Fat Pelicans or generosity generates gratitude?
Do you really expect a free lunch?
Some years ago, in Monterey, California, a crisis arose. Monterey had become a paradise for pelicans. After cleaning their fish, the local fishermen would throw all the excess waste to the pelicans. The birds soon became fat and lazy. Baby pelicans grew up dependent on the handouts, not knowing how to catch their next meal.
Eventually, a new market was found that could use the waste products commercially. The pelicans no longer had a free meal. Yet, the pelicans made no effort to fish for themselves. Generations had been trained to just wait and wait they did for the free handouts that never came. They were angry and invasive about the unexpected changes. Many starved to death. They seemed to have forgotten how to fish for themselves.
1. Unemployment – In 1935, right after the Depression, unemployment benefits were established to assist those who were unemployed. The state and federal fund was to provide $5 to $15 per week and would be paid for not more than 16 weeks. Yet today many people are demanding that unemployment benefits be extended beyond 99 weeks. And yet we know that the biggest predictor of how long someone will be unemployed is knowing how long they have access to unemployment benefits.
2. Welfare – Our welfare system was established to help not support those few but not everyone, who had to struggle most. Now we have entire families into the 3rd and 4th generation who have no expectation of income other than government welfare.
If we assume generosity generates gratitude then we would expect these people to be the most grateful and patriotic of all segments of our society. Yet what we see is that these communities are hot spots of anger, crime, hostility, racial stagnation, resentment and even violence.
3. Foreign Aid – In a recent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, Mambisa Moyo writes that“charity-based aid” cannot provide long-term sustainable development for Africa. She says the $60 trillion of this aid that’s been given in the past 60 years is not working, evident from the fact that the number of Africans who live on less than $1 day has doubled in the last 20 years. Anger and resentment against America is growing. We have destroyed the profitability of local farmers, gardeners, clothing makers and shoe sellers. Moyo says cutting off the flow of foreign aid would be “far more beneficial.”
So when does helping start hurting? If we really want these pelicans to develop their natural talent for fishing {supporting themselves}, what is the most helpful thing we can do?
Gradually stop feeding them, so they will have to learn how to feed and support themselves!
Sometimes a “safety net” sabotages what could have been success.
You really have to understand you potential and believe you can do it! This is the key to success in life!
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