ruby-red goodness.. all shiny and new..
Got a new hummingbird feeder, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ruby-throated hummingbirds as they migrate back north through our area..
Last time I bought a feeder, the lady told me not to leave the feeder out once it got close to the first frost, or the birds would be tempted not to make their epic flight across the Gulf of Mexico, and would then freeze or starve to death when the frost comes. There's a lesson to be learned there. But if you're just looking at pretty pictures, you should stop reading now.
Are we really so different from the hummingbirds - or the bears that we are always warned not to feed? We are told that feeding them discourages them from hunting and foraging in their usual manner - and that it dulls their fear of man. That results in man / bear interactions that usually end badly for the bear.
Feeding people (long-term) runs the same risk. I'm not talking about helping someone who's hit a hard spot in life, or who is not able to fend for themselves. I'm talking about those who make a conscious decision to take the easy road. Why should they work and support themselves if someone else is willing to do it for them?
The problem is of course that they are limited to living off what the government can take from taxpayers, and they never really get enough. The government can only take so much without causing a breakdown in the system. Eventually those that depend on aid come to hate their providers for not providing 'enough'. Or they just lose their sense of self-worth, lower their expectations, and become totally dependent. Both outcomes are bad.
So why would 'free people' allow themselves to be subject to the same uncaring bureaucracy that starved the Indians and even today allows just enough to survive - not thrive? Because it looks like a free ride? It may look that way, but it comes at a heavy price.
You may never work a day in your life - but you will always be another man's 'boy'.. You will have to step when he says to step, and fetch when he tells you to. And every time you do, the human being in you dies a little.
ruby-red goodness.. all shiny and new..
Got a new hummingbird feeder, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ruby-throated hummingbirds as they migrate back north through our area..
Last time I bought a feeder, the lady told me not to leave the feeder out once it got close to the first frost, or the birds would be tempted not to make their epic flight across the Gulf of Mexico, and would then freeze or starve to death when the frost comes. There's a lesson to be learned there. But if you're just looking at pretty pictures, you should stop reading now.
Are we really so different from the hummingbirds - or the bears that we are always warned not to feed? We are told that feeding them discourages them from hunting and foraging in their usual manner - and that it dulls their fear of man. That results in man / bear interactions that usually end badly for the bear.
Feeding people (long-term) runs the same risk. I'm not talking about helping someone who's hit a hard spot in life, or who is not able to fend for themselves. I'm talking about those who make a conscious decision to take the easy road. Why should they work and support themselves if someone else is willing to do it for them?
The problem is of course that they are limited to living off what the government can take from taxpayers, and they never really get enough. The government can only take so much without causing a breakdown in the system. Eventually those that depend on aid come to hate their providers for not providing 'enough'. Or they just lose their sense of self-worth, lower their expectations, and become totally dependent. Both outcomes are bad.
So why would 'free people' allow themselves to be subject to the same uncaring bureaucracy that starved the Indians and even today allows just enough to survive - not thrive? Because it looks like a free ride? It may look that way, but it comes at a heavy price.
You may never work a day in your life - but you will always be another man's 'boy'.. You will have to step when he says to step, and fetch when he tells you to. And every time you do, the human being in you dies a little.