By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but…I t is Gold Star time again. Gold Stars go out to Logandale Chevron, aka, Wally’s, Overton McDonald’s, and Moapa Valley Rotary Club.
In full disclosure, I am a member of the Rotary and I do business with both of these establishments.
Through their combined efforts over $1000 was donated to help some youngster of Moapa Valley have a Merry Christmas. The money was collected in jars at Wally’s and McDonald’s and supplemented by the Rotary Club and individual club member’s donations. The money was divided between the local Santa Cop and Toys for Tots programs. McDonald’s also fed the Santa Cop kids.
These donations are indicative of the efforts of our local merchants and civic clubs. This community has a tendency to look out for its own.
A local woman has organized an annual roping to benefit breast cancer research. The arena and stock for the event are provided by a local resident.
When a community member falls on bad times, someone organizes a fundraiser and local merchants donate raffle prizes. There are members of the Rotary who take food to needy community members after each meeting. These same men go through the community helping the elderly and infirmed.
There is a group of retired men who meet early each morning for coffee and then go into the community to help their neighbors.
For this valley, the Christmas spirit reigns all year long. You will notice no names are mentioned because these people do not seek accolades; they seek only to serve.
No one asked me but… Americans are, for the most part, a very good and generous people. According to a report from the Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University total charitable contributions by individuals, corporations, and foundations was an estimated $298.42 billion in 2011.
In disasters like the hurricane in Haiti, the American people give more in relief funds than any national government.
Here is an interesting fact. I am not making a value judgment just reporting the findings. When broken down by states, the eight highest per capita giving states are rural and red. The lowest eight are urban and blue.
This appears to have nothing to do with wealth as the top states’ per capita income is lower than that of the bottom eight. I am not sure what to make of that but one explanation is that you cannot legislate charitable ideals.
In comparing the American people’s willingness to donate to charities with that of the Russian people’s; Pravda, the paper that used to be the arm of the Communist Party, stated, “while the communist ideal of equality, sharing, justice, and racial harmony is a great goal when the government tried to impose them it turned into a nightmare for the people. Seventy-four years of communism proved beyond all doubt that goodness cannot be legislated from the Kremlin and enforced by gun point. In a heavy irony, attempts to compel morality tend to produce defiant subjects and tyrannical rulers who lose their moral code.”
I truly do not feel conservatives have the moral high ground in the issue of giving to the poor; I just believe people who see the government as the answer to all problems have a tendency to leave the plight of the poor for the government to solve.
I also think the issue is that red states are rural where one has a tendency to know their neighbors and therefore have more of a commitment to them. In large urban areas, as strange as it may seem, the individual is more isolated and less likely to know their neighbors. They are therefore less likely to feel responsible to help them in a time of need. Where a city dweller might inform a governmental agency that a neighbor is in need, the rural inhabitant is more likely to show up with the help.
This theory may be a complete fallacy but I have lived in both and find it to hold true.
No one asked me but… If you are reading this, the world did not come to an end. My editor informed me that this column needed to be in no later than Friday, December 21, 2012. I told him I would like to wait until Saturday for if the world actually comes to an end there would be no need to write it at all.
I saw an ad in the Las Vegas paper for an Apocalypse store. It read: “Everything you need for the end of the world!”
I thought, ‘What a crazy business! If the world ends, what do I need? If the world doesn’t end, what could they possible sell that I would want?’
There is an entire TV program about people who are preparing for the end of the world. Folks, what’s to prepare for? If the world was to come to an end, the only preparation you need is selecting a comfortable chair to sit in, as you become part of the end of the world.
What strange people we are speculating the end of the world because some ancient Mayan Calander ends. My calendars end every year. The world has yet to end. I merely get a new calendar.
In the last few months, I have received so many calendars for the year 2013; I have concluded there is no way the world can end. Organizations like the VFW, NRA, insurance agencies, and the AARP have all assured me that the world will be here next year. They have all sent me calendars to remind me to pay my dues and premiums because like it or not, there will be another year.
Who am I to believe: some old Mayan stonecutter or my insurance agent? If the Mayans are right, you won’t read this. But if my insurance agent is correct, I will once again wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thought of the week…Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.
– Jonathan Edwards
