Life Just Isn't Fair

The old saying is true. Life isn't fair. I think most people's idea of fair is a level playing field, equal opportunity, a chance for everyone to be or do what they most want in life. This will never happen. One man is born with an IQ of 136 while another has a intelligence quotient of only 86. One woman is born with extraordinary athletic ability while another is born crippled and unable to walk. Many people are born in America where opportunity abounds, while others are born in war-torn areas of Africa suffering abuse and persecution. Life just isn't fair.

So, where does that leave us? Should we abandon our efforts to help those that are disadvantaged? No. I do not believe that we can in good conscience abandon our efforts to help our fellow man, however, we must also realize that penalizing those with more opportunity is never the way to improve the situation. We must help those that will help themselves rise up to the highest attainable level their skills allow. We must not legislate penalties into our system to punish or slow down the achievers in society. We must be a society that teaches a mindset of running to win the prize... and if you fail, you get up, learn what you can from the experience, train more and run again.

The agenda we have allowed in our schools teaches cooperation and scorns competition. Teach the children to work together for the better of everyone. Take from those with an abundance and give to those in poverty. Sounds like a good idea doesn't it comrade? Don't compete, don't question, just cooperate. The problem is that they are being taught not to question or oppose liberal ideas. It appears that our students, from elementary through the universities, are being indoctrinated into the way of thinking that will make them fit best into a socialist society. The same people that during the decades of the 60's and 70's taught our young to question everything (because we were much more conservative) are now teaching them to question nothing. This is a huge failure on the part of our educational system. The most important thing we can teach our citizens is the history of this great nation, the documents that established it (i.e., the Constitution with it's Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence), and the ability to think for themselves.

Our young people need to realize that life is not fair. If you want to succeed you will have to compete. They need to be taught that overcoming an obstacle is a healthy learning experience that ought to be embraced for the reward that it offers on the other side. Dependence on one's self, family and God needs to replace dependence on the nanny state. We must teach them that cooperation and competition are not polar opposites. We all must cooperate with others to achieve common goals while we compete individually to be the best we can be. Life is not fair and you may not achieve the same success as someone else, but if you pursue excellence in all you do, live to use your unique talent to help others, and learn to mature from a state of dependency to healthy interdependence, you will achieve your own success.