Friday, October 15, 2004
responsibility parable for kids (or US presidents)
Here's a lesson or parable on fiscal and ethical responsibility you can share with your kids, or with adults who are considering Bush as a viable option in three weeks.
Imagine that your parents entrusted you with their bank account which included their life savings. Say that life savings was $250,000. Your job was to make sure that that money was still available in 4 years, and that maybe it even grew a bit. Your parents would use their income every year for expenses rather than drawing on the savings.
Imagine that during those four years your dad loses his job and has to use some of the savings to cover some expenses.
Also during those 4 years, you decide to give money to some kids at school so that they will like you more, even though those kids live in the wealthiest part of town.
And you also decide that even though the school bully hasn't been bugging you lately, you want to make sure that he never bugs you again so you pay a bunch of your friends to beat up on him and his whole family, including his little sisters and brothers.
Imagine that after 4 years, your parents ask to see the bank statement with their savings balance. They are shocked to discover that not only is their savings now gone, but you spent another 250,000 on their credit cards and haven't paid any of it back yet.
Not only are you now in debt, but your neighbors view your family as the town's biggest bully.
Would you have been acting in a fiscally responsible manner? Would you have been acting ethically? What should you have done differently? What would Jesus have done?
Welcome to W's world. He spent the surplus Clinton left us, and left us in debt for at least that amount. Under his watch, the US went from being viewed sympathetically by our allies to being viewed as the world's bully. Is it fiscally responsible or even rational to vote for Bush based on his economic and international policy track record? I don't think so...
¶ 2:10 PM
Here's a lesson or parable on fiscal and ethical responsibility you can share with your kids, or with adults who are considering Bush as a viable option in three weeks.
Imagine that your parents entrusted you with their bank account which included their life savings. Say that life savings was $250,000. Your job was to make sure that that money was still available in 4 years, and that maybe it even grew a bit. Your parents would use their income every year for expenses rather than drawing on the savings.
Imagine that during those four years your dad loses his job and has to use some of the savings to cover some expenses.
Also during those 4 years, you decide to give money to some kids at school so that they will like you more, even though those kids live in the wealthiest part of town.
And you also decide that even though the school bully hasn't been bugging you lately, you want to make sure that he never bugs you again so you pay a bunch of your friends to beat up on him and his whole family, including his little sisters and brothers.
Imagine that after 4 years, your parents ask to see the bank statement with their savings balance. They are shocked to discover that not only is their savings now gone, but you spent another 250,000 on their credit cards and haven't paid any of it back yet.
Not only are you now in debt, but your neighbors view your family as the town's biggest bully.
Would you have been acting in a fiscally responsible manner? Would you have been acting ethically? What should you have done differently? What would Jesus have done?
Welcome to W's world. He spent the surplus Clinton left us, and left us in debt for at least that amount. Under his watch, the US went from being viewed sympathetically by our allies to being viewed as the world's bully. Is it fiscally responsible or even rational to vote for Bush based on his economic and international policy track record? I don't think so...
¶ 2:10 PM
