If a teacher rewards students' behavior or accomplishments with tangible rewards, before long students ask, "What will I get if I....?"
Pay your children for cleaning their rooms or doing normal chores and it won't take long before they want payment for everything they do.
Unfortunately, many adults have come to expect things for little or no effort too. Somewhere along the way they lost the idea of personal responsibility or working to earn what they want.
I watched a television news spot where a woman was shouting questions to a presidential candidate. She was asking about his views on women's health issues and her last shouted question was did he support free birth control. The "free" part surprised the candidate, and me. Where did this woman get the idea that something like that could be free? It must be produced, packaged, shipped, stored, and distributed. Costs are incurred all along the way and must be paid if we want additional product.
A depressingly large number of people seem to believe that the "government" gives money, services, and products away. Not true. They use money taken from other people. It is so wrong that we can work for many years, save all we can, invest carefully when we're able, and live always within our means only to have our own government demand a fat percentage of what we have so it can be given to someone who choses not to do those things. As if a circumstance (self-inflicted or not) entitles one to someone else's earnings.
Sunshine is free, but not much else is.
