Socialism Measured In Car Repair

I do all my own auto repair work. I rely on my cars to 
get to work. They are old cars. So what do I do when 
one breaks down? I fix it. I spend a lot of time 
driving one car while fixing the other. Isn't that the 
American way?

I used to have just one old car. When it broke down I 
had to fix it immediately. It didn't matter if it was 
raining, cold, snow, on the side of a road or in a 
grocery store parking lot I was stripped of my 
independence, and most of my dignity until I got it 
fixed. Whatever it took. I walked, took the bus, rode a 
bike, or heaven forbid, called a friend, to get parts 
at the local parts store, and then to work if the car 
still wasn't running the next day. I know I'm not 
alone. I see a lot of people who go to great lengths to 
get their cars running again so they can get going. 
It's part of our Americana.

One of the most important things I noticed was the 
motivation. That's key. After a while I got pretty good 
at fixing my own cars but I didn't want to spend any 
time fixing other people's cars. Some were good 
friends, girl friends or family and sometimes their 
need was drastic enough that I'd give it a try, but I 
just couldn't find the same motivation to fix their car 
as with my own. I wasn't exactly a professional at 
this. It was always something new, and it was always a 
lot of hard work.  Granted, I've had many successes 
fixing a friend's or relative's car, and soon they rely 
on me.  Eventually I found limits to my motivation.

I can't help but make the comparison between this basic 
motivation and governments motivation to provide social 
services. Part of socialism is where the government 
provides services to people at little or no cost when 
they enter the front door and they're supposed to work 
hard and pay taxes that provide for those services. The 
deep rooted motivation just doesn't seem to be there. 
Am I missing something? Why should somebody work hard 
for something somebody else is going to get?

Friends and family are different, to a degree. I have 
found motivation on occasion to fix their cars. The 
motivational hierarchy is somewhere between personal 
and what I'd do for a stranger. Sure I might fix a flat 
tire to be a good samaritan, but an engine overhaul or 
clutch repair, of course not. Not for a complete 
stranger, for free anyway. So why am I asked to pay for 
someone's health care needs, shelter, food, education 
when I don't know them, and worse, at times not even 
had some of those myself. Where is the motivation to 
put in the extra time and effort at work, to pay the 
taxes, for a service for someone I don't even know.

Even more important is the motivation of business. Talk 
about a super human effort. Small business owners are 
the heros of our economic system. The pain and 
suffering they've gone through to make their small 
business work and the personal sacrifices are 
immeasurable. How is someone supposed to find the 
motivation to generate goods or services, against all 
odds, against incredible competition, and then find the 
extra resolve to generate the funds that will pay the 
taxes to provide social services mandated by the 
government? I don't know. Go figure. It just doesn't 
pencil out. Why not sit on the receiving end rather 
than the working end. And trust me there are some 
pretty smart people sitting on the receiving end who 
know how to drag their feet. We've all worked with 
them.

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run 
out of other people.s money. This Margaret Thatcher 
quote, revived in the media recently, says it all. Plus 
I heard it takes two dollars for every dollar the 
government distributes. Where does the money come from? 
Economic reality is painful. So how can I be expected 
to divert my pain for someone else's benefit. It's 
asking a lot. I wish I could give it, but it just 
doesn't pencil out.


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