Does 2 + 2 always equal 4?
It depends: are we talking normal math or governmental progressive math? Once again sports talk radio got me thinking. I know, I know, mixing sports, mental exertion and my brain can have quite unstable and explosive results; but sometimes I just cant stop it. Yesterday was one of those times. An analyst for ESPN by the name of Amin Elhassan was openly criticizing the NBA draft and their ping-pong ball lottery. It is not that he has a personal dislike for using white celluloid spheres to determine lottery winners; rather, he hates how NBA teams will purposefully lose so they will have a better chance at the higher draft picks. Under the current rules, only the top three picks are decided by the lottery, and the team with the worst record, or the team that holds the draft rights of the team with the worst record, has the best chance to obtain a higher draft pick. Elhassan believes this system of selection is detrimental for the league because it rewards failure. He made this very insightful statement, "I learned in business school that incentive and reward always influences the results. If you reward failure, you get more sloth and lack of drive which can poison your organization. If you reward hard work and initiative you will start attracting the type of player that already has a good work ethic and personal pride which leads to success. It seems to me the NBA is rewarding failure and that cannot be good for the sport!" The other commentators completely agreed with him. In fact, they all reasoned that purposeful losing in the long run has never built a legacy for a team; and they pointed to the Minnesota Timberwolves as just one recent example of this. They haven't had a successful season since 2004 when Kevin Garnett won the league's MVP. In short, their recent track record of incentivizing failure made for both bad business and a frustrated fan base. This is the stark and universal reality of human behavior and motivation: Rewarding failure will always result in more failure. It works like clockwork. I would call this a fundamental truth of life, wouldn't you? It is as basic as 2 +2. Unless, of course, governmental and progressive social experts get involved in the discussion; they have a nasty way of meddling in everyone's business and turning simple truth upon its head. Principles that are clear and obvious to the "regular guy" sports analyst, become lost in the hazy ideals of bleeding hearts and arrogant professors who think they are right because of their years of education, prestigious titles and multiple degrees. Listening to years of progressive hubris and confident assurance in their ideals, has persuaded the majority of supposedly lesser mortals to vote for government assistance in the form of welfare, food stamps, subsidies for health care, free lunches, and a host of other government programs, It is believed these programs will help people to have a jump start to success. Meanwhile, back in the real world, logic vehemently disagrees, because fundamentals will never change. 2 + 2 will always equal 4. Rewarding inactivity and mediocrity will only result in more inactivity and mediocrity. This is basic. If I get money for doing nothing why do anything? This warped mentality has reached an all-time epidemic. Listen to this quote by Forbes magazine, "52 percent of U.S. households—more than half—now receive benefits from the government...some economists have long dreaded the day when the U.S. crossed the halfway mark because of all the implications for individual and fiscal responsibility. As Benjamin Franklin reportedly said, 'When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.'" These numbers are not good for our country. Even though they seem to speak of the benevolence and kindness of our governmental leaders for the poor and disadvantaged - - the truth is, they are violating the fundamental reality of rewarding inactivity and mediocrity. It is not helping the poor, it is destroying initiative and personal pride. And it seems to punish those who are paying the boatload of the government's bills. I will give you one more example of this: I know of a teacher that is incredibly kind and compassionate to the disadvantaged and "at risk" students in her class. She is the epitome of kind. And in her kindness she felt compelled to always call on the less industrious and ambitious first in order to try to motivate them to do better. So she would go out of her way to encourage and praise the children who habitually received bad grades and would not complete all their assignments. Even when they answered basic questions like 2 + 2, she acted like they won the NBA lottery,"Great job!" Do you think this over-the-top encouragement helped them do better? Not at all. But it did cause the good students to stop raising their hands in class and completing their homework on time. Since they weren't being rewarded and praised for excellence, they stopped trying. After a whole year of seeing her good students become disinterested and apathetic, she came up with an idea. She invented a system to reward those students who completed their homework all week or turned in excellent work. She gave them monopoly money so they could buy cool stuff at her class store at the end of each marking period. If the students did all their homework, aced their tests, they could accumulate enough money to purchase a fancy set of markers, buy a sparkly notepad, or even get a giant stuffed gorilla. Ironically it worked! Incentive always motivates, even the "at risk" students worked harder than ever! 2 + 2 always equals 4, it is a fundamental. And reward always motivates! So here is my point. Treat your vote like you would treat your children at home. Do you reward Johnny for sitting on the couch eating Hot Cheetos while Jimmy takes out the garbage and cuts the front yard grass? Of course not! Then don't reward the politicians who are lying to Johnny telling them they will bring equality back to the home. I know it isn't that easy, nor is the problem of helping the poor going to be cured overnight. But don't let anyone lie to you: 2 + 2 will always equal 4!
1 Comment
Allen
4/17/2015 03:28:50 am
Well said! I work at a place that has had more than one young person turning down a job that starts at $10.00 an hour because of what they will lose in freebies (phones, car vouchers, food stamps, etc...) We as a nation have sucked the ambition out of our youth by giving them something they didn't work for. We have bred entitlement into them and they don't want to start at the bottom and pay their dues.... no.... they feel they deserve the dream job with full benefits and high pay right away! God has designed us to work. We need safety net programs for sure, we need to take care of those who are disabled, but to those who are able they should be required to work or get nothing. We are rewarding laziness and immoral behavior with the programs we have developed. The voters who are receiving assistance will have a hard time voting against the party that backs the programs that keep money in their pockets. It is a sad day in America when those who are taking out number those who are giving. How long will that "math" hold out?
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