U.S. needs to start teaching men to fish

The Proverb: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish. Feed him for a lifetime.

The U.S. does not seem to see the wisdom in this proverb. Today we hand out fish to people that need it because of a bank meltdown, layoffs, economic downturn or whatever. We extend unemployment benefits past six months, isn't that just handing out fish? We give tax credits to people who don't even pay federal taxes. We gave bailouts to automakers and banks. We gave bailouts to states so they could keep their public employee unions happy and keep those high quality pension systems intact.

And where are we now? Outta fish.

Here is the liberal democrat explanation: Some people have trouble fishing because of historical and cultural barriers, or that the Wall Street crisis is so severe that people are no longer be able to fish on their own and will starve without the government handing out fish for a couple years. Maybe some people just aren't good fishermen, and so we need to help them. Where does that lead us? According to studies there are more people dependent on the federal government than at any point in U.S. history. We are now supplying more fish to more people.

Why is it that as time passes and we have progressed in the modern era, we seem to have become steadily more incompetent as fishermen. Why is it that despite the breakthroughs in nutrition, exercise, vitamin supplements, and carcinogens that there are so many more of us with physical and psychological defects that make it difficult for us to fish. Has the modern era made us more incompetent?

The answer is no.

We have been slowly persuaded that this group needs extra help, that group needs help, that its only temporary and only a one time deal. But entitlement programs are never temporary and it seems that these bailouts are massive and come around every 6-10 years. Meanwhile the needy groups are weakened into a sense of utter dependency. They never learn to fish because they don't have to. But what happens when we run out of fish to handout?

Examples: Look at the southside of Chicago and other parts of the country where liberal policies are enacted and government handouts are distributed at amazing rates. How are those communities doing now? How has the southside done thanks to all the community organizing that Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama have done over the past few decades? They are exactly where they were decades ago because the democrats have sold them false hope. The income disparity remains, the education disparity, the high crime, and other problems remain.

We need to stop handing out fish. It does not work, it makes people dependent and in this world you will eventually have to fish for yourself. The United States must find ways to teach its citizens how to fish, not just hand out fish. We don't do that through entitlements, high taxes, bloated public service programs, bailouts, or stimulus. The government must help citizens become independent, teach them how to fish.

It most cases it is merely getting the hell out of the way. Let the people learn on their own or let them return to fishing rather than just going to the big G store. In other cases it might be lessons on fishing, providing lures, line, and poles. But in the end, they have to catch the fish.