Fair Share
There's a phrase that I've heard bunches and bunches in the last few years. At first I didn't think much about the term. However, as oft is my bend, once it caught my attention I began to ponder.
Perhaps it is a prerequisite to be a writer one must also be a ponderer. Someone who is always asking why, or what if.
Be that as it may, my wee brain began tearing the phrase apart. There are several definitions on Merriam and Webster for 'fair and share'.
We know what it means anyway. It's meaning 'everyone needs to pay what they owe.'
Of course this is always applied to other people and especially people who make more money than we do. It isn't ever applied to the poor amongst us.
I'm good at chasing rabbits on trails that are hard to find. Follow me if you will. Growing up I had chores to do every day.
We began simply helping Grandma in the house. Then we (This was Coco and I. My sister had her own chores to do as well.) branched out and had to gather eggs from pesky hens that were very free range.
All over the farm they were free range. That meant they might make their nest in one spot in the barn or cob house, maybe even out under a tree. And they would probably change their nests a couple of times a month to a new area.
It was our job (Coco and I) to track them rascally chickens and their nests. As time went on we were tasked with pumping water into the water tank for the cows and the horses. We did that twice a day plus a bucket of drinking water for the house.
As I grew I also became responsible for carrying buckets of water up the hill to the barn for any horses or cattle in the barn. And I measured grain for the horses or cattle into their feed buckets.
Of course Coco left to live with her mom and step-father when she was ten, and her being the seventy-five pound weakling missed out on some of the more hefty work. But through the remaining years my tasks increased.
I spent two years with my mom then came back after I turned thirteen. I lived that summer with my Adorable Cousin's family, and we girls walked beans that summer.
Walking beans was just that. Back before there were many effective commercial herbicides for soy beans, farmers and their families would go out into their fields (usually 100 acres plus) and either by hand, or with a weed hook get rid of weeds, specifically cockle burrs.
They also would hire neighboring kids to do that chore. I don't know what the going rate was, but I bought my school clothes and paid my ninth grade school expenses with that summer's money.
And I've been 'working' ever since. There are several things we assume or maybe we don't know.
For instance, when I receive my six million dollars I will feel as if I've arrived. I will feel as if not only has my boat come in but my train and plane all at the same time.
In listening to some of the people on Dave Ramsey show who have paid off their debt and have made their 'money', I realize most of them have worked for it. They have worked hard and done the rice and beans, beans and rice—doing without routine.
I've observed older people that went through WWII, came home, and they worked hard to make their fortune. Most of them did well, but...
Greed runs rampant. I can not figure out why anyone thinks they deserve their 'fair share' of someone else's money. The U.S. has a graduated tax system in which the higher the earnings the more you pay.
Taking someone's money just because you'r bigger and have more power is robbery. Until 1913 we had no income tax, except for a couple of brief spurts in the 1800's.
All through that time America had roads, schools, public works, all sorts of things going on. Here's a piece about income tax that I found interesting:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-15/100-years-old-still-killing-us-america-was-much-better-income-tax
Have you ever heard, or maybe even said this yourself: I got a pretty good tax refund this year. Or, I didn't get as much refund as I was hoping...
Remember, the government doesn't give you anything back that it hasn't first taken from you.
Romans 13:4 "for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil."
