This
column is in response to a letter to the editor (Bottom of this page as well) regarding the 12 NOV column “No
Such Thing as Federal Money”
Dear
Mr. Kevin Jaudon,
Thank
you for reading my first column in the Upson Beacon - it is great to get
feedback this quickly. Let me first say
that I think you are right to praise those who choose to teach. As they say, “If you can read this, thank a
teacher. If you’re reading this in English, thank a soldier.” I am going to use this week’s column to take
your challenge to “EDUCATE NOT INTIMIDATE.”
(I must admit however, that I did
find your use of all caps a bit intimidating.)
In
your letter, you stated that I “infer the free lunch program is a waste of
money.” In the spirit of educate not
intimidate – I offer this from vocabulary.com:
“Imply and infer are opposites, like a throw and a
catch. The writer does the implying, and the reader does the inferring.”
Your slip may well have been Freudian.
You
may have “inferred” that I “implied” it is a waste of money, but that would be
to miss what I plainly said. The point
that I was making is that the federal government has no money, except that
which it confiscates from the taxpayer.
The other point was, somebody has to pay for the lunches – that was also
the point made by the general – “the immutable economic fact” that there are no
free lunches. Somebody has to pay.
What
one might infer (or deduce) from the column is that the real tragedy is the
misguided thinking that there can be “free lunches.” This is the same thinking
that has led our country to a $17 Trillion national debt and continues to drive
our economy into the ground.
Furthermore,
I did not mention “children would not eat grilled chicken without condiments” as
you suggest. If you reread the article,
you will see that it was in fact a direct quote from Julia Bauscher, director
of nutrition services for Louisville’s public schools and president of the
national School Nutrition Association (SNA). The quotation marks clearly indicate it was
her saying, “… I can’t serve condiments with it. How many kids are going to eat
grilled chicken with absolutely nothing on it?”
You
go on to say that I mention “Michele Obama and her children despairingly as if she
was a paid Federal employee.” (I think
you actually meant “disparagingly.”) I
only stated the fact that Michelle Obama started the Let’s Move initiative that
resulted in the nutritional standards that prevent condiments from accompanying
chicken sandwiches because of calorie limitations (see above). If it was unclear why I included the quote
about what the Obama kids menu choices are at their $36,000 a year school,
please allow me to try again. What I was
seeking to demonstrate is the absolute hypocrisy of the Obama kids getting to
eat whatever they want, but the parents of those same Obama children, dictating
by the withholding of the taxpayers (or “federal” if you prefer) money, what
other parents’ children may eat if their public schools don’t comply with
governmental standards.
Moreover,
I never said anything about denying anyone a free meal, your stating it as a
“fact” notwithstanding. What I do deny
is that there is any such thing as a free meal (again, the point of the column). The other irony not pointed out, but potentially
worth mentioning, is that since the same President that is limiting the calories
of school lunches took office, the child poverty rate has only increased. My desire would not be to deny anyone a “free”
lunch – my desire would be to stop the destructive policies and mindset that
make “free” lunches necessary.
Kevin
– I’m not even trying to deny the “hungry” kids condiments let alone a “free”
lunch. In what might be described as the
ultimate irony or perhaps insanity is a better description -- it is Michelle
and Barack Obama’s lunch program that is denying the kids condiments! And why are they doing that you ask, because
she says those same kids that you say are hungry, she says are obese. I
won’t touch that one, but I will say our bloated government needs to trim down.
It
is easy for politicians to be generous with the taxpayers’ money, especially if
it can buy them votes. Why not just give free meals and free housing and free
healthcare to everyone all the time? Why
limit it to just breakfast and lunch?
Maybe Margaret Thatcher was on to something when she pointed out, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually
run out of other people’s money.” In
case you prefer to hear from one of our Founding Fathers, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough
to take away everything you have.” (Thomas Jefferson)
It
will be difficult to teach our kids the meaning of liberty and freedom when their
government dictates what they’re allowed to eat. I do not doubt that children
all across this nation are important – that is why my rhetorical question might
be, “What do we teach kids when we give things to them without making them work
for those things?”
Not
sure why you brought it up, but so you don’t have to “wonder” any longer about
my “being in the Officer’s mess” - during
my time as an enlisted infantryman, I never recall the officers not being with
us (their men) when we were in the field – admittedly, they didn’t have to pull
KP like we did. As an officer, I never
ate before my Soldiers had eaten. In
terms of being hungry, I lost about 42 pounds in Ranger school, and you are
right – I happily ate everything I could get my hands on, even without Grey
Poupon. As to fine china and silverware,
I’ve only seen that in the US Navy (when I was in the 75th Ranger
Regiment, we were embarked on the USS America for the Haiti invasion.) In terms of swatting sand fleas, insects
don’t seem to care about rank, at least the tick that gave me Rocky Mountain spotted
fever didn’t.
Regarding my
Christian faith, I’ll demonstrate that by not responding to your attacks on my
character and theological doctrine. But being Thanksgiving, I will share a portion
of what President
George Washington proclaimed on October 3, 1789, in his Proclamation of a
National Day of Thanksgiving: “Whereas
it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to
obey His will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore His
protection and favor…” I can’t help but wonder if that same God the
General spoke of had not been expelled from our government schools a generation
ago, that we wouldn’t have far fewer of the societal problems that necessitate
the “need” for a “free” lunch program.
Stay tuned to future columns for how the faith of the founders informs
my world view.
Finally,
thank you Kevin for your promise to pray for me. I am sorry that my thoughts on economic
truths and the problems inherent in big government upset you so much. I’d love to meet sometime so we can swap war
stories and discuss this further – lunch is on me.
Robert
Young’s regular column will return next week.
This response to a Letter to the Editor was published in the 3 DEC 2014 Upson Beacon.
Letter to the Editor:Arrogance is ignorance matured
Shame
on you Col. Young! Your letter to the Upson County Beacon Published Nov. 12,
2014 infers that the Free Lunch and Breakfast Program at Upson County Schools
is somehow a waste of money. The Thomaston-Upson School District and
its teachers should be applauded and receive the highest awards and accolades
available.
There
are children in the district who receive a meal on Friday and will not eat
again until Monday. The fact that you would deny anyone of them a
free meal makes me question your Christian ethics and values, if in fact you are a true
Christian. The future and the most important asset, in this County and across this nation, are all
these children attending school.
You
mention that children would not eat grilled chicken without condiments. Hungry
children do not require Grey Poupon. Your comments about
lack of condiments make me
wonder if you were in the Officer's mess, dining with
fine china and silverware, while enlisted
troops were swatting sand spiders and eating Chicken ala
King MREs.
There
is no mention of whether or not you have children attending public school or
elsewhere. Every school district adjacent to any military
installation receives compensation for
every dependent child. Many bases have their own schools
which are well funded by the
Department of Defense.
Your
concern seems to be focused more on the diet of the Obama children rather than
local children. You mention Michele Obama and her
children despairingly as if she was a paid
Federal employee. She volunteers her time and isn't some
overpaid contract consultant
representing KRB, or whatever name Halliburton goes by
these days.
Do
you really think the President's children could attend public school?
You
should be ashamed. I will pray for you.
EDUCATE
NOT INTIMIDATE.
-Kevin
Jaudon
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