The first time I wore contac lenses, my parents made me foot the bill. Given that $75 for four pairs was a pretty penny for a 14-year-old earning $3.25/hour, I took every care to make sure those pair lasted me in good quality through the year until I could get a new prescription. I have never been more grateful to my parents for teaching me the lesson of cost-benefit than I am today.
When they passed the housing bailout bill last week, the government touted it as something that will save people from losing their homes. They discount however that the people losing their homes are losing them for good reason- either they bought more than they could afford and should be renting, or they are speculating on spectacular returns. Even if this is true, this is a business for private corporations and ventures, such as the beloved Extreme Makeover Home Edition on ABC. Let them take the risks instead of forcing every taxpayer to pay for it.
Business ventures are not immune to losses. I read yesterday about a woman running a nonprofit from her Extreme Makeover Home who risks losing it. Why does she risk losing it? When she started her nonprofit, she violated Miami law by not caring for the property and incurred a $29000 lien, which of course she cannot afford.
The story ends with a desperate sob story for help:
''This is not the Taj Mahal. This is a run-down community,'' Holmes said. ``The way the economy is now, we're getting three times the amount of calls for help.''
You do not give away more than you can afford. Holmes cannot possibly save the entire world from drugs and poverty. She needs to learn to say "sorry, but no", because she has OBLIGATIONS she must pay as well, for having violated the law.
Much as I empathize with this woman, I recognize that she's not the first person to lose their home from this show. We gave them something they didn't have to do anything for, and when they couldn't take good care of it, they want us to bail them out. I love this show, and I love their philanthropy, but they are not teaching them to fish, and now that they're hungry, they're coming back to the population at large expecting and demanding a handout. Holmes has not cared for this great gift, because she didn't do anything to get it.
Many years ago a great patriot said: "That which we obtain too easily we esteem too lightly." The housing debacle should serve as a microcosm for the cause of liberty- if we are not willing to pay anything for it, we do not deserve it. If we are not willing to invest something into obtaining, maintaining and retaining it, we do not really value it and perhaps we do not deserve it. People make time for and use money on things that matter. Obviously it didn't matter to Holmes whether she kept her home, and now she risks losing her liberty and returning to the squalor from which ABC rescued her two years ago. We gave her a fish, and she ate it, and how she and thousands like her hunger to suck once more from the government teet.
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