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“Ask not what your
country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.”
--John
F.
Kennedy,
1961 Inaugural Address
I wonder if
President
Kennedy’s
now famous quote would have affected so many if he had lived in a time
of email, cell phones, 500 television channels, or if he presided over
the apathetic citizenry we have today. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address came
during those golden years when Red Skelton, Andy Griffith, Lassie and
Dick Van Dyke were popular on television, when the Peace Corps was
formed, and the first American astronaut entered space.
How
different things would have been if Americans in 1961 lacked charitable
nature--if they, like we today, demand that others serve us? These days,
we expect things to be handed to us automatically, without any effort,
or cost on our part. We will gladly pay for satellite television,
lottery tickets or cell phone roaming charges, but are quick to cry if
things don’t immediately go our way, or if we are expected to
participate in something that benefits someone other than just us.
Americans
were once raised with lessons of charity, volunteerism and
responsibility to community. Poverty-stricken communities once cared for
their own with Poor Farm Infirmaries, “United Way Fund Drives” and food
collections. Farmers used to pool their efforts to harvest each other’s
crops.
Today, we
simply demand that “someone do something about it,” no matter what “it”
is.
We can no
longer afford to be lazy and selfish. We can waste no more time
complaining. Stop pointing out what others should or could be doing, and
do something yourself. The time has come for Americans, and Calhouners,
to stand up and take care of ourselves. Our community is dying while we
sit around and cry about it.
Grant
funding? Economic development? Beautification? We shall all suffocate
while we hold our breath waiting for someone to do it for us.
I hear so many
complaints about roads in Grantsville. Did you know that many of these
roads were originally paved when street residents pooled their money and
paid for it themselves?
As for those
who ask for the fire department to clean the streets? Are your arms
broken? Why would you even expect volunteer firemen to clean your
sidewalk or street?
“Boo hoo hoo,
there’s nothing to do.” I hear that one a lot too. Perhaps, if more of
us were taught to enjoy a job well done, more of us would get involved
in the community, planting flowers, preserving history, working to keep
one of our many parks in operation, or helping a neighbor.
Complainers?
Put up or shut up. It takes only hot air to complain in a council
meeting, but it takes courage to file a formal complaint, incentive to
actually participate, and time and effort to make a real difference.
So much more would be
accomplished if instead of saying, “I want you to do this,” we would
say, “I can help you do this.”
There is not enough
money or people serving this community to handle all the things that
need done. Those with money, time and knowledge are bound by their
charitable responsibilities to share those things with the community
around them.
Opportunities
to make a difference in the community are vast, varied, and are knocking
more often. Committees, boards and councils are often understaffed,
under funded, or all volunteers anyway.
The days of
abundance, if they ever existed here, are gone.
Grant
funds are withering away, and no longer are social organizations able to
save us from ourselves. Our survival, the county’s survival, is up to
us.
Truly, survival of this
community is up to you.
There are
instances when you can’t do it alone, but very often, the efforts of one
noble person can make a difference. A community is only as strong as
those who make it. A community can only serve its residents if the
residents serve the community.
Stop pointing out what
your community doesn’t do for you. Ask instead, what are you doing for
your community?
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