There is a politics of hatred, envy, laziness, and blame that is an absolute cancer consuming the possibility of good in the world. Not only does it seek to destroy what is good, it removes the possibility of developing the opportunity for good. There are many examples of this mindset. Here are a few: hatred of the successful companies that bring us the products we use on a daily basis such as Exxon and Wal-Mart. Terrorism is fueled by hatred. Most leftist politics are fueled by hatred for President Bush - the list goes on.
Politicians eager to advance in their careers are openly willing to capitalize on this cancerous growth. Without regard for the health of the nation, they respond to these cancerous attitudes by passing destructive laws in an attempt to get votes.
Consider the issue of gas prices. Politicians are responding to those that "hate those greedy oil companies". Nobody likes high prices, but are the gas companies to blame? Without the gas companies we’d have no gas! The politicians want to punish gas companies with a “windfall profits tax.” Who does that help?! The politician only! Gas prices are what they are because of the cost of doing business – buying crude, refining it, shipping it, building gas pipelines and gas stations. Should we add another cost on top of all that? Profit margins for gas companies are around 10%, which is less than most businesses. A significant price of gas is taxes already. The government actually makes about 5 times as much as the gas companies do on each gallon sold. Should we add more costs to the companies trying to provide you with fuel? You’ll be the one that pays the "windfall profits tax", not the gas companies! But it is the politics of hatred, envy, laziness, and blame that makes possible the enactment of laws that drive prices for all commodities higher. Why don’t we instead pass laws that reduce the burden on the gas companies, like laws that make it easier to develop domestic sources of energy?
Hatred, envy, laziness, and blame all work together. They are the ingredients of failure. They work together to prevent a person’s success, and they work together to take away the prosperity that comes from the success of others. When a person is full of hatred, they can’t see any good in those they hate. The object of that hatred in the hater’s mind becomes the one to blame for every failure that they face. Rather than looking at reality objectively, determining the reason for their own failure, they blame another. Rather than celebrating another person’s success and expressing gratitude for the environment that allowed for that success, they envy their prosperity and seek to do it harm.
These harmful human characteristics make it impossible to see opportunity. Instead of seeing potential around them, they see oppression. They see the actions of others and label them as evil. The black man who blames racism for his lot in life can’t see the opportunities around him because his focus is on something he can’t change – the attitude of others. Is there racism in the world? Certainly – will it erect a stumbling block at times? Sure – but does that mean success is impossible for the black man? No way! Every body has obstacles to their success. It is up to the individual to face those obstacles and find a way over, under, around, or through them. Nobody is going to do it for you!
Hatred, envy, laziness, and blame also prepare the mind to allow any injustice against the hated - such as what happened with the Jews during the holocaust. When you hate another person, when you are envious of what they have (because they must have obtained it unjustly), when you don't want to do the work they did, and when you blame them for your failure - you place no limits on what kind of evil can be done to that person. Logically - evil deserves no leniency. For this reason, Islamic terrorists have no problem slamming airplanes into building filled with people or cutting off the heads of innocent workers and missionaries. To the terrorists, the object of their hatred is so evil that such extremes are justified.
There are certain human character traits that built America. Ingredients, if you will, of a prosperous, healthy America. These human characteristics are the exact opposites of the cancerous ones: love, gratitude, hard work, and responsibility. Freedom is dependent upon these attitudes. So is prosperity. Let’s develop these attitudes personally and encourage our lawmakers to respond to these rather than hatred, envy, laziness, and blame.
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