Comments on: Political Vision, Righteous Anger, and the Need for Compassion and Love http://kentnerburn.com/archives/230 The Blog of Author Kent Nerburn Sun, 19 Sep 2010 18:43:10 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: R.S. Audette http://kentnerburn.com/archives/230/comment-page-1#comment-169 R.S. Audette Wed, 04 Oct 2006 13:41:04 +0000 http://kentnerburn.com/archives/169#comment-169 The one thing you have left out of your comments is the one thing that I think is important, and that is personal responsbility. I do not look to the government to solve my problems. I am responsible for keeping myself and my son healthy, for providing whatever level of income I deem necessary for myself and my son, and I expect others to do the same. I feel the biggest problem America faces today is the entitlement so many feel. For exampke, here in Texas we are in the middle of a serious drought, and one woman wrote in to the paper "Where is the government?" Amazing. What astounded me the most about the tragedy of Katrina and New Orleans was the number of people who did not have the ability to get out of town. How is it that as a society we have so many people who are so helpless? Is it possible to empower people? It seems that whenever institutions get involved, the effect is the opposite and people simply become dependent. I do not come from a privileged background. My paternal grandmother was raised in a sodhouse on the North Dakota prairie. Both of my parents come from a small farming community south of Jamestown, North Dakota, and I was raised in the Fargo/Moorhead area. Nothing was handed to me, so I know what it is to work for what one has. I take responsibility for what happens in my life and I try to make wise choices. I am self-employed, so I have no benefits provided to me at all. I have been without health insurance. Even now I have just catastrophic insurance. I know what it is to weigh going to the doctor, deciding what tests I can afford. Since I have to pay for it all, it is always a choice. Yet I would not have it any other way. People seem to forget that "the government" is you and me. I feel the U.S. is drowning in entitlement programs. We are bankrupting ourselves. I believe we must return to a path of personal responsibility as a part of our own spirituality. Which is why I read your books. I am drawn to the aura of personal spirituality that your books provide. God is not found just in church on Sunday morning. The divine is all around us every day, every moment, and we as an individual can awaken to that. Your writings always inspire me. Thank you. R.S. Audette The one thing you have left out of your comments is the one thing that I think is important, and that is personal responsbility. I do not look to the government to solve my problems. I am responsible for keeping myself and my son healthy, for providing whatever level of income I deem necessary for myself and my son, and I expect others to do the same.

I feel the biggest problem America faces today is the entitlement so many feel. For exampke, here in Texas we are in the middle of a serious drought, and one woman wrote in to the paper “Where is the government?” Amazing.

What astounded me the most about the tragedy of Katrina and New Orleans was the number of people who did not have the ability to get out of town. How is it that as a society we have so many people who are so helpless? Is it possible to empower people? It seems that whenever institutions get involved, the effect is the opposite and people simply become dependent.

I do not come from a privileged background. My paternal grandmother was raised in a sodhouse on the North Dakota prairie. Both of my parents come from a small farming community south of Jamestown, North Dakota, and I was raised in the Fargo/Moorhead area. Nothing was handed to me, so I know what it is to work for what one has.

I take responsibility for what happens in my life and I try to make wise choices. I am self-employed, so I have no benefits provided to me at all. I have been without health insurance. Even now I have just catastrophic insurance. I know what it is to weigh going to the doctor, deciding what tests I can afford. Since I have to pay for it all, it is always a choice. Yet I would not have it any other way.

People seem to forget that “the government” is you and me. I feel the U.S. is drowning in entitlement programs. We are bankrupting ourselves. I believe we must return to a path of personal responsibility as a part of our own spirituality.

Which is why I read your books. I am drawn to the aura of personal spirituality that your books provide. God is not found just in church on Sunday morning. The divine is all around us every day, every moment, and we as an individual can awaken to that.

Your writings always inspire me. Thank you.

R.S. Audette

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