I love our founding fathers. They had the greatest ideas, but it has often taken decades, or even centuries, before anyone decided to implement them. John Jay wanted to abolish slavery through the Constitution, but, as we all know, this did not come about until 1865 at the end of the Civil War. Benjamin Franklin came up with Daylight Savings Time, but that was not used until World War II. As I found out today, Benjamin Franklin said something else that was fantastic.
“I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. ”*
Wow! I could not have said it better, then again, it was said by Benjamin Franklin and who can say things better than he? Benjamin Franklin hit the nail on the head. That is exactly the problem: people conceding to the plight of the poor. Yes, some people do have problems. But whatever happened to the ideas of the Great Depression? If the government is going to give someone money, they should work for it. Whether it be digging a hole and filling it up again, or doing society a great service, when people provide for themselves they become richer. It all comes back to the drive of people, the initiative. Without some sort of incentive, initiative dies and people cease trying. This is what happens in socialistic and communistic societies. This is part of the problem we have found ourselves in: we can receive government money and are not required to do anything in return. The solution? Do as Benjamin Franklin said, when we do less for them (Medicare and so on), the more they will provide for themselves and increase their personal wealth. Ah Comrade! Welcome to the nanny state. Here, everything is provided for us. It took 80 years for John Jay’s anti-slavery laws to come to pass. It took almost 200 years for Benjamin Franklin’s Daylight Savings Time to catch on. It is time that we pay attention to our Founding Fathers once again, and realize that though they may seem old and “out of touch” they knew what they were talking about; no other constitution has lasted as long as ours, I think they had an idea of what they were talking about.
*Benjamin Franklin, writing for the London Chronicle, On the Price of Corn, and Management of the Poor, November 1766.
