Something on my Mind: I am Pro-Choice (Part Two)

One of the signs of a fragile economy results from how we make choices. We choose to do these things, or not to do those things; we make some very stupid decisions about purchases, vices, and habits; or we tend to simply be careless and weak in most decision-making processes.

Often we choose that which we can't use, with money we don't have, for things we don't need.

The Good Book equates good choices with wisdom. Wisdom is not about knowledge, looks, finances, or one's standing in the community. No, wisdom is all about making good decisions.

Young people tend to make stupid (no other word for it) choices when it comes to sex, drugs, liquor, money, and the law. They pay for it dearly with health and money issues, criminal records, and such. But actually the rest of us pay for their stupid choices with escalating hospital costs, crowded jails, and a debilitated workforce. Don't tell me others' bad choice don't affect all of us.

I was young once myself, you know. I too made some stupid decisions. I broke a girl's heart when I needed some space; I listened to music behind my parents' back (really: How bad were the Beach Boys?); I sneaked out to a movie (American Graffiti) without my parents permission (sorry, Mom); and I broke the speed limit...sometimes.

Pretty tame stuff by today's standards. But then back in those days, the school and home worked together; homes were made up of a stable marriages (the old fashioned type, you know, a mom and a dad); and the law at every level was respected.

Today, we have this goofy notion that even if you promote and teach chaos, somehow order will arise. I don't think so: You choose to start with order and assume things will improve from there.

Meanwhile, back to me: I made some other decisions. I never touched another woman till I got married to the only other other girl I dated. I chose not to drink or smoke. I chose to slow down, then buckle down, and to work hard and keep my job. I chose to attend and complete university. I chose to use my money appropriately.

By the time I finished my teaching degree, for instance, I was debt-free, driving a car that I owned outright. I chose certain financial paths that has led me to where I am at today—all being the fruit of decisions that I made a long time ago.

That didn't happen simply because I was white (which I am). It's not my fault I was born that way; I accepted the fact that I was born where and how I was--and made the best of it. Likewise, that didn't happen because my parents raised me in the Christian faith. I had to work through my faith myself; I got off to a great start as a child, but as an adult I had to make certain choices. No one else is to blame for what I chose (or didn't choose).

No, my "success" happened because of choices that I made and others made before me, all for my good.

I was not entitled to a job because of my skin colour. I could not claim any sort of injustice (or privilege) because of the way I was raised. Some of that passes when one is a teenager...maybe. No, by the time I was in my late teens, I started to own up to the responsibilities (which are more than rights) of being an adult male in this culture.

Today we are seeing the results of the entitlement game—choose your angle—and all it ensues. People choose to rob a store, get (a girl) pregnant, vandalize, then turn around and blame their parents, the school, or society at large.

No, they are guilty because they made stupid (there's that word again) choices, but won't own up to them.

This is how it works in a stable society: We make wise choices, live with them, and make the world around us better. The results are a steady work force, strong families, literate and articulate populace: these are components of wise society, of people choosing well.

Or we make stupid choices, die with them, and destroy those around us at the same time.

Dumb decisions that run along poor money management lines, sullied moral lines, and "me-first" mentality lines, all contribute to a downward spiral, creating a fragile society.

It's a lesson that too many kids, parents, schools, and the politicians fail to grasp.

When I choose not to work, choose not to take care of things, choose not to take care of my body (or someone else's), choose not spend time or money wisely, choose not to obey even basic laws of the land, then I (and others) will suffer the consequences. I cannot blame my parents, my school, my neighbours, or my government.

We're not discussing occasional mistakes, or spur-of-the-moment calls that get us into hot water. We all do that. People, I'm talking a lifestyle of blatantly bad choices, with no sense of personal ownership for the consequences.

Choose well: it's your call.

Something on my Mind: I am Pro-Choice (Part One)

I'm not sure why, but when my dad was offered a job in St. Louis decades ago, he turned it down. He decided to stay in Richmond, BC, and raise his family there. The rest, they say, is history: His choice of vocation and location had a ripple affect on his marriage, church, and the future of his four sons.

Today, I live with the results of that decision—and I was fine with that.

Almost thirteen years ago, I went through the same process: Either stay in Abbotsford, BC, or move to southern Alberta. The ramifications were pretty severe, yet I made the bold decision to move to Alberta. Like my dad, that choice has had a ripple affect on my marriage, church, and the future of my own nine kids.

As they've gotten older, they too, like their dad and granddad before them, have made or are making vocation and location decisions. It's a pattern that has been in existence since time began, and will continue until time is no more.

I was free to choose and I chose freedom. Freedom from financial millstones and freedom from urban chokeholds; freedom for a healthier and safer lifestyle, and freedom for a brighter future for my whole family. It's been tough, really tough, but it's been good decision. I made the choice, and now I live with the consequences.

We are all the product of other people's choices. In my case, my dad made a decision that affected me; I did the same with my own kids. If they didn't like it here, then as they got older they had the freedom to move elsewhere. They were not bound by my decision, yet they will have to live with theirs.

They are free to make good ones or bad ones, ones that will impact both themselves and those around them, to their advantage or disadvantage. It's called taking responsibility, taking charge. It's a rare ingredient today, and not only among the young, either.

If there's one thing that we global citizens all have in common—black or white, Indian or Chinese, pagan or religious—it's choices. Unfortunately, the more repressive the society, the less freedom there is to make choices.

I'm sure Somalia, North Korea, Iraq, and Kazakhstan come to mind when you think of repressive societies. People bound by Sharia[h] law, shackled by the cultural prison or sexism, or waiting for that dreaded knock on the door at midnight, are far from choosing their own way. I agree.

We all certainly have deep-rooted desires to choose: to live, to hope, to work; choices to be free from fear, hunger, even death.

And then there's Canada—free, open and choice-friendly Canada: We live in a country with freedom to choose lifestyle, education, career, housing, even groceries, yet I wonder if we as a nation have ever been more restricted ourselves. We're Somalia without the sadistic warlords, North Korea without a leader with goofy haircut, Iraq without the religious bloodletting, or Kazakhstan without the megalomaniacal imprint on every surface.

In other words, we live in a land where there is a plethora of choices, but we squander them on a daily basis. Canada by all accounts should have a thriving economy and a robust society because of freedom. There is no reason for anything else.

Yet while we have the freedom to choose life, we tinker with death; freedom to hope, we opt for despair; freedom to stand up, we cower. I suggest much of our woes, from individuals to a nation as a whole, are because of stupid choices we all make on a regular, daily basis.

You see, there's a myth out there that freedom of choice is defined as having no restrictions, no rules, no boundaries. Freedom, then, in the minds of many, means doing what one wants to do, when one wants to do it, with whomsoever one chooses.

Friends, nothing, as in N-O-T-H-I-N-G, could be further from the truth.

One of the ironies of the West is that the more things and less restrictions we have, the better off we are. The more of the one and the less of the other makes us better, happier people. Again, nothing could be further from the truth.

It's new year, and this is my token resolution column: Choose wise choices.

Something on my Mind: The Spirit of Lawlessness

I suppose there is only one thing worse that a police state, and that would be a no-police state. Lawfulness or lawlessness? If we had no other options, I'd chose the former.

If you're like me, you've heard of a growing police state—especially in America (my main source for news). Either that, or we're being fed a pile of [#@!%&] from the press. I would think the truth is somewhere in the middle, namely, there has been an extra dose of unnecessary intrusion and excessive force in recent months, but it may not be as bad as it sounds. I don't know for sure, but, then, neither do you.

So let's discuss here what is rarely being discussed elsewhere, unless you wisely get your news from Glenn Beck or Ezra Levant. In other words, I'm not really commenting on the apparent growing police state, as much as I am on the over-the-top protests and their coverage.

While none of us were at the recent events (in Ferguson and NYC, for example), the professional protesters and liberal media were. That tells me right there that some reporting was skewered, biased, and dangerous.

There appears to be a groundswell movement to attack, malign, and even kill cops these days. I'm choosing my generalization carefully, so you'll need to read between the lines on this one. I see too many people with too much time and too few brains out there, ready and eager for a fight in the name of justice.

"The name of justice" would be an interesting way to put it. I suggest that it's a call for justice alright, but in name only. To demand justice through insurrection is an oxymoron. In my opinion, it's nothing more than a front for lawlessness and anarchy. These justice-demanders appear to hide behind the colour, age, gender, and victimization complex. That strikes me as hypocritical, inconsistent, and frightening.

There are some issues I can't quite grasp: Why did we watch the extensive coverage of the anarchists in Ferguson, night after night, while there was limited coverage of the assassination of two innocent cops in New York City? (Add the death of a Florida cop while you're at it.)

In fact, there wasn't much of any protest, so far as I could tell.

And race seems to be the underlying issue here, or at least that's what we're told. Again, scant coverage when the roles are reversed. That's where the hypocrisy and inconsistency comes in.

Here's what's reported: a black victim killed by a white villain. Here's what not reported: a white victim killed by a black villain. Or the bigger issue, namely, black young men killing other black young men.

On the other hand, do we ever read anything about the significant acts of kindness cops have done and are doing all over the States on a daily basis? Where's the coverage of the overwhelming random acts of kindness provided by white cops to black citizens? Nary a word.

Are cops perfect? Are you kidding me? They're humans just like the rest of us. They are just as prone to lose it like anyone else—be it a rancher, trucker, or contractor. But you never read of those types being vilified the way cops are.

I even read of an accident in Abbotsford, BC, the other day, where an "of-duty cop" struck a pedestrian. I have never read of a off-duty doctor or teacher being identified the same way, so why a cop? Why the slanted reporting?

No, the spirit of lawlessness is a far more scary matter than the spirit of a police state.

When it's open season on cops, and race is in the mix, we're in serious trouble. When the law fails us, lowbrows, deadbeats, and professional anarchists are a deadly alternative.

You don't like cops? Fine: Next time you're in trouble, call a professional protester. They've got the time and the energy. Just make sure you fit the requirements for their selective justice.