The famous Protestant (or occasionally referred to as the Judeo-Christian) work ethic has been around for centuries, but with Democrats taking full advantage of the COVID pseudo-crisis to scare the bejesus out of most everyone, the notion of earning one’s way has faded rapidly.
For those in need of a refresher, according to Wikipedia, the Protestant work ethic is, “… [A]lso known as the Calvinist work ethic or the Puritan work ethic, is a work ethic concept in theology, sociology, economics and history which emphasizes that diligence, discipline, and frugality are a result of a person's subscription to the values espoused by the Protestant faith, particularly Calvinism.”
I didn’t remember the connection to puritanism. My bad. My parents and teachers used to refer to it in suggesting that we students develop the type of discipline and dedication to succeed in a vocation once we were cut loose from the bonds of childhood. Working and studying hard opens the door to opportunity, we were told, so that in choosing a career there would be lots of areas to select from. Picture an American super market shelf with endless brands of vittles versus the Soviet version with just one or two generic types. You get the idea.
It's hardly a surprise that the current Democrat regime is working overtime to kill any cultural connection to the time-tested work ethic, since it’s the cornerstone of capitalism. And we can’t have that, can we? Last week senile Joe’s administration took another unilateral step towards absolving individuals of the need to make good on their responsibilities. This is getting sickening, folks.
“The Biden administration is extending the pause on federal student loan payments due to the coronavirus pandemic through Jan. 31, which the administration described as the final extension...
“The Education Department described it as a ‘final extension of the pause’ in the official announcement Friday afternoon. The administration said that the additional time will give borrowers the opportunity to plan for the resumption of loan payments, thereby reducing the risk borrowers will be delinquent or default on their loans. The new extension gives borrowers six months until payments will resume...
“’The pause has been a critical lifeline so they don’t have to choose between paying for basic necessities or their student loan during the pandemic that upended their lives,’ Biden said in a statement Friday evening.”
Democrats must have “choose between paying for basic necessities or their (blank) during the pandemic…” stapled to their suit or pantsuit lapels. To liberals, everything involves an either/or conundrum when it comes to money. You can make progress towards paying off obligation X or you’ll go hungry. Like people really sit around their kitchen tables and say to each other wearing worried grimaces on their mugs, “Gee, honey, should we get another half dozen Top Ramen packets for a buck-fifty at Target or write a check to the government for your student loans?”
It's a false choice and everyone knows it. Presumably living within one’s means is something everyone learns from their parents. Or they should have. But in today’s I-want-everything-now cultural mentality, ol’ senile Joe and the Democrats toil to give away the farm and include the livestock, tractors, acreage -- and a new farmhouse too.
I’m curious -- why don’t Biden and Democrat congressional leaders say something to the effect of, “Well, maybe you should prioritize your debt payments instead of getting that new iPhone or your kids can get shoes at Payless instead of springing for the $300 pair of Adidas Yeezy or Nike Air Jordan ‘Dark Mocha’ sneakers.” Seriously, of all the things in our modern existence that is non-essential, a smart phone is one of them. Practically everyone has one these days, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live without ‘em when pondering how the family budget can be slashed without much pain whatsoever.
Besides, whatever happened to the Protestant Work Ethic? Perhaps today’s anemic public education system omits the experience of the settlers at Jamestown, who lived under Captain John Smith’s immortal edict, “Those who will not work will not eat.” Smith was faced with the daunting task of getting pampered English gentlemen to do their share of manual labor rather than expecting the tradesmen to do everything for them while they convalesce. It didn’t take long to get the message across, though the early colonists did end up trading for most of their food from the local natives.
As if the Biden dictate granting another half-year of no loan payments weren’t bad enough, some Democrats are lobbying (demanding?) him to use an executive order to cancel up to $50,000 per borrower of federally held student debt. I don’t know the actual numbers, but here’s guessing if senile Joe did such a thing, a high percentage of debtors would have their debts completely wiped out in one swoop of his pen.
Woo hoo! Free money! Just vote for senile Joe, Nancy P and “Chucky” and who knows, maybe your mortgage is next. Anyone remember “Peggy the Moocher” from the 2008 presidential campaign? (Michelle Malkin coined the term.)
Unfortunately now, “Peggy the Moocher” is the norm rather than the exception, at least in Democrat-land. How did this happen?
Why work anymore? The absurdities that have become entrenched in American life since the COVID-19 panic began in March of 2020 have literally sucked the incentive out of going to a job site for the dependability-challenged lazy set. With senile Joe fighting to extend the eviction moratorium and now hoping to give graduated students more time to resume paying back their college and graduate school loans, why bother? If the federal government will pay you more to stay home and munch Cheetos on the couch instead of sweating on a less-than-desirable but stepping stone job, where’s the choice involved?
Human nature, at least for the lethargic, welfare entitled average Democrat, means you’ll milk the system for all it’s worth just to give yourself time to go to the park or watch that extra episode of “The View” that you saved on your DVR.
And the stupidity over the so-called “Delta variant” has reached high ebb, with officials last week suggesting a slightly different set of symptoms for the newfangled Chinese Communist Party (or Wuhan, if you prefer) virus. According to a story in The Hill, “Cough, fever, and shortness of breath are common COVID-19 symptoms,” but also “Sinus congestion, runny nose and sore throat are symptoms of becoming infected with the delta variant.”
Pass me a tissue, will you? Then, there's the real kicker: “Sneezing more than usual is a symptom of having the delta variant.” Cachoo! Cachoo! Cachooooooooo! (My grandma always used to sneeze in threes.)
So… they’re now telling us to quarantine ourselves if we have basic mild symptoms of the common cold, or if allergies are tickling your nose. Oh, the horrors! Spreading a chill to your fellow shoppers! Or, there might just be someone at work who isn’t vaccinated! You’re a cad if you give him or her a frickin’ bug!
How many times have all of us (or, let’s say, most of us who’ve never been a public employee with tons of paid leave time) gotten up in the morning feeling less than 100 percent but still made the schlep into work to perform our duties to the greatest extent that we could? I know family members who, as I recall, never took a sick day off. I do remember my dad coming home from work early one time because he had a kidney stone and was vomiting uncontrollably.
Many businesses even changed their policies on paid leave time because there were two-types of employees. There were those who used every single minute of their out of office paid time to give themselves a little holiday whenever they felt the urge, versus those who would have to cough up a lung before they’d take a day off. As a result, the concept of “PTO” or paid time off -- which could be used for either vacation or sick time. All the same!
With the federal government now telling Americans to voluntarily distance themselves with symptoms like sneezing or a runny nose. What has this world become? What makes COVID-19’s “Delta variant” any more than a minor inconvenience that people in the old days would simply “tough it out” and/or “work through it”?
If our kid has a sore throat but no fever, do you keep him or her home for ten days?
It’s a terrible sign of the times that Americans have allowed themselves -- via the voting booth or otherwise -- to be gulled into a frightened shirker mentality where it’s okay not to pay back student loans or come down with a cold and blow off work. If it wasn’t dead before, the ol’ Protestant work ethic is on its last leg. Who will pay? That is the question.
Protestant work ethic
Peggy the Moocher
Biden student loan deferral
infrastructure bill
COVID-19 relief bill
Donald Trump
welfare benefits
Republican Party
debt ceiling
Mitch McConnell