Tee-Ball And Other Socialist Traps

The first year of baseball for most kids is something called "Tee-Ball".  Instead of the opposing team pitching to the batter, the ball gets tee'd up and Junior gets to take a whack at it.

 This practice speeds up the game and is one of the first cuts for seeing if Junior has the requisite eye-to-hand coordination required for playing baseball.  By the end of the season, it is usually pretty clear who understands the concept of, "bat meets ball equals success" and who doesn't.

A million years ago, I coached my boys in Peanut League.  We had kids on the team that had no business - nor desire - being there.  They'd come up to bat and literally not take the bat off of their shoulder.  Most of the time, they'd strike out because the pitcher would see they weren't going to swing the bat and they'd just put the ball right down the pipe.

Junior would walk dejectedly back to the dugout, and mom would hit him with the, "Good Job, Junior!".  He knew it wasn't a good job.  His teammates knew it wasn't a good job.  The other team knew it wasn't a good job.

But mom still reinforced that his total, unequivocal lack of effort was acceptable.  This concept tends to stick with kids, as it's less painful than trying and failing.

Over the past few decades, youth sports have devolved into this soft, squishy pile of socialist-infused goo.  Regardless of the skill, work ethic, passion and (most importantly) performance of the players, everyone gets that same ubiquitous, "Good Job!" at the end of the game.  It no longer matters what you accomplished - you'll always get the pat on the head.

This cancer has spread throughout anything our kids do.  We lower the standards for graduating from fourth to fifth grade.  We can't "hold back" a kid who isn't ready to move on because it might bruise his psyche and injure his self-esteem.

This "trickles up" to middle and high school.  The ability to steam a mirror with your breath is all the effort required.  Simply being present is considered effort enough.

So, how's that working out?

We've got a society full of people walking around with their own personal tee-ball stand.  They don't know how to do anything without assistance.  Worse than that, we have ingrained in our youth the belief that they can't do anything without assistance.

Take a look at this article [link] from the online version of a local newspaper.  It's about what is perhaps the most dysfunctional welfare program in the nation - California's.  It so clearly lays bare the utter contempt we have for our citizens.

California is the national leader in welfare recipients (Woo hoo!  We're number 1!  .ed). About 3.8 percent of state residents were on welfare in 2010, the highest percentage in the country. In fact, California houses about a third of the nation’s welfare recipients, while only housing one-eighth of the national population.

For those of you who went to public schools and are math-challenged, that means that while we in California have about 12% of the overall population, we have about 33% of the welfare population. Nearly three times the amount we should have.

[UNDERSTATEMENT ALERT .ed] The state has traditionally held a relatively generous attitude toward welfare. For instance, CalWORKs gives cash grants to children even when their parents are ineligible for benefits for various reasons, such as being illegal immigrants, receiving disability, or failing to abide by the program’s rules.

Translation: Even if you're breaking the law, we'll still slip ya a wad-o-cash. Such a deal!  Now it's clear why we have 3-times our share of welfare recipients.

So, we've made it next to impossible to NOT qualify for some free money - a free tee-ball stand. What happens when the State threatens to take away the tee-ball stand?  Let the boo hoo hoo begin!

Sarah Smith, a 31-year-old divorced mother of four in Los Angeles County, had been a stay-at-home mother since the age of 18, only working sporadically between having children. She was forced to turn to CalWORKs a year ago after her husband stopped paying child support. She received $850 a month in cash aid and $700 in food stamps.

Poor thing is forced to take fifteen hundred and fifty dollars a month. Not taxed.

Wanna talk about force?  I'm being forced by threat of imprisonment (if I don't pay my taxes) to pay for her inability to chose a reliable baby-daddy.

Policymakers don’t realize that people need a chance to rebuild their lives, Smith said, adding that CalWORKs aid is far from enough to live on. “It’s still a juggling act,” she said. “People are trying to get jobs. No one really wants to be on welfare. Most people are trying to get off it.”

Uhm, excuse my language, but that's utter bullshit. Oh look, the program even admits as much.

Nearly half of CalWORKs families move off the program within two years (so that means that more than half DON'T move off the program that quickly  .ed), but about 18 percent are long-term. Those families are often have very young children and headed by parents who lack a high school diploma or job skills, or have a family member with a disability, according to a report by the Public Policy Institute of California.

We send them to school to get educated enough to better their lives, or to at least be able to fill out a job application to learn a trade. But because we can't hurt Junior feelings, we don't even give him those tools to succeed.
---

Here's where it gets ugly, folks.  Junior has become attached to his tee-ball stand.  You might even say dependent.

He's got no real skills that the outside world needs.  His whole life, mom, dad, his teachers and all of the flashy Community Organizers have told him he's doing a Good Job.  His pinnacle achievement is a hollow high school diploma.  And now, no one seems to want to pay him a living wage to play video games or to make babies.

If you were Junior and someone came and took away your tee-ball stand, what would you do?  Do you think Junior is going to go to the Salvation Army for a cot and skills training, or do you think he'll bonk you over the head and take your stuff?

Whether he succeeds or not, I'm telling you, he's looking to bonk you on the head.
---

I'm waiting for the wailing, and the, "It's for the children" chorus to start up.  With California being home to Hollywood, we should get some Oscar-worthy performances.

Seriously, I don't give a shit.

I am not responsible for your poor choices.  It's that simple.  It sounds heartless and cruel.  Trust me when I say that I'll get over it.

 ObamaCo has promised you Hope and Change.  Well, Hope takes no effort, so the change ain't gonna happen.  Wishing something to happen doesn't accomplish squat.  You've got to actually do something to better yourself.

Foreign concept, I know.

And Junior, choose your victims to bonk carefully.  Swing by my place or the homes of the 150+/- students I train each year, with the intention of enriching yourself at our expense, and you'll understand change.

Like going from 98.6 to room temperature.

---
Copyright 2012 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com