There is a major difference between being inconsiderate and downright disrespectful and rude. As I read the news and associated blog sites online, I am overwhelmed by the complete lack of civility people have with their online personas. I call them personas because if their actions and words are anything like their online gibberish, they would most likely be instigating fights every time their mouth utters a spoken syllable.

People have used the “anonymity” of online to disguise who they really are and with this disguise, they are continually revealing their distinct lack of maturity and respect for others around them. What really bothers me is that the “normal” people that frequent sites rarely speak their minds because they have become afraid to speak up in fear of a public flame war. It appears that the vast majority of online conversationalists is decidedly liberal and of the mind that they can do whatever they want without any ramifications.

I’ll admit that I frequent several sites and read news stories and posts but I don’t join in. In the midst of 300 posts, a rational statement is thrown under the weight of such ignorance that it simply fails to dent the careening momentum of the massive stupidity. At times, I will read something so disgraceful that I am left speechless. I can’t believe people think a certain way let alone write it for everyone to see. Sometimes, I think people post online just to push the limits of what we will accept.

If we don’t respond, these people will continue to think that their actions are acceptable because they haven’t been reprimanded. Eventually, their online persona will infect their real life persona. I believe our society is currently at this stage. After a generation of young adults has grown up with the Internet in their life, they cannot distinguish real life, from online life. They act the same and they allow their mouth to speak anything that comes to mind without fear of retribution.

What we are really missing are the mentors of our lives. There is a distinct lack of mentors in our real lives and there are zero mentors online to direct people and keep people in line. Online is a place where anything goes and everything is acceptable it seems. Our real lives have been infected by this way of thinking and we are paying a social price for that.

My online persona is the exact same as my real life persona. I treat people online the same way I treat them physically. What I think we need to do is return correctness to our online communities. Sure, it is exactly like trying to move a mountain, but we can all do our part to inject a little bit of rationality, respect, and civility in the sites we visit. When you read something that offends you, post a rational response to it and let them know what has been said is disrespectful, hurtful, or just plain wrong.

Don’t fear the online flame wars, they will happen. But, if other normal people see the fight being taken, they will be more comfortable joining in rather than diving in by their lonesome and simply giving up. We need to do something because the longer we allow the online community become so acceptable to outrageous behavior, the worse our real world will become. Our younger generation already has no idea how to discern online life from real life. Their facebook or myspace is more important to them than their grades are…

You may be reading this thinking that you are in fact the epitome of normalcy… everyone should persevere to be more like you and things would be better right? I’m not even going to say you’re wrong because you may in fact be right. But, what I do have to say is that while I don’t think I’m any worse than anyone else, I am most definitely not normal in the sense of the world’s definition of normal today.

Number one, I believe that Christianity deserves a more prominent role in our society… Let me restate that… I believe the role of Christianity in the United States should be returned to its rightful place our forefathers intended for it to be. Our current society and governmental policy has desecrated the spiritual relationship our country was built upon in an effort to satisfy the liberal elitists and minority segments of society with unending rivers of cash.

Number two, I believe that the people should run our country, not the government running the people. Our government is not working for the people at this stage of our country’s existence… it is feeding upon the power that it has been given in an effort to rule our people thinking that it can make better decisions for us than we can for ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure I can make my own decisions without some politician telling me what to do and how to live.

Number three, I don’t believe in being politically correct. We can be congenial and friendly without having to succumb to the mind numbing actions being politically correct involve. If we can’t coexist amongst one another without offending each other, maybe we should have classes on being tactful and respectful rather than being force-fed something that only covers up people’s true feelings. Being politically correct doesn’t solve anything, it simply sugar coats the situation and makes for very fake conversations and relationships.

Number four, I don’t think the government is here to solve all of our problems. I believe the American citizen owns the power to change our world. We can’t rely upon or depend upon government handouts, stimulus packages, or interventions to solve our issues. Do you still have your mom and dad bail you out of trouble when you have issues? Does your dad come and change your tire if it’s flat? Does your mom still do your laundry and make you supper? We need to outgrow our dependence on government and relearn how to govern ourselves.

And finally number five, I believe every single person in our country, male and female, should be required to complete a full year of military service before turning 18. No, I’m not talking about joining the National Guard or Army… I’m talking about a year long (not school year, a full 365 days) course providing every young person a sample of discipline, structure, and military training that will lay the foundation for a strong young mind preparing to enter adulthood and the real world.

Do you think this sounds very normal in today’s society of religious decline, government handouts, and decreasing military recruitment? Our society is all about getting things because of some sense of entitlement. Where did the concept of earning what you deserve go? We have been trained to rely upon our government for sustenance and we have allowed our spirituality be gutted simply because an elite few has decided they don’t agree. We don’t respect our military the way we should and we do things right only if we are recognized and rewarded in some manner. I’m glad that I’m not normal in the eyes of our world. If I were called normal by the “normal” people of this world, I would be ashamed of myself.

Recently some stores have increased the costs of cigarettes due to a governmental increase of the cigarette tax. It actually starts on April 1^st but some are already passing along the new taxes to smoking consumers. How much of an increase? Try a 155% increase on for size… It effectively makes a pack of cigarettes cost $1 more and a carton $10 more. The taxes are a way to increase the revenue of the various government entities in an effort to offset the losses in tax revenue received through the gas taxes. No, gas taxes did not lower, the amount of miles being driven has, thus less gas being bought and taxed.

Back to my threat… My primary reason for even saying such a thing revolves around the various “days off” associated with smoking and the ensuing breaks to feed this harmful addiction. Let’s just say a smoker takes an extended break each morning and afternoon… we’ll just throw 15 total extra minutes a day into the equation. 15 extra minutes devoted to smoke breaks that your normal non-smoker doesn’t utilize. Bathroom breaks and all that other stuff are effectively cancelled out in this simple equation. The bottom line is the smoker takes an extra 15 minutes a day off in this example. 15 minutes per day comes out to 75 minutes per week, 5 hours per month, and 60 hours per year… all devoted to smoking… while at work.

Let’s say we all get 2 weeks of vacation (80 hours) each year. We have just almost doubled it by simply smoking each day. And, we get paid to do it. Sounds great doesn’t it? Well, it does with all things being equal. But, smoking isn’t exactly an equal thing… we all know how harmful they are and over time, can dramatically affect the standard of life. Smokers are known to become more susceptible to various respiratory illnesses among other sicknesses caused by a damaged immune system. We can actually throw in a multitude of sick days taken by your average smoker per year that immediately decreases the hours worked even more. If we just throw in say 3 extra sick days per year as a direct result of smoking ailments, we are now up to an extra 2 weeks per year off.

You may not think that sounds like much, but multiply those numbers out over a 30 year career. That comes out to 2400 hours less work as compared to a non-smoker… 300 less work days… well over a year of actual work. That’s the smoker’s vacation.

But, at what cost does the smoker actually pay for this vacation? Various studies have tried to put a number to the amount of time you sacrifice of your life per cigarette you smoke. Searching the internet for a few minutes gave me an average of about 10 minutes of lost life per smoke. So, a smoker who smokes on average of 5 cigarettes each day is costing 50 minutes of their life. Just using the 5 day smoking workweek, this comes out to a little over 4 hours of lost life per week. Multiplied over that same 30 year period, we have now lost about 200 hours of our life each year because of smoking, or 6,000 total hours for a grand total of over 250 full 24 hour days of our life.

These are small estimates in my opinion. I believe I am underestimating the amounts of cigarettes smoked and the amount of time associated with doing so. But, given this simplistic example, a smoker has traded almost a year of the end of their life for almost a year and a half of extra vacation time over their 30 year work career.

I’m not quite sure the tradeoff is worth it given that the last remaining years of a smoker usually aren’t the most fabulous and of a healthy lifestyle. The tradeoff is probably closer to a 5 or 10 to 1 ratio. Smoke and yes, you get extra vacation time, but the last 5 to 10 years of your life is going to be very poor. Is the vacation time worth sacrificing your last years of life? Quality of life is important and it will be dramatically lower for a smoker in the waning stages of existence. I’ve seen this first hand. So while I threaten to become a smoker to generate more vacation time for myself, I am rational enough to know that is not the right, or sane, choice. Purposefully sacrificing my health for such nonsense is irrational… not to mention more expensive these days. Receive the vacation time, but you are costing yourself more money and pain in the end hands down.

Our current social times has placed being “religious” into what many consider some sort of horrific stigma. Nobody wants to be labeled the “Bible Thumper” within your group of friends. People have been led to believe that being “religious” must mean that everyone is closed minded and all followers must abide by some specific doctrine or they are not accepted. The last I checked, Christianity is much different than the religion of Islam… However, people have associated nearly all religions with such radical ideology and have thus started turning their backs to religion of all forms and fashions.

I’m not so sure that these times are any different than the past. It seems to me that religious people have been generally treated differently and persecuted throughout our world’s history. But, the United States is a relatively new society as compared to history and we were founded upon Christianity and the freedom of religion as one of our fundamental building blocks. If we are losing contact with our roots, where are we going?

Some people may think that we are becoming more affluent and intelligent as we gain more knowledge regarding the science of life. Some people may think that religion was just a figment of our immature minds looking for meaning to our otherwise mundane existences. Whatever the case may be, more people are choosing to not believe in anything rather than believe in something.

A fast rising segment of society is the so-called Atheists. These people have rejected the idea of God and choose to believe in nothing. The number of Atheists has doubled since 1990 according to the report. Another segment that is growing is the agnostic group. This particular segment has not completely rejected the idea of God… they just choose not to believe at this point.

Another alarming fact from the report is that those who call themselves Christians has declined from 86 to 76 percent. There are several “reasons” given for the decline… from various political parties establishing footholds within certain religious segments to the horrid news stories of religious leaders doing unthinkable things while in power. If these are reasons to discount or reject God in your life, I would say God was never in your life…

America has long been the hope of the free world. Our personal ties to Christianity have long been one of the building blocks of our great society. If you follow the tumultuous existence of our last few generations, you can very easily track the increasing number of Americans who have no faith to the increased violence, lack of hope, and general downward spiral our society has undertaken. Some of these are fact and some are opinion, but who can argue that the United States is in the best of times these days? That’s right, no one can.

As we allow our faith become overrun by those with no faith and no hope, our society will continue to pay the price. Our nation is a Christian nation… at this point. The remaining Christians in our society must make it a point to make the right decisions and live our lives according to our Christian roots. We have seen that the mistakes made can be devastating and can turn people away from hope and Christianity. It is up to us to turn the tide and show the world that being religious and being a Christian is nothing to be ashamed of. I’m proud to call myself a Christian, even though I am not perfect… the last I checked, neither was anyone else.

Day after slumping day, we continue to receive horrid reports of just how bad the jobs sector, housing market, and world financial system really is. Any thread of optimism is crushed by the daunting weight of reality. Not only has the American economy slipped into a wild tailspin, the entire world’s economy has. That is to be expected given the globalized economy and America being the world’s number one economic engine. It’s simple trickle down… or waterfall down at this point.

Everyone wants things to turn around, and turn around quickly. But, that is equal to asking to win the lottery of all lotteries. It just isn’t going to happen. There is one major reason why we will not experience a quick turnaround at the level of you and me, let alone at the corporate level. That reason is the fact that the credit market has seized with little to no hope of it releasing in the near term. A harsh reality may be that it will never return to what it once was.

Since the credit card market boomed and basically gave credit to anyone who could show any sort of income (and many who didn’t have any income), consumers began using this “free” money to fund their lifestyles. This so-called “credit wealth” allowed us to live beyond our weekly, monthly, or even yearly means. Many of us have extended ourselves past the year timeframe into many years. We never really think about it when the going is good, but now that the economy has hit the skids, the bills are coming due as our take home pay is raked across the coals by increased costs of living without adequate raises to make up the difference.

The credit lines have shrunk, but the bills are increasing… it’s a no win situation. I believe several things have all hit the “sweet” spot and the catalyst was the price of gas. Consumer credit boomed and raged out of control as banks tried everything to gain customer count and increase their “assets.” The housing market was an inferno out of control and everyone knew the bubble would pop, but nobody expected it to simply implode in a few short months. And then there was the price of gas… the summer of $4 per gallon gas. We borrowed, and borrowed some more, until our wallet was stretched as far as it could go. Our theoretical budgets could not withstand the doubling and tripling costs of gas to drive back and forth to work, let alone the increased costs of goods and services passing along the costs of higher oil and manufacturing costs.

Gas prices were the catalyst that pushed our economic boat over the edge. We were maintaining our credit wealth as best we could until the real monthly bills became so overly exaggerated, we couldn’t push the costs of living out into the future. Initially, the savings (what little of it there was) we had, were used to augment our income to take care of the “temporary” costs increases. As these increases were seen as less than temporary, our savings were burned through and then the credit lines were strained even worse. The bad situation was turning into a horror show.

Now, after more than 15 months into this recession, there still appears to be no end to the downturn. Billions, and even trillions, of dollars have been injected into the system in an effort to save what little confidence we have left. These people are hoping for a return to how things used to be. I don’t think we’ll ever see things return to that stage. If we do, this recession will have solved nothing and will have only served the purpose of extorting houses from many families and dashing the retirement for untold thousands of hardworking American citizens. We all need a return to normalcy. We cannot fund wealth with credit. Credit is necessary, but to an extent to augment our daily lives, not finance them. Until we realize that as a nation, we will continue this road to nowhere. The consumer must change and most of all, we must realize that the government is not going to save us. We must save ourselves by spending more appropriately.

Yes, it’s habit to focus on the large situations in our lives, I can attest to that basic fact of life as I’m sure you can too. But, as I sit here, I can name countless little things that were said or done throughout my life that created a major impact in how I think and react. Whether it affected how I trust someone to how much respect I give a person… Whether I feel that someone is a liar or a true friend… The situations are countless, but the vast majority of what I remember would not be considered earth shattering events.

Maybe it’s because I discount the major instances for the most part and focus on the little things that slip through. To me, the telltale signs of who people are come through in the simplest conversation or reaction in ordinary situations. These signs can display more about a person than weeks, months, or even years of conversation or friendship. Sometimes, who people truly are comes out when they are the most “comfortable.”

How about you? Do you let the real you slip out in while you’re not looking? Does your true personality squeeze out through the armor you have slipped into? As I’ve said before, most of us are walking around with different “faces” on and for the most part, we don’t let many people see the real us. We like to control that aspect of our life even more than our bank account it seems.

But, when that instance comes along and the real you comes out, what kind of trickle down effects do you have on the other people in your life? For me, the trickle down instances I have experienced in my life generally center on people who failed to conceal their “wicked” person. Why do you think that is? Well, basic common sense to me says that people who aren’t really the nice person they seem to be, allow these “slips” to happen because they are in fact, concealing who they really are. People who aren’t worried about hiding their true self, are legitimate people and usually don’t fall into these types of traps… they are who they are all the time.

Yes, everything we do carries an impact on others. The trickle down effects of our actions and words can help and even damage others. However, if we focus upon being our true selves in all situations, the effects will be nearly all positive whether mistakes were made or not. Genuine people are expected to make mistakes… non-genuine people who make mistakes can lose trust, respect, and their dignity amongst their friends, family, and co-workers.

Going back to my statement that I have tended to focus upon the small things from people and sad to say, most of the time, these small nuances are vastly negative. I have found that most people fear others knowing who they really are. For whatever reason, they just cannot be themselves. But, given enough time, we all figure out who they really are even as they fight tooth and nail to hide it. The little things will always come out no matter how good at hiding…

Go about your day as you really are. Don’t worry about the little things that slip through because there won’t be anything to slip. Your trickle down effects will be positive because genuine people make genuine relationships and friends. These bonds are not broken by mistakes done in an honest manner. But mistakes made by liars concealing who they really are deserve their just punishment when they do display their true nature. Be who you are, it’s the right thing to do… it’s the respectful thing to do… it’s the trustworthy thing to do… your trickle down effects will be positive in the eyes of those you interact with.

So, how am I abusing my television? Well, let me put it this way, I like to yell at the digital people on the screen… a lot… and very loud… sometimes, I think they can actually hear me. My voice and reactions must carry through the wonderland of audio and video frequencies… I whole heartedly believe that! I don’t yell and scream at the real people in my life, why do I yell at digital representations of people on my television? If I was the only one that does this, I might feel a bit weird, or maybe even crazy. But, I KNOW I’m not the only one who EXPECTS the people inside the television to hear and obey the screams of those watching.

And so, I abuse my television, it carries the weight of this burden quite well. It has yet to talk back to me and it never fails to turn on. It must be a glutton for punishment because if I listened to how I talk to it (and I’m using talk very loosely here), I would have up and blown my picture tube a long time ago. I would have ceased to recognize the remote control signals and simply sit there doing absolutely nothing. Yep, that’s what I would do quite honestly. I’m sure glad my television doesn’t have any artificial intelligence at all.

Not only do I scream at the video game people, but I yell at people playing the variety of sports that I watch. How can they make such lousy plays when they’ve been playing these sports for the vast majority of their living and breathing life? Shouldn’t they be nearly unstoppable in every facet of their sport after practicing for nearly 20 years and being paid to do it to boot? From missed free throws to missed bunts to missing their pit in the race… how can it be done?

In reality, these people DESERVE to be yelled at and yelled at VERY loudly. Not only are they making their team cover for their mistakes, but they are affecting millions of people watching their performance. Yes, they should EXPECT to get yelled at… I would because I yell at myself for making the teams I’m involved with cover for my mistakes. Yes, not only do I yell at the video games and sports people on television, but I actually yell at and abuse myself.

I hope you guys don’t think I like yelling at things that don’t talk back… I don’t exactly like it. It’s just something that is built into my emotional state of being. I like to yell at inanimate things because I believe they actually enjoy making me mad enough to do it. Why else do some of the most unbelievable things happen while I’m watching? I honestly believe that if I’m not watching, things are absolutely perfect and nothing goes wrong… but when I tune in or play the game, the entire world comes crashing down in front of me just to see how loud I can yell or how high I can make my blood pressure go.

Even though I recognize that these objects in my life simply cannot hear me, I will continue to express my dissatisfaction with them by yelling, screaming, and generally hating every lasting minute of their existence until they succumb to my every beck and call. So, television, I know I’m a bit crazy, but you will continue to hear my yells. Sports people… you also will continue to be berated by my maniacal tirades at your incompetence. And I haven’t even mentioned the tools in my life… they probably deserve their own article.

So, join me in my abuse of inanimate objects… let’s show them who the boss is! I’ll guarantee you that I’ll do my part!

But, I also believe that many, if not the majority of people in our world, simply do not want to change. They fear it… they like the way they are… they want everyone else to change to meet their needs and not the other way around. Change is a two way street in my opinion. More often than not, everyone needs to change and meet somewhere in the middle rather than having a certain group of people change to meet the group on the other side of the valley.

I see people in various states of change… unwanted change forced upon them, disguised change for some to see while others see the unchanged individual, and those willingly engaging in change for the betterment of their own life as well as others. Who do you think has the easiest time going about their daily life from the above categories?

Of course those willing to change are going to have a much happier existence simply because they have chosen to change. Those who are forced to change, do so without buying into the outcome that change is good for them… otherwise they would have elected to change willingly. And those who are choosing to pull the deceptive veils of change over their persona are only hurting themselves worse over time. To put it simply, they are nothing more than liars… to themselves, and to those around them.

To me, these people are also untrustworthy. At least the people unwilling to change have the guts to publicly stand their ground and fight for what they believe to be in their own personal best interests. Those who disguise their true intentions are weasels, snakes, and deserve to be treated as such. They deserve no respect for their actions. Change… or don’t… no need to fake it.

How do you live your life when facing change? Are you one of those who accept change and move forward? Are you one who will always buck change while going down in flames protecting what you know? Or, are you one of those who will fake change to get by and keep your precious status quo in check?

Do you know any of these fake changers in your life? How do they make you feel? I have known a few of these people throughout my life and they irritate and aggravate me… for the simple reason that they are nothing more than fakers! I can’t stand fake people… fake attitudes… fake in general. Be real or get out of my life.

Fake people, acting like they have changed, are also manipulators. It makes sense doesn’t it? If they had bought into the idea of change, they wouldn’t be disguising their actions. If they are disguising their true self, they must be doing it for a reason. That reason is that it serves their selfish reasons for a presumed payoff. They are trying to manipulate the people and situation around them to serve their own needs.

Fakers… manipulators… liars… weasels… the list could go on. People who disguise their true actions with veils of deception cannot be trusted. Choose to accept change or fight it… don’t be one of those who fake it.

Why do we do this? Whether your faith tells you not to judge others or not, we all are judging one another. We can pick the most miniscule aspect out of someone’s life and simply label them a failure because of their abject failing to be perfect in their existence. The majority of us are harsh critics of one another but at the same time, ultimate forgivers when it comes to our own failings. We rationalize away our own problems and mistakes. It must have been the circumstances or bad luck or some other cosmic crossroads that created our own error in judgment or action.

Of course the other people in our world can’t possibly have that sort of leniency. They must be responsible for every last word spoken and action taken. There are no “do overs” and no “reasons” and there are no “mistakes” when it comes to the people we judge in our lives. As I said earlier, I often fall into the trap of judging others… all under the assumption that I must be the perfect example they are judged against. How wrong is that?

Today, for whatever reason, I was thinking about someone who I had judged in my life and I thought to myself, why is that ok when I am no better? No, I didn’t make the same mistakes, but were the mistakes made by that person any worse than mine? We all like to put grades on everything in our lives… it helps us determine priority and importance. But, if I’m not supposed to judge, then how can I place a grade on their mistake? All I can do is take care of myself and work on my own mistakes.

Take a few minutes and look at your last few days. Can you honestly say that you haven’t judged another person in that timeframe? I can’t. While I know that I’m not supposed to judge, I still manage to do it because I’m not perfect. My goal is to limit the times I do while going forward so that eventually, judging others becomes as rare as humanly possible.

The fallout from judging others can damage or even destroy existing relationships. It can keep relationships from ever being formed. The obstacles we create by judging others create an unfair roadblock for others to climb over. Rarely do we judge ourselves so we unconsciously believe ourselves to be perfect… or a shade of perfect… or a rational version of perfection…

Do you think it’s fair if the people in your life judged you and put these obstacles in front of your relationship? You do it, so you can bet they do it also. Maybe that’s why relationships are so hard to keep and nurture these days… People are so judgmental of everyone in their lives that forgiveness rarely enters the equation. We have determined that nobody fits our model of perfection and we have simply determined that no one deserves to be in our innermost trusted circle.

Rather than judge the people you know, and even those you do not, try turning the idea upside down. Apply the standards you have unjustly placed on others to yourself. Place yourself within the constraints of perfection and see how well you stack up. My guess is you will be shocked by your performance if you’re honest… we aren’t perfect and never will be. Why should we apply an unachievable standard to those around us if we can’t ever achieve the standard? Stop judging and start forgiving, that’s what I plan on doing more of. I don’t want to be judged by others so why should I judge them?

All kinds of arguments are around us regarding what is fair and what isn’t when we talk about taxes. We hear terms such as progressive, regressive, inclusive, exclusive, and even sometimes we hear about a thing called The Fair Tax. Assuming we need to pay for our government to run, we need to pay some form of taxation so that we can have a military to protect our borders. We also need a governing body in place to protect our Constitution and our rights as citizens. The rest of the governing can be done at the state level in my opinion.

I’m not going to talk about that though… Today I ran across a discussion on our local major newspaper’s website involving The Fair Tax… or flat tax or even national sales tax as some people like to call it whether that’s correct or not. I’ve written an article or two about that particular tax plan and I am a strong supporter of it. I’m not going to go into the details of the plan again, but you can read about it online and even read my past articles. What I want to talk about is a particular comment made by someone in the discussion I read today.

Person X states, “The only fair tax is a steeply progressive income tax. It puts the tax burden on those who can afford it.” This of course was in response to someone supporting The Fair Tax, but person X has never read or understands the components of the proposed plan/bill. What is mind numbing to me is the simple statement made above. A “steeply progressive” income tax is absolute communism… purely blatant Marxism to the dotted i and crossed t. As for the “burden” of taxes, who are you to decide? Is your vote worth more than another American citizen? Is your dollar worth more than your neighbor’s?

Sure, wealthy people can theoretically “afford” to pay more taxes, but should they be required to pay for everyone’s way just because they can withstand such a burden? Oh, it’s the greater good argument, I get that. That’s socialism and communism wrapped up in a nice ideology. Let me just say that I work for my wealth and I pay my taxes to support many things I am ardently opposed to. My tax dollars are now supporting abortions thanks to Mr. Savior President Barack Obama. My tax dollars are now supporting more welfare families that have no ambition to work than ever before. My tax dollars support millions of immigrants who have no inclination to become citizens but yet still utilize our healthcare, our police protection, and our public services… all paid for by tax dollars.

In the end, the wealthy and those who can withstand the “burden” of taxes will wise up and stop supporting the leeches of our society… fair for the goose right? Why would I choose to work and break my back to simply carry those “unfortunate” individuals who have less wealth? If you have the ability to work and aren’t disabled, you should be forced to work a 40 hour week just like everyone else BEFORE you receive a penny of taxpayer funded support. Helping the lazy in our society has put us in the position we are in.

If I am required to help more and more people and policies that I do not support, guess what, I’m going to stop working. I’m going to stop supporting the dregs of our society. Eventually, more and more people will do the same. The wealthy and even middle class will leave the country… maybe not physically, but their money will. Jobs will leave the country because taxes will be too high within our borders. Nobody will work because the entire system is built upon reverse incentives. Work hard, pay for more lazy people to stay home. Great, that’s fair…

The tax system is nothing more than a vote buyoff program. The so-called needy, poor, or non-wealthy are nothing more than pawns in the games of those in power. This group of society gladly trades their rights for dollars in their pocket. Promise me a check and you can have my right and my vote. Thank you Mr. Obama… where’s my food stamps and tax rebate check?