India and My Conservative Friend

I have some friends who feel that it should be every man for himself. For instance, if someone loses his job in an industry that is dying in this country, he should get himself retrained in another field and get back to work. Never mind that the unemployment benefits last for three months or so. He also thinks that welfare is for the lazy. It's all a redistribution of wealth, he says. I'll have to ask him what he thinks of the attacks in India this weekend. India has a large welfare state, no doubt, but I want him to think about the ramifications of a society in which we are divided into haves and have-nots, similar to India's caste system. Even though it's outlawed, it's still in practice.

The difference between U.S. and India, one could argue, is that poverty in the U.S. has never risen to the level it is, has been or will be in India.

Trouble starts when people are pushed to the fringes in any society and feel that they have nothing to lose. That's what happened when this country was founded. That's what happened when the Confederate States of America was founded and that's what we've been seeing in the Mideast for decades.

I'm not for funding people as a reward to lethargy, but offering them hope is the best way to maintain civility.

It's Over

Now I can get back to my housework fulltime. Windows. Drywall. Cleaning up after the kid.

It was an amazing election, and many people I know gave more than they ever have. I don't believe that many people voted for Obama because of his skin. Some did, for sure. But people all over this world hear in his words a different message. A message that does not discount other messages or other views. That's why millions of people were partying in the streets around the world last night. Finally, there's a leader who believes in the people he serves.

Almost Gone

My wife and daughter are at Disneyworld. My wife told me last night that she and the kid were walking and she lost track of our daughter for about five minutes. My wife was walking through the crowd calling for our daughter. She turned a corner and found her standing with some strangers. Luckily the people who found my kid were nice. They stayed with her until my wife walked back. I believe most people in the world are nice and will do the right thing. But the though of losing my daughter really shakes me up. It really, really scares me.