NATIVITY SCENES

Well, it’s that time of year again. Some people want to celebrate Christmas and others want to prevent them from doing so. Nativity scenes put up by believers must disappear from view when one non-believer whines about seeing it. Some stores tell their employees to say Happy Holidays to customers and not Merry Christmas to keep from offending those who chose not to honor the Christian idol of divinity.

The season seems to amplify all that is wrong with political correctness. Trying to please everybody affects more misery on a greater number of people. Christians revere December 25. If you choose not to partake, fine. However, drawing people who do want to share the holiday into your world of skepticism, non-belief, anger and misery is not the right thing to do. Let them enjoy.

Likewise, common sense dictates:

If you choose not to eat a fast food diet, that is fine. Just don’t keep those who like that fat laden meal from doing what pleases them. Don’t belittle me for eating a fried potato or patty of beef. I won’t demean you for chewing on nothing but grass and weeds.

If you believe that climate change is man made and that this is the first century of all eternity that temperatures have fluctuated, fine. If science about the ice age and how the earth overcame that without Humvees and coal fired power plants interferes with your inherent beliefs, you own the ignorance of your choice. However, don’t make the rest of us drive underpowered electric vehicles that can’t tow a trailer full of brush to the dump. Please don’t burden farmers with excess tax for not equipping their livestock with flatulence suppressors.

If you are gay, welcome. Celebrate it. It is no more right or wrong than being heterosexual. The fact that synthetic pharmaceuticals that you or your parents or grandparents ingested over the generations altered the natural gene structure of your family line is not a personal fault. Pharmaceutical companies conveniently neglect to divulge that information. While homosexuality is not normal, neither are the chemicals we use to allay the symptoms of disease. As homosexuals, you qualify for equal rights and privileges just as any other human being, nothing more. There is a distinction between marriage and a legal bond between two like gender individuals. There should, however, be no differences in opportunities.

If you choose to send your offspring to public indoctrination centers, fine. You should also accept that some people want their children educated. Allow them to send their children to private or parochial schools by having their tax dollars sent to a school of their choice. The remittance amount of the vouchers should be equal to the total amount spent per pupil by local public institutions. Don’t hold it against private schools for not having fifteen levels of inept bureaucrats sucking up the dollars before they reach the classroom. Allow equal tax dollars and equal choice.

If you stole your way into this country because of our liberal to non-extent immigration enforcement, don’t ask for or expect all the rights and privileges of American citizens. You have broken our law, enforced or not, and are subject to justice in the form of deportation to your point of entry. You are not entitled to tax subsidies, living stipends, driver licenses, in state tuition or voting rights even though some of our elected idiots allow them.

Please use the remaining intellectual brain cells in your head, not just your emotion. Just because a thought, term or tradition is different from your familiarity or belief doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. That is why we debate. We live in a world of reasoned directives. We are not yet completely mind-numbed automatons of a single thought process. We must celebrate that which makes us happiest without harming, demeaning or belittling others for their ways.

Merry Christmas to you whether or not you choose to celebrate Christ. Please be comfortable with who you are, just don’t try to force others to be like you.

MINIMUM WAGE

Liberals again are pushing to raise the minimum wage. Is it so that the poorest, least educated and unskilled among us will have more money for Obamacare? Is it to take many people’s minds off of Obamacare? It certainly could be either of those things. They claim it will benefit not only the worker, but also the economy. However, I can’t conceive even liberals believe that raising the minimum wage will benefit the economy.

It is obvious that there are some work positions that simply are not worth the perceived “living wage”. Yes, compensation commensurate with contribution is necessary. If that contribution means using a spatula to slather secret sauce on a sesame seed bun, minimum wage compensation, be it adequate to maintain a household or not, is appropriate. Anything above $8.50 in these times of government stifled economy will cause robotics soon to fill the position, putting every inept complainer out of work and onto the government stipend ethic.

Nobody has ever accused me of being a nuclear physicist, particle physicist or jet propulsion engineer. I’m simply a thinking individual. It really doesn’t take a brain surgeon or rocket scientist to assess the damage of overpaying for menial tasks. Liberals simply seek a way for central government to make all decisions on behalf of the ignorant populace. And, they are doing everything possible to keep the populace ignorant. Can you say public education?

Since the late 50’s, America’s academic standing has dropped globally. I attended school at a time when teachers actually shared knowledge about subjects of substance. We learned things beyond how to put a condom on a cucumber, political correctness, social engineering and the righteousness of socialist concepts. We learned about math, science, English, world geography, world history, American history, current events and civics. Passing or failing was part of the learning process. We either worked hard to do our best, or not. It was our choice. Success or failure comes with that choice, just like in the world beyond schooling. That was part of learning.

The basics, the foundation, allowed us logical choice of direction. Personality rounding elective classes including music, art, poetry, etc. also allowed us to become persons of our own, instead of a mind-numbed ideological collective. Perhaps the progressive change in the education system is why we now have slovenly workers complaining about receiving pay commensurate with their worth and not their self-perceived value to an employer.

Lack of proper education and advancement without achievement have turned out the third generation of entitled dolts. Now that we understand why some positions pay little, let us explore the damage potential that overcompensation for base or routine work might bring.

First, everyone must understand that private businesses exist for two reasons, to serve a need and produce a profit. They do not come about to make entry-level employees moderately wealthy. They do not endure for public welfare. Without purpose there is not profit. Without profit there is no reason to continue.

Filling a need requires an exchange rate that satisfies two parties, the business and the customer (consumer, patient, client, etc.). Raising the pay rate for lower rung jobs raises the cost of the product to the customer. That customer may very well be the production worker. That, in itself, makes it necessary again to raise the minimum wage.

Using the fast food example, if each entry-level worker receives a $.50 per hour raise it would affect the profit margin for the company and their stock holders. Bear in mind that a $.50 raise to the employee is actually a cost of about sixty-two and a half cents to the employer (FICA, Medicare, disability, unemployment insurance, worker compensation, etc.). To compensate for the rise in cost, the company must either raise the selling price of the product, hire more efficiently, automate some positions, or reduce the size of the sandwich, fries, drinks, pastries and other items.

One of the claims of entry-level fast food workers is that they cannot afford to buy the meals for themselves and certainly not for their families. Raising the cost won’t work any better for them. Diminishing the volume of food won’t satisfy them and automating their position certainly won’t benefit them. Therefore, the cycle must begin again. Listen for the cry for more money.

I can certainly sympathize with those people making low wages. True, minimum wage is simply not adequate for ongoing subsistence. However, many people including me have held jobs that seemed below our ability and earning potential. We held them until we either proved a greater worth to the employer and received a raise and promotion or we moved to other companies where the pay was more proportionate to our perceived self-worth and employee value. Thus I have to ask why anyone would continue to stay in a position where he or she felt used or unappreciated.

Anyone, anyone who has deluded themselves into believing middle class life is achievable with minimum skills, ability and education may not even deserve minimum wage. Perhaps someone else should take care of him or her, watch them carefully and maybe even provide a protective helmet. Crediting them more highly than they contribute, however, is how many received a public education credential. Isn’t it time to stop the nonsense?

Hey, I have an idea. Let’s allow hundreds of thousands of undereducated law-breakers who have stolen their way onto our soil, who cannot speak English and refuse to assimilate the right to compete for unskilled jobs. Yeah, that’ll certainly help the situation.

THE CASE FOR TERM LIMITS

A Washington Post article by Jonathan Zimmerman titled “End presidential term limits” includes his own arguments against the ending of presidential term limits. I doubt that the Obama worshiping progressive liberal even recognizes how wrong he is as he argues and even more effectively counter-argues his own point.

He quotes Democratic Senator Harley Kilgore from 1947, “The executive’s effectiveness will be seriously impaired, as no one will obey and respect him if he knows that the executive cannot run again”. He then compares the quote to President Obama’s rapid and drastic drop in popularity as Democrats distance themselves from the president and his disaster known as Obamacare.

He obviously believes that all Democrats, despite the radical ideology of any party head, must not only follow but also promote, their Demander-in-Chief, right or wrong, without objection. Zimmerman explains that Democratic lawmakers need not face the wrath of a president who cannot be reelected. Here I have to ask why a president must show wrath. The American public does not want or need a vengeful leader. However, indignation such as this tends to be common among liberals. He goes on to suggest that Obama, in his second and final term, need not follow the will of the voters either. He falsely led his voters into a Jim Jones situation. Even they are refusing the Kool-Aid now.

Zimmerman also quotes George Washington out of context to express his ill thought point. “I can see no propriety in precluding ourselves from the service of any man who, in some great emergency, shall be deemed universally most capable of serving the public”. The quote which obviously excludes reference to unlimited terms of public service is used to bolster his attempt to do away with term limits for the presidency. Washington willingly stepped down after his second term.

For progressive Democrats, unlimited tyrannical rule is justified as long as they agree with the tyrant. Harry Reid is a prime example of why this should not happen for either party. He, like President Obama, is unwilling to compromise on any issue. Rather, they constantly admonish Republicans for not giving them everything they want. It’s either bowing to their radical ideology or being called an obstructionist.

It looks as if the progressive movement is well under way. We now have much of our industry nationalized via regulation and taxation. Such heavy regulation is stifling any competitive edge America once had. Employment is down and dependency on government programs is up. Socialized medicine is on the way in. Soon, a single payer system will overtake the medical industry rationing care and choosing who receives any care.

In just five years, this president has devastated industry, demoralized the citizenry into government sponsored poverty, decimated our military superiority, appeased our enemies and alienated our former allies. Virtually every arm of government is now heavily armed and armored for use against an uprising of the citizens. Obama promised this fundamental change. Just think what an unending presidency could do from here.

Zimmerman’s article gives rise to the continued thought that Martial Law might be on the horizon in the minds of progressives to continue the current ruler’s reign. Remember, even Saddam Hussein was supposedly elected via democratic process.