LESSONS LEARNED

I've always thought I had a pretty good command of the English language. I attribute much of that to my father, who insisted we use words properly; that we challenge ourselves to broaden our vocabulary. One of his hard and fast rules was that if we didn't know what a word meant or heard a new word, we looked it up. When one of my daughters was in the fifth grade her teacher gave each of her students a button to wear on their shirts or jackets. It was bright yellow with red letters that stated "We never guess, we look it up". I think that was meant to cover reading, history, geography (do they even teach that anymore?) and,of course, English.

I know I'm not the run-of-the-mill language buff. I have a dictionary in the magazine rack next to my chair in the living room and if I come across a word I'm not familiar with, I look it up; there's a dictionary/thesaurus near my desk; and if something comes up on television, or in the newspaper and I don't know exactly what it is or means, I run to the computer and look it up. My gosh, that lesson has stayed with me!

In today's world our word usage has expanded immensely. I have to admit I don't know what some of the new lingo means and when I look it up I don't even understand the technical language, but I try.

Lately, and even though I don't want to get into politics, I have strong feelings about come of the current topics, but what I really want to see is something I call common sense put into place. Can something as simple as this prevail? My most current conundrum is the situation with gas prices which hit and hurt just about everyone in this country and are part of the myriad proposals facing us all. There seem to be many solutions and blame connected with this subject, offered by many people. One of the words bandied about is the word subsidy. It seems big oil companies need subsidies.

Excuse me but just look up the word subsidy. It means; financial support, financial assistance, financial funding, financial backing, grants and subvention. Notice all those 'financial' words. I always thought subsidies were a system used by government at all levels to help a struggling entity, to give a lift to new business or programs, or to help people with real needs.

Now here's the problem I have with this subject. How, I ask, does a company who boasts and posts bigger than enormous profits for one quarter of the year, qualify for a subsidy? What kind of financial help do they need? Are they in need of financial assistance? Financial backing? Grants? Small struggling businesses, businesses that, with some help, could expand thereby picking up some of the people who are looking for jobs, and people and programs in need might qualify for subsidies. But major, giant, thriving businesses don't need subsidies.

I think I might share this with some of our congressmen, maybe even the President. It's one small voice but perhaps we should raise some small voices. It's not against the law to raise a question or prompt a discussion. Subsidies for giant oil companies?

Another lesson my father taught me was that it was a privilege to be an American citizen (he was naturalized) but with that privilege came responsibility. We've always been a nation of responsible, privileged people. We help the poor and downtrodden. We share where we can. Isn't that just common sense?

I think we've all learned this kind of lesson sometime in our life. Lessons we should use.

The Unrest and the Results

A couple of months ago I wrote a letter to the editor lamenting the loss of civility in our culture and included it on my blog. Today I continued on that same subject as follows:

Over the past months the lack of civility, respect and common courtesy has deteriorated beyond belief. There are more and more instances of a total disregard for respect in every facet of our lives. It's okay to shout down the President of this country? It's okay to shout out racial slurs and to spit on our Congressmen as they enter the Capitol Building. This terrible situation is actually encouraged by a few of our leaders. It is okay to twist and turn the truth into scare tactics? No, none of this is okay!

People who were once reasonable and respectful have slipped away only to be replaced by unruly mobs carrying placards with terrible statements, using words no decent citizen would utter. There appears to be no shame as to what language is used and where it is used.

These can be troubling times but shouting matches and outright lies will solve nothing. Every American has a right to his or her opinion and a right to voice that opinion but with decorum, respect and responsibility to not only speak, but to listen.

Some of the falsehoods are nothing more than scare tactics. Some of them are very damaging. Just yesterday an announcement was made that the recently signed Bill concerning health care and regulations for the insurance industry was challenged as being unconstitutional. I don't think it is but it certainly is not unreasonable to wait until the parliamentarian and officials research the subject completely. Are there no open minds left? One cause for this premise of challenge is the belief that "it is unconstitutional for the government to force citizens into programs they do not support." Did you know that Medicare would fall into that category? Medicare is essentially compulsory. People who refuse to join Medicare Part A are not allowed to receive their earned Social Security benefits. I haven't heard of many people refusing these benefits mandated by the Acts establishing Social Security or Medicare. (this information was taken from 5 Things that will make your Smarter - Highlands Today, March 24, 2010) I believe this reasoning can be applied to the current Bill and has also been applied to such Acts as the Civil Rights Bill and probably more of the 'government plans' we all enjoy. Do those who make this challenge really want to refuse restrictions on the insurance industry? Do they not see a need for some of the provisions as to pre-existing conditions? There are government procedures that may change some of the provisions but to just toss out the entire Bill doesn't make sense. Kind of like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Since the actions of our government affect many facets of the lives of all American citizens, wouldn't it be wiser to calm down, remember the manners and freedoms that we have enjoyed over the past two hundred years? Our willingness to work together, to respect each other and to continue to enhance and build our greatness as a people who can and do work together is one of the many things that makes the Unites States of America the wonderful democracy/republic it is. A little cooperation, a smidgen of respect and patience and a dash of courtesy goes a long way. Let's work together before the violence like brick throwing and civil violence gets out of hand.