FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

I’m glad that a government shutdown has been averted but the fundamental problem still exists: We are spending more than we take in. One of the principle roles of our legislators, whether state or federal, is to oversee the spending of our taxpayer funds. They are good at spending but not so good at overseeing. These legislators are paid extremely well and have some of the best perks in America but they can’t even balance a budget. Regardless of how smart some of them may be, they don’t have the fiscal discipline to accomplish one of their most fundamental tasks. As we know, intelligence has little to do with personal discipline. We obviously shouldn’t look to Washington as a model of how to conduct our own finances. If we did, some company would repossess everything we have. It is one thing to live with the aid of a marginal and responsible amount of borrowed money, but our government has gone beyond all bounds of marginal and responsible. There is so much money spent on worthless items, special interest projects, and items that we just can’t afford. Regardless of how worthwhile some programs may seem, if we can’t pay for them we shouldn’t have them. It’s just like our families and churches. There are a lot of worthwhile projects and assets that we don’t have because we simply can’t afford it.

When legislators get control of our money, I’m not sure they weigh whether we can afford their special projects or not. Once elected, they seem to be primarily in the business of keeping constituents happy so they can get re-elected. How do they keep them happy? They keep them happy by allocating money to special programs or projects of their constituents. In effect, they buy votes. Multiply this vote buying by the number of state and federal legislators and we see why we are trillions of dollars in debt. In short, we are spending money which we don’t have; we have to borrow it to spend it.

The assault on this nation is formidable. Not only are our moral and ethical values taking a severe battering but our financial solvency is in the tenacious jaws of nation-crushing debt. Anyone can go to a legislature and spend money. It takes someone with fiscal discipline to do the right thing so as to live within our means.

SUPERBUGS

The news article began, “Misuse of antibiotics has led to a global health threat: the rise of dangerous—or even fatal—superbugs.” The MRSA bug that you are probably familiar with was described along with a newer superbug called Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP. The overuse of antibiotics is breeding superbugs which aren’t responding to treatment.

What is “misuse” of antibiotics? Well, the most common manner is seen when an antibiotic is prescribed for a viral infection. Antibiotics don’t work on viruses. Yet, antibiotics are commonly prescribed with everything from a common cold (viral) to other minor self-limiting conditions. The more that antibiotics are exposed to the world, the more the bugs develop resistance, until the antibiotics aren’t effective against the bugs anymore. But what’s at the real root of the overprescribing? Are doctors totally to blame? Yes and no. Doctors prescribe antibiotics when they aren’t needed because patients insist on them; patients often insist on getting something. The age-old problem is that if the doctor won’t prescribe something, the patient will go to a doctor who will. The doctor is to blame for not doing what is right regardless of whether the patient leaves his practice or not, and the patient is to blame for insisting on antibiotics for a self-limiting condition. The old saying, “A doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient” comes to mind.

It seems that a large number of T.V. commercials are advertising medications. We commonly hear, “Ask your doctor if (drug) is right for you.” The T.V. is exerting enormous pressure onto the doctor-patient relationship - - - for the doctor to prescribe what the patient thinks he needs, based on a T.V. or magazine advertisement. Meanwhile, we are becoming an increasingly drugged society and superbugs are becoming rampant. We probably all agree that too many people are on too many drugs, but it’s the other guy’s drugs that are in excess, not ours!! Perhaps if our mindset was less on instant gratification (cure) and less on finding our emotional and physical health from a bottle, we wouldn’t treat our bodies like a toxic dump site and we wouldn’t be producing these superbugs.

PACK LEADER

Cesar Millan, renowned “Dog Whisper,” has garnered his fame and fortune as a specialist in dog psychology. He makes a clear distinction between dog psychology and dog training. Cesar teaches dogs and owners by focusing on the fact that a dog is an animal first and foremost, not a human. He then centers on the tendencies of the species (dog) and then on the specific breed. Fundamental to his work with dogs is the walk on a leash. He gets the dog to understand that he is the pack leader; pack members naturally submit to or follow the pack leader. On the leash, Cesar walks the dog; the dog doesn’t walk him. Cesar says that without a pack leader the dog naturally asserts itself as pack leader. So, a major part of Cesar’s work is with the owner. He instructs them on how to be a pack leader. As in any pack, the leader sets the rules, boundaries, and limitations of the pack’s behavior. If there is a challenge to the pack leader, the pack member is quickly brought to submission… or there is a new pack leader. Cesar teaches that the human must always be the pack leader or there will be chaos. Dogs aren’t meant to lead humans. When there is a strong pack leader, there is happiness, order, and peace in the pack. Without a strong pack leader, there is fighting, sniping, challenges to the leadership, and chaos: disobedience.

Does this sound familiar to you? It’s not that much different from God’s natural order for people too. The parents are supposed to be the family leaders and kids are supposed to submit to the parents. Parents are supposed to be the family leader setting the rules, boundaries, and limitations. If there is weak parental leadership, there will be constant challenges to the leadership by the child. If there is a challenge, that child is to be brought into submission unto the parents…or the child will in effect be the new pack leader. Children aren’t meant to lead parents. When there is strong parental leadership, there will be happiness, order, and peace in the family. Without a strong family leader, there will be fighting, sniping, challenges to the leadership, and chaos: disobedience. Indeed, a lot of parents raise their kids the same way they “raise” their dogs and have similar issues.

Let’s takes it one step farther. This is not much different than God’s natural order He has for us with Him. God is the leader and we are supposed to submit to His rules, boundaries, and limitations. Humans aren’t meant to lead God. If we submit to God there will be happiness, order and peace in our lives. If we don’t, there will be fighting, sniping, challenges to His leadership, and chaos: sin and disobedience.

In all our various relationships, whether it is with an animal, boss, employee, child, or others, it is important that we identify the pack leader. If we are in the leadership role, then courageously lead. If we are in the pack role, then submit to the leader. Too many dog owners, parents, and authority figures act as pack members instead of pack leaders, while pack members act as the leaders. Then, with God, we act like a pack leader too. No wonder we get so messed up!!

BOUNDARIES AND LIMITATIONS

In General Jimmy Doolittle’s book, “I Could Never Be So Lucky Again”, he makes an interesting observation. He said that one has to learn to submit to authority before becoming an effective authority/leader. General Doolittle thinks he would have gotten off to a better start with Generals Eisenhower and Patton if he would have learned to submit to authority earlier. He became an Army pilot before there was a separate Air Force and his formal military training was minimal. He thinks he would have been a better junior officer if he had undergone more formal military training.

Submitting to authority is a very important life skill. “No” must mean “no” and right can’t be negotiated with or compromised. It’s especially important to learn boundaries and limitations as children. People keep pushing until they find the firm resistance. Without the resistance of firm boundaries and limitations, people/children keep pushing. Interestingly, firm boundaries not only teach right and wrong but it conciliates our minds with the security and comfort of knowing where the limits are. It removes the chaos of the unknown margins which is often at the root of rebelliousness. We soothe the psyches of our children and others when we clearly define our boundaries and limitations.

PEPPER ANYONE?

Perhaps you heard about the Colorado second grade boy who got pepper sprayed by the police. The boy, Aidan, spit at teachers, cursed at them (with words a second grader shouldn’t know), and threatened to stab them with a broken stick. Although police have been able to talk Aidan out of his “tantrums” before, they needed two doses of pepper spray to get him to surrender this time. Afterwards, Aidan commented, "Just kind of like whenever anybody upsets me, like I just kind of want to tear them apart... I think it's not ever going to go away... It's just who I am." Okay…so the pepper spray got him to settle down and act “normally.” Obviously, Aidan has a pepper deficiency and all he needs is more pepper in his diet!! Actually, is a behavior really uncontrollable if the person becomes under control after being pepper sprayed? Did the pepper spray reconnect his circuits or did it break his will to display unwanted behavior? People have real psychoses but too many have just plain bad behavior resulting from poor discipline. Discipline begins at home and it obviously begins before second grade!!