"You owe me..."

I'm wondering where this attitude comes from that seems so prevalent in our society by those who grew up in a different generation than myself and even some of my peers?  Working with the public, it is amazing the number of times I've heard this inferred in conversation. Whether it is someone expecting their "due" from the government or looking to get something for nothing - seems the same to me.

No one owes me anything because of my skin color, religion, socio-economic status, political party, or simply because I was born!  To all those that espouse this attitude, I say "What do you owe me and the rest of society?"  Think about that for a minute... I have.

If we owe you healthcare, education, welfare, housing, transportation, then it only seems right that you owe us a return on investment as well. If you can't support your family currently, you have no business increasing that burden to society by having more children. You owe us that as a society. You owe us taking care of your health - no drugs or alcohol. You owe us going to & staying in school to better your chances of success and being productive in society.   You owe us getting off your butt and finding work wherever it is available - none of this "I'm too good to do that job", or "Why should I work?" nonsense. Most of all,  You owe society gratitude for what you have already been given for nothing?  The attitude has to go!

I've never owned a slave, put anyone on a reservation or oppressed your ancestors.  If that happened to your family, I feel bad for you, but also say that was hundreds of years ago - what is your excuse today?  If you are in that situation, you definitely have had many more opportunities than I had handed to me as a white, middle-class male.  I've had to work hard for everything I have.  I had to study in school and make sure I qualified for scholarships, because my parents didn't have money to send me to college.  I had to work 20-30 hrs a week during College in addition to taking a full load of credit hours.  I drove an old car. When I graduated, then it was on to 40-50 hrs/week making a salary and paying my bills along with 28-31% taxes since I'm single. Tax money that I repeatedly see given to people or organizations who are corrupt, show no gratitude, or think they are owed from some event in the distant past. I've never expected anyone else to do it for me.   I resent anyone telling me that I owe them a part of the success I've worked hard for - none of it was given to me by anyone except God and the soldiers that protect my freedoms.

The only thing owed you in America is a chance to prove yourself and be a productive part of society, but that doesn't come from your skin color, heritage, or a situation that you refuse to better when given the chance.  Just my thoughts and observations...

Hello World!

This is the Wyokid here. I was born and raised in Wyoming and proud of it. Growing up there gave me a great basis for life which has served me well my whole life. I have awesome parents that are still alive and who taught me wonderful values, that contrary to popular belief, are not outdated. Values which included hard work, honesty, integrity, kindness, love, doing what's right, faith, respect & sacrifice. I'm new to the whole blogging thing but excited to learn about it and be able to be heard out in cyberspace. See ya around!