How to Overcome Empty Hope

I was perusing YouTube recently when I came across this seemingly innocent clip of a woman who is expressing her excitement over Obama.

What really surprised me was how she really expects Obama to swoop in and save her from her obligations:

I won’t have to worry about putting gas in my car, I won’t have to worry about paying my mortgage.

There is something seriously wrong with this picture. This apathy, this lack of personal pride one should have in honoring one’s commitments, is lost on this person. I would like to assume this isn’t the prevailing attitude that got Obama into office, but considering conversations I’ve had with those who voted for him it does seem to be one of the bases of “hope” they’re clinging onto. A sad, helpless “hope” that someone will step in and take care of them so they no longer have to care for themselves.

How can we move beyond this? How can we step up to the plate and take honor and pride in what we do?

1. Don’t buy into the “hope”. You think putting the right guy into office will take away all your obligations and you’ll get to live in a Utopian society where everything is provided for you? I have some advice: Grow Up. Take a step into reality where you are responsible for where you are in life, where you are going, and how you’re going to get there.
2. Know your pride. Pride can be bad. So bad, in fact, it can be a sin. If I wronged you, but I don’t apologize and ask your forgiveness because I don’t want to look foolish, that’s the bad kind of pride. Borrowing money from someone and doing everything you can (i.e. taking on multiple jobs, selling crap you own, reducing your standard of living) to pay that debt is honorable. You know what else it is? It’s the basis of personal pride. The good kind. Don’t be one of those people who are so weak willed and without honor that you don’t honor your obligations.
3. Set up accountability. One of the most valuable assets missing in this “progressive” society is accountability. Every mistake we make from childhood to adulthood can be dismissed through maligned psychological diagnoses or circumstantial social ails. No one is responsible for their actions, and that’s dumbassery at its finest. Decide that you and you alone are responsible for your lot in life. Did your Mom call your stupid when you were a child? Forgive her and move on. You’re an adult now and holding onto your past as an excuse for being a failure is as weak and foolish as expecting your President to pay for your gas and mortgage. If you can’t be accountable to yourself, be accountable to others. If you’re employed, be accountable to your employer by working to your fullest potential every day. If your married be accountable to your spouse by treating him or her how you want to be treated, and be accountable for your children by teaching them to be accountable yourself. Furthermore, turn off that stupid TV and spend time with your kids.
4. Count every dollar because every dollar counts. This stupid, poor soul in the video above probably drives a car she can’t afford. I say this because it’s obvious that she’s also in a house she can’t afford, and it’s probably stocked with goods she purchased at full price on credit. She’s sold her soul for the ability to consume beyond her means, and now she’s without pride and full of this false “hope” Obama is selling that she’ll be rescued from her own stupidity. Money is amoral. If you use it for stupid-ness, it brings you stupidity. If you’re careful with it and spend it and SAVE it wisely, it brings you to wisdom.

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