If you live in Florida, and have a yard…..then you are probably familiar with crabgrass. It’s official name is “Digitaria” and it is a genus of about 300 species of grass (family Poaceae) native to tropical and warm temperate regions. First let me say that I truly believe that crabgrass is evil. Here is why I say that………
I really take pride in my yard….I actually have the regional manager’s phone number for TruGreen (my lawn service for fertilizing and weed control, etc.) on the speed dial of my phone. (that’s not a joke…that’s for real). I see my yard for approximately 5 minutes every day…..as I am walking to my car in the morning and then again as I round the corner on my street, see my house and yard, park my car, get the mail and walk into the house in the evening. (ok, maybe 7 minutes)…But here’s my point….when I do see it….I want to see grass…beautiful green grass. However from time to time when I actually walk through my yard, I will look down and see this “grassy looking” growth that while it is green, it’s not like the rest of the grass. It is (play creepy, evil sounding music here) CRABGRASS. (sorry, that was the spookiest font I could find). While crabgrass is green and resembles “real” grass….it is not. What’s more, if you just look at it, leave it there, and say….”oh it’s just a little patch”….you are in for serious trouble. If you don’t yank it out by the roots, right then and there, when you come back tomorrow it will have spread. If for some reason you don’t come back tomorrow and it’s next week when you finally come back….it could have spread over a large portion of your yard. If you look at it as it has spread over a large portion of your yard and say….”well at least it’s green…and it’s just too much trouble to pull it ALL up by the roots….so I’ll just leave it”….Let me tell you that is a BAD IDEA….The reason this is a bad idea is when you come back in a month….you will find that you no longer have “real” grass…..just CRABGRASS. (any better…as far as evil looking fonts go?)….What has happened at this point is that the evil crabgrass has taken over and destroyed the “good” grass….and any lawn care person will tell you that the only way to get your “real” grass back….is to kill (Roundup® kind of kill) the entire yard and start over. That is a real pain and VERY expensive….but if you want your yard back….it is necessary. So they come in and spray the yard with poison….wait for it to die….bring in a sod-cutter to remove the dead grass and then put down brand new healthy sod. That is great and now your yard is perfect……BUT……pay close attention to the BUT…..If you don’t keep an eye on this brand new yard….that evil crabgrass will creep right back in and destroy this yard as well…..so you watch this brand new yard every day…and if something doesn’t look right, you do something about it…..it’s the proverbial “nipping it in the bud”
Right about now….some of you (if you are still awake….or still reading) are saying…..”Wow….I had no idea that he knew so much about grass”……or “I wonder if it’s really all that bad to officially recognize Pluto as a planet….since we’ve done it for all of these years?”……or MAYBE there are a very few that are saying “What does this have to do with government involvement in business?”….While I would love to address the first two observations….I will only address the last one.
The government is like crabgrass…..it’s bad enough in small quantities….but in large quantities….it is just evil. (Maybe I should have my Senator and Congressperson’s phone numbers on my speed dial just like the TruGreen guy) It would be great if we could just go through our daily lives walking around and living our lives……and thinking that all the while our society and the rest of the world around us would go on with no problems. You know, just ignoring all of the little things that are annoying. That’s is no more realistic than looking at your yard for 5 (or 7) minutes a day and expecting it to remain perfect…..Just not gonna’ to happen. Here’s why that doesn’t work………One day we happen to see something in our government where they have stepped into private business and forced this business to do business in a way that is unconstitutional….but it’s just a little thing, or it doesn’t involve us personally….so we say…”oh it’s no big deal”….and we let it go…..BUT…..pay attention to the BUT…..if we ignore it for a short while, it gets bigger and maybe affects us, (maybe not directly…maybe just our neighbor or someone at church…but not US directly)….so we say….”Oh its not that big of a deal….my life is still ok”…..BUT….then all of the sudden it starts to affect us a little and we say…”well I don’t like this but now it’s gotten kind big…so there isn’t anything I can do without a LOT of work”……so we let it go…..Here’s where it gets VERY serious…..if we ignore it for an extended period, we look around and see that the government has taken over everything and there is no such thing as “privately run” companies any more…..the government has slipped in just like crabgrass….a little at a time and taken over.
Recently I was involved in a online discussion with a friend. In the course of the discussion he made the following statement………”those who claim to be independent thinkers but have voted straight ticket have chimed in today not realizing their candidates and conservative heroes of choice have played a large role in American Keynesian economic policy”…….. (Author’s Note: Let me insert a definition here….Keynesian (pronounced /keinziən/) economics advocates a mixed economy—predominantly private sector, but with a large role of government and public sector) …… He went on to say……”Keynesian economic theory……..is the belief that a mixed economy is optimum. I believe it has been the driving force and paradigm our nation has used since WW2 - from Roosevelt to Reagan to Bush to Obama. The cries of communism and socialism are a rouge. The argument is about the mix not replacing capitalism.”……..Here’s my problem with that type of thinking…..It would be the same line of thinking that a little bit of crabgrass is good because it helps identify the “real” grass….Yes I believe that there has to be a certain amount of regulation….but not to a point to where the government gets involved in the same business as you….and becomes your competition….(read article from 10-15-09 for more information on that)…..and then destroys your business…since they don’t have to operate on a “for-profit” basis. Once that happens….free enterprise is GONE….The government has no sense of business….If they did how could they make a claim that providing health care for somewhere between 10 and 40 million (another fine example of government accuracy in accounting….or really in this case…counting) “wont raise the deficit one dime”…..Seriously?....You can say that with a straight face…and then get pissed when someone calls you a liar?....Really?……The only thing the government will do is destroy the Health Insurance industry and then once they “own” it all….the pricing will go out of control…..That’s because the government has no control over itself….once it steps in…it destroys what it tried to “fix”. In the little town where I have my business….I have seen the city government literally drive businesses….out of business. I have seen this enough to where I now refer to the “Code Enforcement” people as the “Department of Business Prevention”. They just DON’T know where to stop. So yeah…maybe a “mix” is good….but why is it that the mix doesn’t stay balanced when the government gets involved?
It’s about health insurance now…..but what’s next? Maybe groceries? After all everyone has to eat….so let’s control the food industry….grocery stores, fast food places, Mom and Pop restaurants? Why don’t we take them ALL over...tell them how much they can charge for a product....and then tell them how much profit they can make….Because after all, profit is a four-letter word….right? (actually it’s a six letter word) If right about now you are saying….”well that sounds good to me”….let me remind you of this….(pay attention anyone who might work for a local, large privately owned supermarket chain)…..if the government regulates groceries…in the way they want to regulate health insurance….YES, the price of groceries will go down…but in the process, so will profits…then in order to stay in business there HAS to be cuts in expenses. As a business owner I can tell you that the best way to cut your expenses…is to cut people out of jobs…So if you’re ok with that for the evil health care insurance companies (that they ALL lose their jobs)…just hang on….they will get to you eventually. Once the government starts taking over ANY industry….it’s only a matter of time until they take over the one you’re working for. (Yes…I’m talking about YOU) First health insurance….because EVERYONE needs it and deserves it…..Then it’s controls on gasoline pricing….because EVERYONE needs it and deserves it…..THEN it will be the food industry….WHY?......because the same logic would follow that EVERYONE needs it and deserves it…….then you wake up one day….unemployed and say…”what happened?.....You really want to know?......you didn’t stop the crabgrass when you had a chance……Then Again…..That’s Just Me.
Dude, that is a fantastic article, and an awesome analogy. Get the crabgrass out of the lawn!
ReplyDeleteWe in California are equally aware of Crabgrass (no scary fonts available in the comment window, more is the pity.) We have gorgeous bluesgrass and fine-blade fescue lawns, intruded upon by ugly, broad-leaved crabgrass. And we are fully aware of the political analog. Our legislature, which is currently blessed by a 17% approval rating, can't pass a budget that comes within 20% of balancing. We have high taxes, overcrowded prisons, dysfunctional schools, crumbling freeways, a totally inadequate water supply . . . and the most-stringent air quality and greenhouse gas emission laws in the world, because we are so concerned about really important issues.
ReplyDeleteOur government is overrun with arrogant control freaks convinced that they know much more about running individuals lives than the rest of us. The over-control (crabgrass) in our lives stems from this arrogance, this certainty that their own knowledge and judgment is so superior to our own.
Hilary was a great example of this when she was in charge of "Hilarycare" in 1993. Remember how shrill she was when people spoke out against her plan? Remember how punative that plan was? How it was to be illegal to purchase healthcare outside of her plan? All because she knew best what the entire country needed. Cooler heads prevailed back then, and Hilarycare died a deserved death.
But now we have Obama, Peolosi and Reid,a scarier trio I would be hard pressed to identify. The hubris of this group knows few bounds (except possibly in inexplicable receipt of an unwarranted Nobel Prize, which did seem to bring a few moments of humility to B.O's lips, but I do digress . . . ) We are perhaps within weeks of a series of Congressional votes which will eviscerate our healthcare system. Most likely, there will be a "public option." This may be the end of healthcare as we know it.
We had an interesting speaker at Rotary the other day. A noted academic, who served in the Clinton administration and now owns a pair of home healthcare companies. He made the mistake of saying that the Government has, in Medicare, already demonstrated it can control health care costs. NO! They have NOT! Let's not make the mistake of confusing "limiting payments to providers" with "controlling costs."
As you note yesterday, Government's idea of cost control is to simply refuse to pay the actual cost of goods and services provided. If they are running the enterprise (the Senate food service, or the USPS), they declare they aren't in it to make money, make up the deficit out of the general fund, and move on. If they are not running the enterprise but are reimbursing those who are (Medicare, other contracted services, and the "public option" healthcare model), the unreimbursed costs fall on the providers, who either have to charge extra to their other customers, reduce their actual costs somehow, or just suck up the lost profits.
Now, if the government IS the healthcare system and this is the model, there will BE no other customers to overcharge, and there will not be enough profits to go around, so the only alternative will be to cut costs through fewr staff, less expensive drugs, fewer tests, fewer hospital days . . . .in other words, welcome to rationed healthcare.
And that, friend, would be a full crabgrass lawn.
AMEN David......nothing I can add to that.....WOW...(I had no idea that California had such a problem with crabgrass...lol)
ReplyDeleteDavid, what do you mean, the Terminada didn’t terminate all of your problems???? I am a native San Diegan, I understand perfectly, that's why I left SoCal.
ReplyDeleteD.L. The problem is the "other" side has people full time playing this propaganda war (i.e. Acorn, most of the media outlets, etc.) allowing far more time to spin it in writing or some other media, to fit their ulterior motives and agendas. Unfortunately, propaganda alone is not going to get it done (although I do appreciate you gentlemen’s opinions, comments and efforts along this vain). First of all I thought we elect and pay REPRESENTATIVES to uphold and protect American ideals. Hey, there's a novel idea, representing the constituents you were elected to represent, imagine that!!! I thought at one point in history the swearing in to a public office was part of an oath to uphold the ideals for which you elected to uphold. Hey, another novel idea!! Dang, I am on a roll!! The process of voting and impeachment was for just such a time when REPRESENTATIVES are NOT representing those who voted them into office. If the impeachment process does not work like it is supposed to, you have the 2nd Amendment. Both of these “Constitutional” mechanisms are to ensure this Representative Government does just that or they are to be impeached or dismantled and reinstalled to begin again to represent "WE THE PEOPLE". But, through this vary propaganda war we are engaging in, they have brainwashed us into believing the only CIVIL way to resist is through writing and talking, to which they respond by out talking and writing us so things remain status quo (continuing to fulfill their agendas). Don’t quit doing what you’re doing, but also, don’t be fooled into thinking this is all it will take. I was in Iowa last year for a year and witnessed the Iowa official serve public notice that they would be conducting a door-to-door confiscation of all firearms (this is not second-hand info, I was there!!!). They “POSTPONED” the exercise due to au uproar from the gun community. But the fact they would announce and attempt something like this speaks volumes!!!! We are farther along than most people realize. I know most gun owners talk tough making the claim, “out of my cold dead fingers.” But in our lifetimes they may have reason to live up to that statement. But do they have the stomach to suddenly lose everything they have, them and their family become homeless, penniless, no food, no money, etc., etc. I don’t think so. (Not trying to be negative, but sometimes the truth is not rosey.) American’s no longer can stomach “Give me liberty, or give me death”…. and "THEY" know it!!
P.S. DL if it wouldn’t be for crabgrass I wouldn’t have a lawn, LOL. I would hire your lawn guys, but the only way to correct some situations is to reach for the tools and do it yourself!!!
(CONTINUED IN MY NEXT COMMENT)
A little history for those who don't know it:
ReplyDeleteA LITTLE GUN HISTORY
In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.. From 1929 to 1953,
about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded
up and exterminated.
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In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million
Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.
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Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total
of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were
rounded up and exterminated.
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China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million
political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated
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Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000
Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.
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Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000
Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated
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Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million
educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.
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Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century
because of gun control: 56 million.
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It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by
new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their
own Government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500
million dollars. The first year results are now in:
-----------------------------
List of 7 items:
Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent.
Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent.
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300
percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the
criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!
While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in
armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the
past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is
unarmed.
There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the
ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public
safety has decreased, after such monumental effort, and expense was
expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. The
Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.
You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.
Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens
Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!
The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson. During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!
With guns, we are 'citizens.' Without them, we are 'subjects'.
We are like Sampson in the Bible, we Americans are so arrogant we think we can let our enemies know our source of strength or all of our weakness and still win the battle. This arrogance may be our demise.