Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Just returned from Honduras

Okay, so I have just returned from Honduras where I was on a mission trip to an Orphanage. I am changed. For one week no news about the economic "crisis", no news about much of anything. I spoke to someone from Honduras and they stated that "it is unlikely that the global economic issues will effect Honduras because we are too poor." How true. But what is poor? Are they poor because they grow their own food? No. Are they poor because they do not have a 50" plasma TV? No. Are they poor because they don't have two cars? No.

They are rich is spirit. They are rich in love for each other. They are a genuine people. What you see is what you get. We were a curiosity to them because it was obvious that we were not Honduran, but from America, however once they got over that what we began to realize is that we are all just trying to make the best of our worlds with what we have.

We have forgotten the basics. We have forgotten what it is like to not have water, electricity, food. In Honduras the government run schools are not free... the student pays to go, for books, for the uniform, for everything. Here we complain because they want to shut down a school, or worse yet end a sports program.

WAKE UP AMERICA. Wake up to the fact that our strength is in our community, not in our government. In our ability to care for each other and ourselves. In what was once called "Rugged American Individualism". Stop being a sheeple. Stop following the heard. Stop thinking everything can be solved by the government. That is communism / socialism. It is weak and short term. We must find strength in ourselves and in our community.

The government finds strength in control through the tax base. Why do we choose to give that that control? Why do we feel that they should be responsible for taking care of Social Security Number YOU? You are just a number to them... not a person. A list in a database, on a spreadsheet... an income or expenditure.

Look to the 'third world' countries as an example of what real strength is.

-End of Ramble.

9 comments:

Geek270 said...

Ordinary Guy,
Great observation. I have served in a number of third-world situations and have observed the same thing. they have nothing, materially speaking, but riches beyond compare to those in this country who possess (or are possessed) by "riches"

Beth said...

Thanks for sharing your experience and God bless you for your mission work!

We do need to get back to the basics indeed.

Anonymous said...

We have found common ground. There is hope after all.

Lucid Guy said...

Welcome back Ordinary and for sharing your experience.

Here's hoping for change and that Leftie has finally seen the light.

Pragmatic Guy said...

The troubling message here is that "government" and "community" are described as opposites. "Government" is a tool that mankind has devised to make community efficient, successful, meaningful etc. We can be individualists (and rugged) (and American) yet place authority into representative government to further the individualist cause (and the American cause) (not to forget the rugged cause).

We find strength in ourselves and our community by building efficient, successful, meaningful governments. Refusing to build that government and participate in its institutions is letting go of a great tool -- leaving room for anarchy, oligarchy or theocracy (although from the sound of it, the latter does not appear to be an abomination to the authors of this blog). Government is an easy target, because it is distributed, anonymous, distant. But history shows that government, not just Rugged Individualism, has been and will be an essential component of America's success.

Government has had its ups and downs, but overall, it has been a resounding success in the United States. Our job is to keep its standards as high as possible, not to systematically denigrate its ability to represent us, defend us, develop us and enrich us. Whether it succeeds at doing so is an entirely separate question.

Ordinary Guy said...

@Pragmatic,

Government is on a 'Down; currently. Why? No, not because the Democrats are in charge, but rather because the principles upon which this country was founded are GONE! Poof! Out the door...

What do I mean?

Our founding fathers realized that a large organization could not handle the service of many individuals... so it set in place tiered system with responsibility for the individual at the local level and responsibility for the "common defense" and "promoting the welfare" of the country at the highest level. We have had at least two failed experiments with government dealing with individuals -- Social Security and Medicare -- both are nearly bankrupt (I am being nice) and to both you are just a number, not a person, not an individual, A NUMBER.

What, in your honest opinion, makes you think that the government can do ANYTHING for the individual? Government has done nothing but get in the WAY of the individual... and Rugged Individualism. Please cite some examples where "government... has been ... an essential component of America's success."

BTW... NO WAY to a theocracy. A moral belief structure is an assumed underpinning of a Democracy that we have failed to maintain in this country... but it is NOT part of government.

-End of Ramble.

Pragmatic Guy said...

You'll agree with these: Interstate highways, universities, NASA, Internet, transcontinental railroad, transistors, Patent and Trademark Office, FDA, EPA. These government-sponsored programs/institutions have elevated the individual to historical levels.

You'll disagree with these: Social Security, Medicare, Food stamps, Post Office, airlines. These programs have a more subtle effect. They benefit us, albeit indirectly.

Government failing the individual: TSA, Bureau of Indian Affairs, FBI, CIA, DHS, SEC and others. I wish we had the courage to say goodbye to these institutions or programs.

Ordinary Guy said...

Add Welfare, Social Security and Medicare to your list of disagree's and I'm with you.

Oklahoma City Divorce Attorney said...

The economic downturn is not entirely a bad thing - I believe it is time for America's to stop obsessing over the size of their house and the size of the vehicle, and instead focus on what is really important - like you said, back to basics.