Our
Sow, Does She Have Too Many Nipples?
By
Ed Rigsbee, CSP
(880
words)
When
I mention our sow, of course I mean the United States Government. I
believe we can truly thank our elected federal officials for doing such a
fantastic job of bringing home the bacon. If one were to visit www.cfda.gov,
one would find the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
We
Did It to Ourselves?
The
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance website proudly illustrated for the
electorate is a pie chart at which Americans should marvel at the work
done for them by their elected officials. This pie chart will inform you
of “…a full listing of all the
Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the
District of Columbia
); federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and
possessions) of the
United States
; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit
organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.”
The
pie chart (May 1 2009 updated) lists:
34%
Department of Health and Human Services
21%
Department of Agriculture
19%
Department of the Interior
12%
Department of Education
11%
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Bringing
Home Too Much Bacon?
An
agency search at the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance website yields
63 agencies. While some make perfect sense for their existence, others
will definitely make you wonder. Further searches reveal 1893 programs
listed and 3229 Regional offices. One might argue the point that this is a
demonstration of both government excess and patrician payoff. I’m sure
you can list a number of recent anecdotal examples government excess and
squander-style spending from your own circles of friends, colleagues, and
clients.
Perception
is Reality
While
I’m confidant that our Federal politicians could, via double-speak,
justify every agency and every program—they would have to, or why do
these agencies and programs exist? However, I believe that most reasonable
and curious Americans would do a double take at the way our government
spends our tax dollars.
Even
if many of the agencies and programs are justifiable, which I believe they
are not, there is still the ingrained perception of the American citizenry
of gross government waste, incompetence, and protectionism. Does this mean
that everyone that works for the government is incompetent? Of course not!
I have met, and worked with a number of committed government employees
that are fabulous at their jobs—many of the supervisors—not so much.
The
Important Issue
I
have stated in my seminars and workshops for years, “If you hire a lousy
employee, you deserve who you hired.” The same goes for elected
officials. We have done it to ourselves. Just to mention a few examples:
single issue voters, uninformed voters, ignorant and uneducated voters,
voters in denial, voters expecting reciprocity for their vote,
exclusive-party voters, and (my favorite) self-interest exclusive voters.
At
some point a society has to stop sewing more nipples on the community sow.
Our sow can only allow so many to suckle before the sow goes dry. It
appears to me that such a day may be soon approaching.
Our
Responsibility to Give a Portion
I
received a response from Paul Knecht about a recent comment I made. Paul
states this about giving, “There is a rule. It was taught to the earliest Jews and is still
taught to those who follow Judaism and Christianity. The landowners
and their gatherers were told to not harvest all of the crops but to leave
some standing so the poor, widows and foreigners could harvest also. There
is an expectation that the haves share with the ‘have nots’".
While
Paul makes an excellent argument, the question is how much to leave behind
for the poor to harvest? My argument is not the idea of voluntarily
leaving a little for the poor but rather the fact that the various taxing
entities (Federal, state and local governments) in the
USA
pilfering an outrageous percentage of one’s crop. Paul’s example, to
my knowledge, does not state exactly how much to leave, and I cannot
imagine a farmer leaving 30-40% of their crop for the poor to harvest.
That’s the “total rate” at which the greater majority of successful
Americans are taxed today.
The
Pendulum’s Swing
Should
a society help those that are truly and honestly in need? I believe so.
However, just because one stubs their toe, they do not need a $900
ambulance ride to the hospital—a ride and an emergency room visit that
is paid by the local taxpayers. In a society, when the benefits to the
needy outpace the earning capability of the able bodied, something is
truly wrong. The sow definitely has too many nipples.
The
question becomes, “How did we get where we are?” Perhaps the answer is
that for many it was easier and more expedient to write a check to the
needy than to lend them a helping hand? Then it was necessary to pay
people to organize the handling of the checks. Then a time came when the
checks were expected. Today, those checks are demanded!
At
some point one has to stand up and say, “Enough!” At some point one
also has to say, “Enough” to the politicians. Politicians see their
job as being responsible to “bring home the bacon.” Do You? Perhaps
the time has come for Americans to no longer give to those that only ask
and refuse to do?
Copyright
© 2010 Ed Rigsbee
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As
an internationally recognized keynote speaker on partnering, alliance, and
relationship ROI, Ed Rigsbee helps corporate and non-profit audiences to
end the anxiety of lost opportunities and unfulfilled promises and get
what they say done. Ed Rigsbee, Certified Speaking Professional, has been
fumbling, bumbling, and stumbling his way through the organizational mazes
of for-profits and non-profits for over four decades. For the last two
decades, Ed has been an observer, researcher, and teacher; helping
organizations of all sizes to build successful internal and external
collaborative relationships. In addition to serving corporate and
non-profit clients in their partnering, alliance and relationship ROI
needs, Ed also serves as the executive director of a (501 c 3) public
non-profit charity. Ed has authored three books and over 1,500 articles
helping organizations to take full advantage of their potential. Contact
Ed, through www.Rigsbee.com for
assistance and to access a number of his complementary resources for doing
better.
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