BetterMost Community Blogs > Cellar Scribblings
Cellar Scribblings
Lynne:
--- Quote from: loneleeb3 on October 17, 2007, 10:53:39 am ---Well, I know this probably won't be a popular thought. However, there is a lot to be said about accountability and personal responsibility. This is the greatest nation on earth in that everyone has the opportunity to better themselves if they
choose to.
It's not easy and there are a lot of roadblocks that can be downright unfair. I just don't think it is the Governments responsibility to to be all things to all people. What makes the kid who grew up in the ghetto to a teenage mother and then becomes a CEO of a company so different from the other kid in the same housing project who chose a life of crime? He wanted better for himself and made the sacrifices to get where he wanted to be.
I just think in many cases people are where they chose to be.
--- End quote ---
At the risk of making your blog heavier, Chuck...my apologies in advance...
Clearly there are no easy answers to all these hard questions. BUT It is beyond comprehension that the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth cannot house and feed and provide health care for all its citizens. I picked your quote out, Richard, to talk about accountability, because clearly accountability has a place. If Person A with the same advantages and/or disadvantages as Person B ends up with a different outcome, then we may be able to look to the individual's initiative for a 'reasonable' explanation. But, I submit, there are much more complex factors involved.
I have had a great deal of exposure to both the 'haves' and the 'have nots' in this world (as well as us in between) and I can tell you categorically that 'All men are not created equal.' This is going to sound SO cynical - and I hate that! - but your social and family connections make an enormous difference in everything from your preschool to your university to the final outcome in your career. I'm not discounting that you have responsibility for nurturing and maintining these contacts, but I'm much more likely to get that job at NASA when Grandpa knows the director than on my own merit, everything else being equal.
I am that girl who was the first to get a college degree because I earned a scholarship. But that was because my mother had that dream for me. It was drilled into me from Day 1. If she'd been different, I could have just as easily ended up a teenage Mom on welfare - I have stepsisters who did. Why did Mom value education? She saw her own mother abused and saw education as an escape..hence even bigger dreams for me. The dynamics in the same family could have led to a repeat of the cycle. I don't have those answers.
I am agreed 100% that this great nation affords us all the potential to become the best we can be, but it's a much harder question to ask how we impose social limits internally upon ourselves. How do we fix that? How do we teach young girls that it's cool to be scientists, doctors, and politicians? or convice young boys that it's cool to be nurses, teachers, and artists? And vice-versa? And why does our value system deem work like teaching or nursing to be worth so much less than that of an actor or an athlete? I like the trend I'm seeing toward mentoring - people in particular jobs befriending youngsters with interest and encouraging them. That can only help.
Initiative will definitely propel you down the right path...but I question how our young people know what path is the one they wish to pursue - how they recognize the value when values seem so skewed? And if they're not getting a clear message that there is VALUE, then I'm sure a lot of then wonder 'What's the diff?'
Maybe I oughta move this over to the 'Serious Discussions About Life' Thread? Say the word and I will.
CellarDweller:
--- Quote from: Lynne on October 18, 2007, 05:11:27 am ---At the risk of making your blog heavier, Chuck...my apologies in advance...
--- End quote ---
No reason to apologize, Lynne! I enjoy heavy topics as well. My blog is not called "All that is sweetness and light"! ;)
people can talk about whatever they want here, and I'm glad that one of my poems started this convo. There may be light topics throughout, but I hope that if other members want to continue this, they'll post!
CellarDweller:
Good morning, BetterMost!
so, how the hell is everyone today?
My body is acting weird today. :laugh: after being at the slash bash, I was back to my old eating habits, and now that I'm back on schedule, it's like my body is saying "No........bring back the junk food!" :laugh: I'm feeling a little bloated and lethargic, but it's starting to get better.
Today's video works with today's poem, which was originally issued as a "challenge" by Rich (loneleeb3). We were talking about my poems, and he asked me to write one about fathers and daughters. I had one done for him in about 20 minutes. I sent it to him, and about 5 minutes later, got a phone call from him, thanking me. I had not expected that reaction.
So, here's the video.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgZftrobqlg[/youtube]
and here is today's poem!
Daddy’s Little Girl
------------------------------------------
Good things come in small packages
I never believed that
Until the day you arrived
And I held you in my arms
How can I do this
Be all that she needs
And take care of her
For the rest of my days
I’m just a man
I’m supposed to feel strong
But this tiny bundle of life
Has turned me upside down
So much to teach you
To walk, talk and play
School work and home work
Boys, life, and love
Please remember I’m flawed
And though I’ll try my best
I will make mistakes
So please don’t lose faith in me
I’ll always be here
To hold you and love you
From your very first breath
To my very last breath
And though someday a man
Will be your new number one
Just keep this in mind
You’re always daddy’s little girl
loneleeb3:
You're killinme this Mornin! :'(
Shakesthecoffecan:
Friend that is the best thing I have see you write. Your amazing.
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