Op-ed: Work and the American Dream?

Now then.

“The idea of hard work gets pumped into our brains by the generations that came before us. It’s that old school mentality of thinking.”

Yes, generations that built this country. Example, Aunt Julia did not get that beautiful farm in SE Ohio by wishing on a star. Those plants, trees, and bushes did not appear out of thin air. Yet when they came to the U.S. their parents had nothing. And that coal mine her husband worked at, did not produce coal unless someone, or in that case, a large group of someones went into the ground and brought it up to be sold.

In return for their labour, they saved enough to purchase the land. On it, they built a house, a barn, and a pole shed. She put in the trees, plants, and bushes on money she saved from selling corn, chickens, and later, apples.

As I grew up in the big city, I learned from my uncles what the reward was for your labour. In school, I read Abe Lincoln’s feelings about the fruits of one’s labour. “..Still, in the right to put into his mouth the bread that his own hands have earned, he is the equal of every other man, white or black.” – 1858

Later in life, I realized that man had a right to have and hold property, guaranteed by our Constitution. Something so many other nations do not allow, or if they do, corruption takes it away as candy from a baby.

They are not words on paper. No, they are backed up by experiences through our history. The constant stories about people, who started with nothing, maybe immigrants, invented, made things, bargained things, and created wealth. The man who died in his 90’s after establishing and running a newsstand in Peoria, lived life, and was happy with his small bounty.

A man who opened up a machine shop in his barn in the Blue Ridge of Virgina, almost went broke in the Panic of 1837, moved to Chicago to perfect a harvester. He died worth $11 million in 1883.

A teen growing up in South Central New York, had to take over his fathers modest mercantile business at age 15 when his father passed. He enrolled in the militia, and later became involved with local politics. Later, he became a man of many firsts. The first Mayor of Chicago, built the first railroad of Chicago. Was the first president in the newly formed Pacific Railroad (Union Pacific). All from being a frontier grocer’s son.

Those are a few historic examples. It is not who we are, it is how we apply ourselves. It is not about being in Forbes 500, it is about being comfortable with what and who you are. Even if it means a bungalow instead of a mansion, or a Chevy instead of a Mercedes. How we get there is as important as where we are going.

When one looked at the faces of immigrants working in the meat packing plants back in the 20’s and 30’s, you would have never known how they got to own homes in big beautiful suburbs. And it was a very long way from the squalor they lived in when they first arrived here.

Well, it had to be something. How did they get there? Yep, good old fashioned hard work, and a belief that they could get ahead. Without that dream, it might not have happened.

“You’re not ‘American’ if you don’t work hard, drive a Ford, drink Bud and go to church with your wife and children.

Wow, come to think of it, that is basically every North Iowan in a nutshell!”

I must not be American since excepting one, none of the above list applies to me. Heck, I don’t even listen to Country Music.

Well, if no one worked, I would have died of pneumonia at age 5 because there would have been no hospitals with doctors, nurses, or anyone producing penicillin in a manufacturing plant. Most of the people alive would be dead from one thing or another just from a lack of medical care. We’d be living in hand-hewn log homes we’d have to build ourselves. Life would be very hard and very short. People would starve to death this winter for lack of food. Sounds like fun, huh.

This article does raise some issues that I too have have thought about.Most of the problems in our little corner of the universe stem from people not being challenged to discover and take advantage of skills they possess.Working for 10 years at a manufacturing facility(hint;they moved to the murder capitol of the world)I observed that most conversations revolved around how much somebody got drunk over the weekend and how much they were planning to get drunk after payday.At no time did people talk about what they were going to do with their futures, so mediocrity rules the day.For some reason we have been duped into the template of getting out of school,working 40-50 years and retiring when we are physically breaking down. After 1 or 2 years of bothering our spouses or family we enter into an “assisted living” farm and then onto the nursing home where you are allowed to die when all the money in your retirement fund runs out.Imagine if high schools also taught students the value of saving money and investing in themselves.Then imagine generations of people that had the ability of retiring by the age of 40 if they so desired.I’m sure corporations and governments would have to adapt to a society that has the ability to think for themselves. There is nothing wrong with hard work as long as it is applied to whatever a person is passionate about.

The Bible tells us to work and not be slothful. Many of us jokingly wish we would inherit some large sum of money so that we no longer have to work. We dream of a life of leisure and not having to daily go to the office, fight the traffic, deal with work-related problems, or cook dinner after returning late. But the Bible tells us differently about work. It tells us that we are all meant to work while we are able. You’ll discover that work actually gives you a higher quality of life even if it wears you out. Let’s look at the topic of work in the Bible.
The Bible tells us that work was God’s plan from the very beginning. Genesis 2:15 (NIV) tells us that even before sin entered into the world, God put Adam and Eve in the garden to look after it. After Adam and Eve sinned and were driven out of the Garden of Eden, they were still told that they would work but it would be much harder work. Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV) gives a somewhat unattractive picture of work after God’s curse on mankind because weeds were introduced into the picture. Weeds make a person’s work much harder.
The Apostle Paul was a strong believer in the work ethic. In fact, Paul was a New Testament evangelist and church planter but he still maintained his secular profession as a tentmaker. In 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10 (NIV), Paul explains to the church how he did not want to burden them with the extra expense of his visits so he worked. He petitioned to the church to follow his example of avoiding idleness and told the church in Thessalonica that if anyone does not work, the same should not eat.
The Bible presents the ant as a model for wisdom. A person who is hard-working is considered wise like the ant in the Bible. The passage in Proverbs 6:6-11 (NIV) describes the ant and how each day it gathers what it needs for sustenance with no one to tell it what to do. The passage ends with a warning of how slothfulness leads to poverty.
The Bible describes how the slothful person will do nothing to prevent poverty. In the Book of Proverbs, the slothful person is described as one who likes sleep. In Proverbs 6:9-11 (NIV), the slothful person likes to sleep just a little longer unawares of a robber who is quietly taking away everything he has. This description is analogous to those who might sleep or do other lazy activities in the midst of their troubles. For example, a person might lose his or her job and spend the time after the job loss sleeping until noon instead of looking for work. This same person never finds a job and financial troubles accumulate.
Work with perseverance prevents much more than poverty. For instance, it prevents waste or the wasting of opportunities (this is especially important in economically hard times). In Proverbs 12:27 (NIV), we are told of the person who will not work to clean what he hunted for the day and it just goes to waste. Imagine working to achieve some goal yet not fully enjoying its fruits because you won’t do the final steps. It’s like going to 3 and one-half years of college and dropping out in the very last semester. Of course there are valid reasons students have to drop out of college but this is the person who never returns to finish what he or she started. All the work up to that point goes to waste.
from getchristiananswers.com

This is just the type of attitude I can not stand about our world. The people who have the mentality their owed something for nothing. In recent articles I’ve been described as an old man when in reality I am very young and was raised on hard work and nothing is yours unless you work for it. If you want the luxuries in life whatever they may be for you; your going to have to work to get them.