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August 4, 2008 at 23:49:57
The Truth About Progressive Notions of a Level Playing Field by William Falzett III Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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I grew up in a modest home. I was the product of teen-aged parents who were estranged when I was a baby, and permanently divorced by the time I was three. There were years when I qualified for free school lunches, but I refused to apply. The prospects were bleak at times, but I always believed that if I put in the effort, made sacrifices, and did my work, that I could advance and succeed. I have lived through days of digging change out from behind the sofa cushions, putting myself through college painting houses, and driving beat up cars held together by twisted clothes hangers. Today, I live the American dream. I have a great job, a beautiful home and a wonderful family; everything I lived through to get here was worth it. I never spent a moment waiting around for a level playing field or a fair deal.
When I was in high school, I met an Iranian guy my age. This was during the time when people from the middle-east were commonly called "Camel Jockey" and worse. We became friends, and I learned a little about his life. His father had been a military General officer under the government of the Shah of Iran. When the Shah was deposed, my friend and his mother had to flee the country for safety. Soon after arriving here, as a Junior in High School, he bought a used compact car, and began mowing yards with a lawn mower and other equipment he carried in the trunk of the car. Over a period of a few years, he expanded his landscaping business by offering home builders the opportunity to pay him when the houses sold, rather than upon completion of the work. He expanded further with crews in landscaping, bricklaying and other areas of construction. Today, he is a multi-millionaire, and he spent not one moment crying about epithets or waiting around for a level playing field or a fair deal.
My cute little wife was born in Korea in 1966. Her mother brought her to this country when she was 5 years old. This fine woman also brought along five sisters, two brothers, and her own mother. My wife, her mother and her aunts and uncle are first generation immigrants to this country. Each of them has worked hard in school, in work and in life, and to raise a family here. Along the way, there were sacrifices. Frequently they lived modestly, often harvesting food from the nearby Pacific ocean, and making good choices in an effort to get ahead. My wife even sold her car to finance her final year of college. Today, the second generation of this extended family includes several college graduates, and all the kids excel in school. Several among them own multiple homes. This family has achieved enormous success in this land of opportunity, and not one of them has wasted a moment waiting for a free meal, a level playing field or a fair deal handed down from Washington.
Every day we have people clamoring to get into our country from Mexico and South America. So many in fact that we are building a fence across the border, and have citizens groups maintaining a vigil with guns and cameras trying to keep them out. Every day they stream across anyway in the dead of night and in broad daylight, risking life and limb to come to America to enjoy the fruits of this great land. These are people who appreciate the American dream of opportunity, and not one of them is waiting for a level playing field or a fair deal before making the crossing.
I work with immigrants from China, Pakistan, India, and Africa. I hear them talk, sometimes in lamentation, about how their school aged children are already becoming Americans, in one generation. I see these people come to work every day, overcome language barriers, and compete with a work ethic unsurpassed in the job market. I see their children mirroring their ethic in their school work. These people are not sitting idly by pining for their ancestral home awaiting a level playing field or a fair deal.
In what must have been a rare moment of clarity for a Democrat, John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, Ask what you can do for your country!" Amen Brother! None of the people I have described sat around waiting for the government of this country to deliver a level playing field or a fair deal. Instead, each answered the question of what he or she could do. Each found the answer in education, hard work and sacrifice and made themselves into productive citizens. Each of them made more opportunities with good choices, and raising children with the same values. Life in the US offers us opportunities, not success and happiness on a silver platter. It is a simple formula: get an education, get a job, work hard, sacrifice, and stop waiting around for a living wage, reparations, food stamps, free health care, affirmative action and free lunches. Government programs do not create success. Success happens one person at a time, by a lifetime of work, sacrifice, good choices, and an attitude of self-reliance. I don't trust anyone in Washington to spend more of my tax dollars on programs of any kind, and I am never going to wait around for a level playing field or a fair deal. I hope you don't either. However, if you are a person waiting around for a level playing field, be advised there are people coming from all over the world, making themselves useful, and making a life from the opportunities you are missing while you wait.
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lousy article
Your article does nothing but promote the myth of America's superiority and the crap that everyone has equal opportunities. The fact is both in America and the rest of the world a small minority possess most of the world's wealth, land, and political power. Your damn right I support redistributing wealth, land, and political power from the elites who rule the world so everyone gets their fair share and great disparities in wealth, land ownership, and political power come to an end. Your opposition to a level playing field shows you are nothing but an apologist for the elites. by Ty (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 888 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Aug 5, 2008 at 7:40:50 PM  (0+)
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Involuntary Immigrants
Sociologically, one can categorize minorities into two types: 1) Immigrant Minorities; and 2) Involuntary Minorities. These two types of minorities have different values and different types of cultural differences. Immigrant Minorities values and behaviors: (i.e., Chinese, Cubans, Japanese) * not highly influenced by majority group attitudes and values * measure success by homeland standards * believe they can go back home and use skills and degrees * can alternate behavior characterized by primary cultural differences: a) differences existed before cultures came into contact b) differences are specific, easily identifiable matters of content such as language, food, customs, and dress c) minority groups members don’t suffer emotionally as they work to overcome differences—they’re motivated to learn the things that will help them to succeed—they can alternate—they develop a folk theory for success that places a high value on education Involuntary Minorities values and behaviors: (i.e., African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Southeast Asians) *highly influenced by majority group attitudes and values *measure success by mainstream culture standards *can’t go back home or export skills and degrees *can’t alternate behavior *characterized by secondary cultural differences: a) differences came into existence after cultures came into contact b) differences are more a matter of style than content—different ways of walking, talking, and dressing c) minority group members have created the differences to distinguish themselves from the mainstream and will not attempt to cross self-imposed cultural boundaries d) minority group members who try to overcome differences may suffer both emotionally and physically—group members may exert negative peer pressure against crossing boundaries—it is not possible for members to alternate—they develop a folk theory for success that puts a low value on education In short, involuntary minorities’ diaspora holocaust has left a “cultural scar” that is transmitted from parent to child generation after generation. Some members of these groups obtain the “cultural tools” to succeed in mainstream culture, but many do not. While there exist educational programs that could correct these problems within 1 generation (20-years, with proper funding). One school applied the program in their school and African-American students raised their score from 23% at grade level to 73% out performing the White suburbs. Unfortunately, the mass media and even some ill informed members of the African American community opposed its implementation into the district. Most of us have heard of the Ebonics program, far less of us know what it is. However, a Ebonics discussion will leads us off topic. One could ask, “Why don’t African Americans get over it?” The simple answer is in a racialized society, African Americans will not receive a proper education and educational resources. By racialized society I refer to a society wherein race matters profoundly for differences in life expectancies, life opportunities, and social relationships. A racialized society allocates different economic, political, social, and psychological rewards to groups along racial lines, lines that are socially constructed. Moreover, all thought is fundamentally mediated by power relationships, which are socially and historically constituted. In all asymmetrical power relationships individuals with higher social status explain the status quo, as natural, the will of god, biological inferiority, cultural deficit, cultural mismatch, “just get over it.”. All such explanations have two things in common: a single cause and a context free explanation. Any solution will need to be based on contextual interaction, meaning certain groups fail to achieve because of the complex interaction of many factors including background experiences, social factors, and school setting (multiple cause and context specific). Unfortunately, the use of contextual interaction method begins to reveal the power structure of the society, which reveals that those in power have no pants. Respectfully, Daniel by Octavio Caballero (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008 at 12:37:27 AM (0+)
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Reply: Thank you, Daniel.
You made some great points. Mr. Falzett demonstrates his mindset of the common disconnect from the modern experience of poverty, need, and hopelessness in America -while obviously seeing no difference between the 'white' experience and those of 'Involuntary Immigrants' such as African Americans, or even 'Involuntary' minorities such as Native Americans. He also seems to fail in grasping that time has not frozen -thus the ever increasing gap between the haves and have-nots is much different than it was in his youth. These days, it is incredibly expensive to live even a modest existence -even more so if the odds are against you because of your environs, statistics of violence, perceived social status, economic disadvantage, education level, and widespread indifference to and/or ignorance of such despairing states as expressed by the author of the diary... He has neglected to mention that many 'Voluntary' immigrants are able to open businesses through our own Government's subsidies to them while enjoying a few years of being tax exempt as well. Commonly, these businesses have quite a nice run as they are signed over to 'new arrivals' just as the tax exempt status runs out -so that the new immigrant (a wife or son, for instance) can repeat all the benefits until it is time again to sign the business over to another family member... It is not hard to see how these 'Voluntary Immigrants' do so well! At least that's how things were working only a couple of years ago... Not quite a 'level' playing field for the black entrepreneur struggling to get into business on his own now is it? Most likely, Mr. Falzett is of the notion that Libertarianism would solve all the problems this country faces... or at least those faced by mostly well-to-do white people who need to blame the big, bad Government for all their problems. I tend to call 'Bullshit' as soon as someone starts crying about 'Affirmative Action'... oft times we can glimpse where their real 'issue' is at! Cheers, Bid by C.Bid (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 739 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008 at 10:49:21 AM (0+)
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How can we get the word out?
Assuming each of you are correct in your comments and there is no opportunity left in America, how can we get the word out to all the prospective immigrants to look elsewhere? Thanks Bill by William Falzett III (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 19 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008 at 11:04:25 AM (0+)
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Reply: The wall...
I figured the Wall would give a nice "You're not welcome" mat to our Southern neighbors intent on crossing illegally... For those who enter legally, they should not be discouraged -however, I don't understand how you cannot see that some are afforded a much fairer or more level playing ground than others... by C.Bid (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 739 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008 at 2:52:35 PM (0+)
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Your prejudice
I am sure all of you have good intentions, but you are each guilty of reading into this article to varying degrees based upon your own prejudices. Nowhere did I say we have a level playing field in this country; We don't. We are guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not a level playing field or an equality of outcome. What I have suggested is that those who are promoting a level playing field, and those who are waiting for one, are waiting for Godot. There never has been a level playing field anywhere, and there never will be one. I am suggesting you all quit expecting government and taxpayers to solve your problems, and go use the opportunities that do exist to improve your lot. If you are going to suggest there are no opportunities, then you have to account for all the people clamoring to get in here. Daniel, you sound like the typical bureaucrat, using esoteric language to present a scientific sounding case for a program. Blah, blah, blah, and give us some money and we can solve this problem. And when the problem continues to grow, you say, we need more understanding and budget, ad infinitum. Furthermore, this entire argument is based on the flawed assumption that the rest of us have an obligation to solve the problem. We don't. Every time we surrender to this kind of stuff, it comes out of my pocket. by William Falzett III (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 19 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008 at 5:21:56 PM (0+)
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Reply: Your damned tax dollars!
Obviously, you don't believe in any of the Government's Social Assistance Programs... Neither are you bound to any innate sense of responsibility when it comes to caring for your neighbor/brother -I take it? Why should you? Generally speaking, why should any money be taken from your pockets in order to maintain communal elements of this society that you'd opt out of relying on -given a chance to? Because you cannot avoid the benefits of our tax-paying system! A military to protect you. Emergency services such as a local fire department, rescue squad, and ambulances. Police protection at a local level. A National Guard that can respond to environmental disasters. Paved roadway and interstate systems. Bridges and tunnels. Dams and Levees. Signals broadcast across open and free airwaves. The list goes on and on... Tis only fair that each pay a certain percentage into maintaining the programs and structures that have already been set up, built, or invested in by our previous generations... If you choose not to, of course, you'll wind up suffering the penalties. You could always try to figure out a better place to live and forfeit your citizenship if it's truly that offensive to you. But remember, paraphrasing Socrates, that by accepting the perks of a society -you must also accept the rules, limitations, laws, and likewise the down sides of the society... Otherwise... well, that would be hypocritical. Why is it that money (especially the 'Tax Money' you have to give up) is the all important bottom line to you Libertarians??? You guys try to make it out like you are somehow almost buddhists in your political philosophies -but, in all actuality, are the most elitist, self-centered, greedy bastards to ever come along... even more so than your average bonafide red-blooded republican! by C.Bid (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 739 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Aug 6, 2008 at 11:13:35 PM (0+)
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Reply: The Law
C.bid, your vision of the country is one of arbitrary "I want it because I want it, and if I don't get it, I am going to start shaming you, calling you names and insulting you!" Obviously I am bound be the laws. Fortunately for me, the laws are bound by our social contract, and not the whim of the needy. Please read this: http://www.constitution.org/law/bastiat.htm by William Falzett III (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 19 comments) on Thursday, Aug 7, 2008 at 6:41:16 AM (0+)
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Reply: "Whim of the needy"???
Your link didn't work, by the way... If I seem less than considerate or kind -it is due to the fact that I was surrounded by Libertarians and their daily attempts at indoctrination from a very young age on and witnessed, first hand, the constant display of inadequate arguments supported by endless parroting of quotes bent to suit whatever was needed to win a debate sparked by these same people who had over-inflated egos, a mistaken sense of intellectual and moral superiority, a much touted notion of entitlement, and a grossly self-centered concern for money money money only rivalled by an almost deluded paranoia about the Government, taxes, drug laws, and being stripped of their firearms... The idea of the social contract was completely devoid of lasting merit to those people although they made mention of it in various forms whenever it suited their need. It would be the eternal optimist's undoing to believe in the collective goodwill of people to be enough to sustain most communal efforts in this modernized society when even a system of laws isn't enough to encourage compliance at even the highest levels of government in most cases! The social contract is fine hypothetically -but will not hold up to the modern day temptations of power and advantage... especially the kind that can be garnered under Libertarian ideals. Also, the Constitution Society is merely a group of Libertarian apologists who do not readily identify themselves as such and thus misrepresent themselves and deceive a lot of people into thinking they have no agenda other than to uphold the Constitution when, in reality, they do it by framing arguments in their own convenient interpretations without allowing for the completely different context and state of development the country was amid at its penning. I, personally, give them the same amount of credence and respect I would lend to Lew Rockwell, Ron Paul, and Von Mises... -that is to say, NONE. To poison minds while disguising sinister designs as noble causes is despicable. Why is it that you have not addressed a single issue that I have raised in any of the posts along this thread, William? Now the needy have 'whims'??? Sincerely, -Bid by C.Bid (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 739 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Aug 7, 2008 at 10:49:27 AM (0+)
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Reply: None of your issues directly relates to my article
Your posts are centered around insults, shaming, berating libertarians and the lack of a level playing field. It seems like rather than address my article directly, you want me to account for a lack of a level playing field and your lifetime perception of libertarians as deficient. I think I can barely detect a related challenge in the idea of subsidy to businesses. If you are suggesting we should not be subsidizing business, I agree. However, I suspect that is not what you would like at all. You likely want more subsidies for even more protected classes. Regardless and FWIW, none of the individuals referenced in my articles relied on a single subsidy or tax exemption, just hard work, determination and self-reliance. When I have something I consider a need beyond the mutual defense and necessary infrastructure, I satisfy it through my own means, not through whining, demanding others give it to me, confiscating the wealth, labor or money of others, or otherwise engaging in manipulating the law to satisfy my need, at my whim. I simply ask others do the same. To suggest there is no opportunity in America is hyperbole and you know it. Some people will always make excuses for inadequacy, ineptitude and a lack of productivity. Others will always rise on merits that are useful and beneficial to society. Unfortunately, as with most issues of this sort, my article is preaching to the choir. Those who are determined to be productive already know what I am talking about, and will be productive. Those who are disposed otherwise will make excusesand try to manipulate. If the shoe fits, wear it. by William Falzett III (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 19 comments) on Thursday, Aug 7, 2008 at 11:40:07 AM (0+)
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