Every Friday my syndicated column appears in a bunch of newspapers in southeastern Ontario. Last week I was on vacation and forgot to post it! So here's my column from July 8!
Shortly after Osama bin Laden was sent to meet his maker, Rush Limbaugh lambasted the guy’s housekeeping. On his show, Limbaugh noted that with three wives, you'd think Osama's house would have been a little neater, rather than strewn with rotten food, soiled linen, and dirty dishes.
I think Rush got it wrong. Maybe one woman could have kept it clean, but add three to the mix, and a mess is the only logical outcome. It’s called the Tragedy of the Commons, and it’s human nature.
Let’s take a look at bin Laden’s pathetic brood to figure out why this is so. I hope it goes without saying that polygamy is absolutely, completely, and undeniably disgusting. I can't think of a worse type of relationship. It tells women that you're not really special. You're here to perform a role, which is basically a sexual one. You're not here to be a confidante or a friend, because I can't treat you any differently from any of the other wives. So I'm just going to use you.
In that environment, if you were one of Osama's three wives, would you clean anything? I sure wouldn’t, because nothing would be mine. Everything would be his, and if I made it better, then I'd be making life easier for two of my rivals and all of their children, too. A race to the bottom, then, is the only logical outcome: it’s a race to see who can get away with doing the least, so that nobody else benefits from our labour. So they all lived in squalor.
But this problem with human nature is not restricted to psychopathic Islamic extremist polygamists. Socialism has much in common with Osama’s lack of housekeeping. When everything is owned in common, then people don't care for it properly, because others can abuse it or can skate along with no effort on their own part. That's one reason, for instance, that agricultural output in the former Soviet Union kept decreasing every year, despite all the new agricultural policies. When people don't own the crops they produce, and when others can benefit from someone else’s work, then people will not work as hard.
Ownership matters. If we're going to have pride in something, we have to have a stake in it which cannot be taken away. We have to be able to benefit from the fruits of our labour, but, just as importantly, we have to be able to benefit only from the fruits of our labour. If we can get something for free, why work for it?
That’s why economic freedom is so closely related to happiness and well-being. The countries with the highest amount of economic freedom also have the happiest citizens, the safest citizens, and the wealthiest citizens. They are, on average, ten times wealthier than those from countries with the lowest economic freedom. Even the poor in Canada, for instance, are eight times wealthier than the poor in countries which are not economically free.
We just celebrated Canada Day, and every July 1 I feel humbled to live in this country. I don’t think we fully realize how wonderful it is to be as free as we are. But this will only remain a great country if we, its people, keep demanding that government do only what is necessary, and that we, its citizens, be permitted to pursue our own interests. That builds a country where we’re not trying to take from each other. We’re not trying to do the minimum. We’re working hard, because we get to enjoy what we work for. I’m proud to be a Canadian. Economic freedom, no polygamy, and thus much less tragedy. Sounds pretty good to me.
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This morning I was reading SomeGirl's Website, and she's talking up a storm about entitlements. She's been reading the book From Innocence to Entitlement: Today she posted this quotation, which I think is brilliant:
A sense of entitlement isn’t really about getting too much, it’s about giving too little.
Tomorrow is Canada Day up here in The Great White North, and of course my American friends will celebrate July 4 in a few short days as well. So I thought it might be worth reflecting on the nature of our countries and what this quote means.
I'm going to get a little American here, so please forgive me my fellow Canadians, but I think it applies to us as well. John Adams, the second President, wrote frequently to his wife Abigail about his vision for the United States. And one thing he said was that the nation couldn't survive if it were not, fundamentally, a Christian nation.
And I agree. Our democracies work not just because they enshrine our rights, but also because with our freedom comes responsibility. We feel a sense of community because we are free to pursue it, and the government doesn't interfere. And so you saw people caring for their neighbours, and creating a better life for their kids, and working hard.
But when these things go--when we stop concentrating on what we can do to make life better, and start waiting for others to make our lives better--the main problem, as the quotation says, is not that we are expecting people to do things for us. It's that we have stopped doing things altogether.
Do you know what makes our hospital work? Canada has socialized medicine, and it's a big fat mess in my particular neck of the woods. But the reason that our hospital continues to function is that doctors and nurses go out of their way to do double shifts sometimes, to fill in that call schedule, to call around and make sure someone has a follow-up appointment. They don't just do the minimum; if they did, it would fall apart. They do more, and so the hospital continues to limp along.
If my husband stopped filling in the gaps in the call schedule (he's a pediatrician), obstetrics would close. The Emergency Room would be in dire straits. And so my husband keeps plugging along.
Our society works because people go above and beyond. They care about others. They feel a sense of responsibility. When that sense goes--when people stop going above and beyond--our society falls apart.
The Founding Fathers got that. The society only works when people work hard and care for each other.
But we aren't doing that anymore. There is a rush to the bottom, a rush to do the minimum. The new god in our society isn't money; it's leisure. We're all trying to do the least possible. And that is why the entitlement society has hurt us so much; it is not just that people expect things from others; it is that we have stopped working and helping.
I think the anniversaries of the births of our countries is a good time to remind us of that: we will only fluorish not when the government gives us everything, but when we all work hard together.
Happy long weekend, everybody! Now go do something nice for someone.
I don't usually mention politics in this blog, but I just have to talk about something or I will just burst.
As many of you know, I am Canadian. And up here in Canada, the opposition Liberals and NDP are making a huge issue out of the fact that some prisoners that we captured in Afghanistan were ALLEGEDLY handed over to the Afghan army, where they were tortured.
I don't agree with torture, but here's what I don't get: What would the Liberals rather we do instead? We can't keep them ourselves if they're dangerous, because the Liberals are also against Guantanamo Bay like facilities. We can't release them, because they're really dangerous. And the Liberals don't want us to stay in Afghanistan. They want us to get out. Which means that the Afghan army is going to have to be looking after these prisoners anyway.
I just don't like it when people criticize something when they don't have any better ideas. Our troops are doing an amazing job in Afghanistan (I have several friends who are over there right now). They deserve our thanks, not the defense critic of our nation calling them "war criminals".
And now, an end to my political time-out. I promise not to stray too far into politics again soon!
For all my American readers who have been burning with curiosity about what life is like up here in Canada (yeah, right), I have some information for you!
Here's Jeff Foxworthy (who does not live in Canada) on life in Canada. And he's amazingly right on:
If someone in a Home Depot store Offers you assistance and they don't work there, You may live in Canada . (I don't know why Americans think Canadians are so polite. I find most of us obnoxious!)
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, You may live in Canada . (this is my youngest daughter's winter uniform).
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation With someone who dialed a wrong number, You may live in Canada .
If you measure distance in hours, You may live in Canada . (Oh, yeah baby. We live 2 hours from Toronto and 2 and a half from Ottawa).
If you know several people Who have hit a deer more than once, You may live in Canada . (Typical dinner conversation: The first time I hit a deer....)
If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' In the same day and back again, You may live in Canada . (did that today)
If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow During a raging blizzard without flinching, You may live in Canada . (I've never mastered this. But my husband has).
If you carry jumpers in your car And your wife knows how to use them, You may live in Canada . (I do!)
If you design your kid's Halloween costume To fit over a snowsuit, You may live in Canada . (Did this every year when the kids were young!)
If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km -- You're going 90 and everybody is passing you, You may live in Canada . (Who's he kidding? The speed limit is 100 and I go 125).
If you know all 4 seasons: Almost winter, winter, still winter, And road construction, You may live in Canada . (Oh, yeah).
If you have more miles On your snow blower than your car, You may live in Canada . (Hint: we call them kilometres).
If you find 2 degrees 'a little chilly', You may live in Canada . (It's not too bad).
If you actually understand these jokes, you must be Canadian!
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
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