John Houseman (1902-1988), a veteran actor of stage, screen and television, was the spokesperson for commercials of the Smith Barney Investment Company, and was probably most remembered for the line (and how he delivered it), "They make money the old fashioned way ... they EARN it."
This quote could, and should, be the slogan of many who try to live by those words and who try to pass the meaning of them onto their children and grandchildren as they try and teach that you have to earn what you get in life, that no one owes you anything gratis. My father told all of us at home, that there was no such thing as a "free lunch."
In the world we live in today, we've seen a crisis in our financial institutions, our home lending institutions, our automobile industry, and there are numerous ads on television advertising organizations that show you how to reduce unpaid taxes to the government by more than 50 percent. Aren't those who are not paying their credit card charges, their mortgages, or their taxes and getting away with it, or who are asking "John Q. Public" to bail out their companies with tax dollars because of mismanagement or greed, all receiving "free lunches?" Aren't those who live in this country unregistered and receive financial benefits (college tuitions, jobs, housing assistance, etc.) all receiving "free lunches?"
Students today have to pay back huge college loans with high interest payments, and some have to repay them while attending school because lending institutions have been faced with so many unpaid loans by students who have already graduated. Isn't that another type of "free lunch" for those who reneged?
Health care for every American is a hot topic today. It is something that somewhere, someone will have to pay for, probably through tax dollars, or probably through higher premiums for those already paying outrageous costs for health insurance. For those who won't pay for health care and will receive it, isn't that another example of a "free lunch?"
Charitable organizations are very important and should be supported. People who need help and for whatever reason cannot help themselves, they should be helped, but people who choose not to earn a living, but rather sit back with outstretched hands, they should not be helped. People living in this country who choose not to earn citizenship and pay taxes, but rather enter this country and just "belly up to the buffet," they should not be helped. This country was built by many coming into this country from all over the world. Immigrants came here for a better life. They came here to work, they defended this country, they paid taxes, and were proud people who weren't asking for handouts, just opportunities they could use to make that better life.
How do we teach our children that there is no such thing as a free lunch, when expectations are not met and excuses are accepted, when homework is not completed and the teacher receives phone calls asking for more time or asking that a "free pass" be given to that student. How do we teach it when tests are failed due to lack of effort or study, and requests, and sometimes demands, are made to give that student a passing grade anyway? How do we teach it when deadlines are not met and requests are made to eliminate deadlines or extend deadlines more than once? What about contracts with demands for renegotiation before expiration? Aren't these more examples of "free lunches?"
We can't make our children live the life we want them to live, it will be entirely up to them. What we can do is lay a solid foundation for them by showing them positive examples with regard to earning what they receive, paying their bills, living within their means, meeting deadlines, working to live up to expectations, being true to their word, and teaching them that, "If it is to be, it is up to me." How can this be conveyed to our future generations without emphasizing accountability for decisions and transactions made? If we can plant those seeds and be consistent in what we believe and how we live, then we might be able to go back to a time when there won't be so many "free lunches."
My father wasn't wrong very much (and I don't think he was wrong about free lunches), but seeing what is happening in today's world, his words might be tweaked to more accurately say, "There shouldn't be any such thing as a free lunch, but unfortunately some people think there are, and for them there are, but they're not free to those who pay so others can have them."