Everyone Needs to Work

In an article entitled "US Must Step Up Aid for New Orleans" by Happy Johnson, a junior at GeorgeTown University, (http://www.thehoya.com/viewpoint/021406/view5.cfm ), you'll read: "As members of a community with vast resources, if each of us did a little part to make a small but significant difference, then so much could be done."

This is an interesting article with some common-sense statements. But what is the most important word in that sentence?

Community.

Everyone affected by this disaster is part of a community. A community cannot survive without everyone doing their part to contribute. Anyone that wishes to be a member of any community must take responsibility for the privilege of being part of that community.

I feel deeply compassionate for the less fortunate who suffered the loss of what little they may have had. And I support charitable contributions to help them get back on their feet.

But this happened to ALL of us. I also feel deeply compassionate for the wealthy and privileged people.

But every bite of food someone eats, every article of clothing they wear, every car they drive and every place they live, is a result of someone's efforts. So charitable effort without any responsibility should be kept to a minimum. We can all chip in to do what we can to get everyone back into a position where they can work again.

But everyone needs to work.

I don't have sympathy for people who intend to spend month after month, until the handouts end, subsisting on the efforts of others. Every dollar FEMA or the Red Cross, or any other of a huge number of organizations gives to someone, was earned by someone else. When I see thousands of people living in trailer parks, in the homes of others, and in hotels, walking and driving around in new clothes and not making efforts to take care of themselves, I'm not sympathetic to their plight. When I'm in New Orleans and see thousands of jobs available to business owners desparate for workers and willing to pay higher wages than anyone ever saw in that city, I'm not sympathetic to the plight of the able-bodied people who are subsisting off of tax dollars earned by other people and ignoring the availability of jobs. I paid in some of that tax money that FEMA gave them, and I expect them to show responsibility for what they do with it.

If I were King Of The World, I'd decree that all temporary housing and accomodations must have access to jobs (whether it's proximity or transportation), and that anyone who availed themselves of any of that housing MUST work. And if you don't work, you don't get any help from the government. FEMA checks should be imprinted with "Acceptance of this money is contingent on acceptance of your choice of one of the 200,000 jobs listed in the attached document."

To me that sounds not only like common sense, but it's also the natural order of any community. Every element of any type of community in the animal or plant world has its purpose. And any element of those communities who doesn't serve it's purpose ends up not being part of that community in one way or another. Except for human beings. We have for too long supported a lazy segment of our population, and they've begun to act as though they deserve it.

It's six months after the hurricane. Those of you who lost your hotel rooms have recourse. Support yourselves in some way. Go get one of the thousands of jobs available. You can find a place to live and you can find an income. You don't deserve any more or any less than the rest of us deserve.

What do we deserve? A chance. That's all. We deserve a chance to take care of ourselves. Nobody willed this disaster on any of us. People of all socio-economic segments of life suffered losses. Those with more resources are bouncing back more quickly. That's just the nature of things. But everyone affected by this disaster HAS a chance to take care of themselves. That chance is in the form of working to rebuild the Gulf Coast. There's a lot of work, people. Get busy.