It's Time For Personal Responsibility

Someone once said, "I love my country but I fear my government." Like you, I watched the nomination process and for two years politicians campaigned for the Presidency rather than handle business in Washington. Well, we have change.

One economist said that if we had spent a million dollars a day since Christ walked the earth; we would not have spent the amount of money our government just did. I can't count that high but thank goodness some folks can.

As I was flying home from Arizona Saturday, I watched as the country side slipped past as we zoomed along six miles above it. I thought "how small the foot print of man is." Had I been on the ground, I would have seen vehicles, homes and businesses that man has built. From that distance they looked like children's toys.

It was easy to think that the lives in that plane and those on the ground had no impact on each other, but they do. Today it is easy to think that what goes on in Washington does not affect Southwest Missouri, but it does.

A fellow wrote me the other day and said, "Most people refuse to believe that our 'Titanic' is sinking. They are rearranging the deck chairs rather than helping people get into the life boats. Even the leaders of our local and national community are wasting time looking for people to blame for the massive loss of jobs, economic meltdown and climate change. People are working so hard to pay the bills and keep the alligators out of the kitchen that they are too busy to look up at the clouds and see what's coming. Some will continue to play the blame game and complain about the failure of our government to help us."

I have watched natural disasters hit all over this country, and folks like you and me worked together, helped each other and did NOT wait on the government to help them. Then there was Katrina! Many people waited for the government to save them, and many died. Now we are waiting for the government to save us again, I'm not seeing much salvation yet. I hear a lot of folks talking and don't see many folks doing! The news depresses, especially the latest being that the United Nations wants part of our bail out money. I have said for over a year that we are headed for a train wreck, we're not there yet but we are rushing toward it as fast as we can.
So what do we do? We had better start thinking and we had better start acting! Insurance is an investment we make because something bad could happen. Seat belts are an investment we wear because something bad could happen. There has not been a news cast for weeks that does not trumpet, "SOMETHING BAD IS HAPPENING!"

I don't care if you're Republican, Democrat or an Independent. I don't care if you voted for Obama, McCain or Ron Paul - I don't care. What I care about is that we are ALL going to be affected by both what our government has done and what it has not done.

Why are we relying on the very people that created this mess to get us out of it? It just doesn't make sense to me.

What makes sense is growing some of your own food, getting your personal economics more stabilized and reducing some of your expenditures. Saving is something we need to pay more attention to. We prepare for tornados and ice storms; doesn't it seem we should be preparing for more economic crunches?

I don't trust the government to prevent more layoffs, more failures, higher taxes and reduced services. I don't trust the government to take care of me and my family - that is my responsibility and that is what I working at.

For months I have had conversations with folks across the country that are very concerned about the state of affairs. They are waking up and becoming concerned about developing a more sustainable life style. They want to create a better world for themselves and the next generations.

This is not new. The plans are not new. The processes and plans have been around for years, but today they are becoming more relevant. The changes both in the direction of where our country is headed and in the attitudes of many citizens are massive - and mysterious.

The things I can do to help myself and my family are recognizable, predictable and within my ability to accomplish. As I prepare for the storms that hit the Ozarks, I am preparing for the storm that is hitting the country. It seems that most folks are saying that within just a few months the train wreck will be here. We still don't know what that looks like, but no one is saying everything will be fixed.

It is time to talk, it is time to plan, it is time to act. We're about out of time.