Working folk

Dear Editor:There is no way I can support the Occupy Wall Street crowd's actions, nor the actions of the protestors at the other locations in the U.S. and abroad. Do they have grievances? Sure, but destructive protests are no way to gain recompense for these grievances. That's what we have elections for. Far too many of the protestors are just mindless thugs who don't work and don't want to work. To the extent they even know what they want, they think they can get it by making life so miserable for the rest of us that we will give in. Not me. I know it's tough out there. I paid a price by serving two years in the service during WWII but, after that, things were pretty easy for me. Uncle Sam paid for my college education and, when I graduated, I had eight job offers. I picked a useful career and there was a pent up demand for goods and services that had been denied during the war. Kids these days run up debts of up to $100K for a college education and then can't find a job. That's frustrating. I think, however, that most of them are at least partially responsible for their problem. First, they enrolled in easy curriculums for which there is little demand. They picked the best and most expensive schools, and they took much longer to graduate than necessary because they were having so much fun. They never learned a work ethic; their parents made it too easy for them. And now they are unemployed and unhappy and looking for someone to blame. they should try looking in the mirror. There are jobs out there not being filled, some requiring skills the seekers don't possess, and some requiring the willingness to perform work they deem beneath their dignity. Then there are temporary and part-time jobs with no future and no benefits. These are tough times. We have elected men and women who promised us something for nothing and can't deliver. Big surprise. The best thing that could happen would be if everyone learned there is no free lunch. We've all come to expect too much without earning it. Yes, I'm guilty too. In my somewhat feeble state, I have come to appreciate the nearly cost-free healthcare I enjoy. My son, who has a distaste for work, has to try to either get me to spring for his needs or find some government program where his needs are met free. Free to him, but the working people pay for them. My children will benefit from my death and they know it. When my parents and my wife's parents died, we received almost nothing. And that was fine. They earned the money and they used it to support themselves in their old age. Three of my sons have followed this course of action, and their children will benefit both from their labors and from ours. And that's fine too. I think it's great when a person has someone he or she can call on when financial help is needed. But, except for certain disastrous situations, every adult should be responsible for himself. And that's where the problem arises. These protestors are trying to get someone else to take care of their needs. They think that, since the Wall Street bankers and brokers were smart enough to make money, they should be forced to share it. I don't see why. If the bankers made bad loans and then shoveled them off to Freddie Mac or Fannie May, blame the legislators who forced them to make the loans. The banking system has been exercising sound banking principals for decades until Congress forced them to make unsafe loans so everybody could own a home, whether he could afford it or not. So protest Congress, not Wall Street. Or better yet, reject those legislators who set up those restrictions that started the problem. But leave the working folks alone so they can do their job. -- Don Niemand, Downey

********** Published: November 10, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 30