Cardboard box!

I'm glad I'm back in classes for a few reasons.
1. It keeps me busy 2. I have a lot more ideas about what to share with you. I have a feeling that you will be reading a lot about one particular class.
In this class, we are talking about "social change." This concept states that if you believe in something strong enough, you should do something about it.

During our discussion, we each got to share values that we live by. One girl, who is obviously an Obama supporter, began to say that one of her values is believing in change. That if you really believe in changing something, you can (while she was saying this I turned to my friend and said "I'm surprised she doesn't believe in hope too"). Then she continued saying "I really think that it's important to hope for change."

Wow.

After she said this, I decided that it was my duty to share an opposing point of view. So I spoke up.

"I believe in hard work. I think that working hard for what you get is very important because if you don't work for what you have, then you can't truly appreciate it."
She then said that she completely agreed with me. I'm not sure if she understood that I was saying that I truly despise hand outs, but we'll assume she didn't.

Let's set aside my comment for a moment and speak on what she said. I'm not sure how change can be a value, but I'll take that as she said it for now. I may agree that somtimes change is a necessary evil to gain something in the end.

For example, I am all for the Louisiana purchase. That was a change that ended up being very beneficial to our country. I also have a positive attitude toward changing the rules for welfare. Making those who receive my money go through drug tests and audits seems like a fantastic change. This way I can ensure that my tax dollars are going to people who are using it for the correct purpose.

Change for the sake of change, however, is stupid. Fixing something by making it worse doesn't make sense. I'll give you another example.

Would you change your front door from wood to cardboard solely because the wood has some wear and tear? No, of course you wouldn't do that! Why? Because cardboard is much weaker than wood, especially in regards to protecting your house.

I would say that is a fair comparison to what Obama did to our health care system. He changed it, but it was like changing an older wooden door for a new cardboard one. Just because something is new and different doesn't make it better.

Our old health care system worked like the wooden door. It was exceptionally functional, it protected our health, it may have needed some fixing up, but all in all, it worked. And just because the media decided it was a crisis, the president changed our solid health care system to a floppy, unsecured, barely functional system.

Along those same lines, if I worked hard to build that wooden door, then why should I be forced to trade it for a cardboard box? Just to be fair to a person who can't durable door? How is that fair?

Why should I have to suffer, or work twice as hard, to pick up the slack for someone else? I guess that goes along with my statement about working hard for what you get.

The president changed our health care system for no reason other than someone said it needed to be changed. Hoping to change something that doesn't need to be changed is like hoping to get a C in a class which you already have an A in. Makes no sense, right?

Use the Weak to Exploit the Strong

In one of my classes we watched a video about Harvard students. These particular students were upset about the wages that Harvard staff was receiving. They wanted what they called a "living wage." This means a payment which would allow these people to have one job and still provide for their family.

The students decided to stage a sit-in in the president's office to try to gain the administrations attention. The administration at first paid little attention, thinking that the students would eventually give up. They didn't. And after 3 weeks of just sitting around, they gained what they desired.

Maybe it is because I'm a person of action, but I can't appreciate protests and sit-ins like other people do. I think there must be a more active way to gain media attention. I don't like what sit-ins encourage. I think more often than not they are counterproductive, or they are at least one of the laziest ways to achieve a goal.

I think this because it took the students three weeks of just sitting around to get what they desired. My schooling background tells me there are other more productive ways of getting awareness for a project or issue.

For example, writing a press release can be beneficial. Send it to any and all newspapers, and chances are someone will pick it up if it's a good/worthy story. Creating a video news release is another good way to gain attention. These are sprinkled through news casts all the time, especially during slow news days. Enough of this action can spur an administration to change.

One professor who was interviewed said that these Harvard employees are the perfect example for why unions are so needed. I guess this is what really bothered me because I really don't like unions. I think they cause more harm than good.

I think people need to be treated fairly. All people. Employees and employers alike. And I think unions abuse both. Unions charge fees which they use to promote liberal political candidates. They take advantage of the weak to exploit the strong.

Unions often make it difficult for employers to do anything. Why else is California in the mess their in? I can tell you that Unions are a huge part of that. They help cause unemployment and they encourage mediocrity.

In theory, much like every other political thought that liberals agree with, unions are good. But in actuality they fail to do what they promise.

All in all, I'm glad that these students stuck to their guns (probably a poor choice of words considering who I'm talking about). They fought for a cause for something other than themselves which I can really respect. I can appreciate their passion. I agree with the ends but I really don't appreciate the means.