A shining example

My wife and I spent most of Tuesday night watching the miracle in Chile. The idea that 33 men could survive 69 days in the isolation of a cave a half mile underground is a miracle in itself. The fact that so many people and countries came together so quickly and efficiently to pull this miracle off is astounding. The prayers of millions of people around the world were answered when the first miner stepped out of the escape capsule a little after midnight Chiliean time. The strength of faith that these men and their families above showed during their ordeal should be a lesson to all. We so often find ourselves lost and in despair over minor setbacks in our lives, and when we witness a miracle of this magnitude it gives us the faith and fortitude to realize how miniscule our problems are.


We are so fortunate here in America to have so much abundance available to us compared to these men and their families, yet it was they who showed the world a spirit of survival that has been lacking in our culture for many years. For 17 days they didn’t even know if those above knew where they were and if they were even alive. For 17 days they survived each day on a bite or two of tuna and a few ounces of water, how many of us would have the faith in God and the fortitude to survive even half that time. We have become so used to what we assume to be entitlements that we have forgotten most of the basic requirements for survival; Taking responsibility for our personal decisions and actions, preparing for our old age, looking out for our neighbors and the most important of all, realizing that our future is in our own hands, working our way out of problems rather than waiting for someone else to solve them for us.

Our Forefathers, grandfathers and fathers gave us the wit and the wisdom to survive everything from the Revolutionary war to the Great Depression, yet here we have lingered in the throes of this recession waiting for the great hero’s in Washington to bail us out. We the people are the only ones who can cure our ills. It’s our pocket books that have been zippered shut and our fear that has left us waiting for our government to take care of us.

We sometimes seem to miss the concept that we the people are the treasury, and we can’t afford to write anymore bad checks. The government jobs that have been created are paid out of the treasury and do little to add to the coffers. Lasting jobs are created by demand for product and demand for product is created by people purchasing those products. I truly believe this recession is the result of the rhetoric and fear tactics by both political parties leading up to and during the 2008 elections and has been exacerbated by the reckless spending of this Congress over the last 6 years. I can’t specifically blame either President as they do not have the power to spend money, only Congress can do that. Both Bush and Obama could have and should have curtailed this spending with their veto power, yet neither seemed to have the leadership qualities, desire or the cahonies to do so.

It’s time for us, (we the people) to take charge of our own lives with our votes and get rid of these pompous elitist professional politicians in Washington and to loosen our personal purse strings and buy an extra can of beans or two to bring our great economic engine roaring to life, never again allowing our government to smother us with over regulation and increased taxation.

Don