OPINION: Individual Responsibility Seems To Be Lacking

The pandemic is far more than just a health crisis. It is also a financial crisis and it has brought clearly to the light of day just how close to the edge Americans live financially.

Politicians love to pontificate about how many people live paycheck to paycheck. In this case the politicians are right in their assessment. Of course, as is true in every other issue affecting this society, the far Left and the far Right have vastly different approaches to solving the problem.

And, quite frankly, the solution is probably somewhere between the two positions. But, very few in today's hyper-charged political scene want to work together to bring about true reform.

The ultra-liberal think the answer is in more taxes on the rich (however they want to define rich) and redistribution of wealth. They want to guarantee everyone an income even if they don't do a lick of work. And, they blame greedy corporations for maximizing return for their stockholders.

The ultra-conservative are not always pure in motives as they don't fully understand how much some people struggle just to go through life. And, some oppose any move by the government to intervene to help those most vulnerable.

In today's political world the pendulum continues to swing left and right and rarely stays in the middle long enough to solve fundamental problems. If we can't do this then we will never solve the issues of poverty in this country.

We have many in society that do not have the resources to dig themselves out of financial distress. And, for those we do need to help. But, the answer is not to merely provide permanent financial support by the government -- unless they are truly unable to help themselves.

But, there are a lot of people who are able to help themselves but they like to live by the motto -- "enjoy today because there may not be a tomorrow." They spend far beyond their means and don't plan like they will ever have a financial crisis.

You know who I'm talking about. They live in a house they can't really afford, attend "the" prestigious college, drive new cars and have a lot of "toys" that they really don't need but sure want. And, they have never read anything Dave Ramsey has ever written about financial responsibility. They are the ones I really have a hard time feeling sorry for.

This pandemic crisis has exposed problems not just for the truly needy but also for the self-created needy. But, the solution for the far Left is to just "forgive" debts, make things "free" for everyone, and tax the rich (and if you can afford to pay taxes you are the "rich").

We are giving trillions of tax-payers' dollars to millions of people and in this case we don't have much of a choice. The government has decided to have us stay home and we can't really say no.

But, as we go forward we cannot continue to live as if there is no tomorrow. Individual financial responsibility has to become the new reality.

Kevin Wilson is a former state representative who was born in Goodman and now lives in Neosho. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Editorial on 05/07/2020