Cleaning Up Others' Mess

One of the things in life I absolutely hate (and I know hate is a strong word, but I'm using it nonetheless) is to be the clean-up hitter among a group of under-achievers or simply slothful people. I didn't like it in high school, when I was assigned as a member of a larger six-person project group to work on a project and myself and another gal were the only ones who did any substantive work, yet everyone got the same mark as a result - communist education system!!! I don't like it now, when I'm asked to do something with a group of people and they spend more time talking about something rather than doing; all the while, I am pulling the rest of my hair out, when it turns out that nothing is being done. While I am all for teamwork, my support hinges on the fact that everyone does their part. If they don't, all bets are off. I don't mind picking up for people who are having a hard time with something, helping them, maybe even carrying the burden for a team member. What I don't like is people coasting in life, and expecting you to bail them out. I am a huge supporter of individual responsibility, so you can imagine that I'm not gung-ho on government social assistance and what not. Yes, there are truly people down on their luck or had some bad breaks in life, but let's face it - quite a number of people put themselves in their predicaments, so they should take the responsibility to clean it up. I believe people should and need to take responsibilities for their actions or inactions, rather than expecting, and sometimes mandating others to help them out.

A prime example of this is on my bi-monthly hydro bill. I hate paying bills to begin with, but recognize it is a necessary evil. What boils me about my hydro bill is the section that indicates that the power company is tacking on a "debt retirement surcharge" in order to pay off the debt of the former Ontario Hydro. Why the hell do I have to pay this? I never farted away the money and got myself in debt as a corporation - Ontario Hydro got themselves in this mess - they should get themselves out. I've called to indicate that I do not wish to pay this, and they said, they have no choice - the province mandates that all hydro customers pitch in and help with paying off this debt - if I don't do it, they will cut off my electricity and water, and then send a collection agency to garnish my wages or something like that. I'm still diligently on the prowl, looking for alternative ways that I can do things so that the hydro company does not get my money. You extrapolate this to government waste in general, and it's no wonder there are so many tax evaders out there. You don't want to be funding absolutely stupid stuff that just squanders your money (yes, it employs people, but I'd rather have see people unemployed rather than them employed doing something that is not productive - you have heard of enough of how unionized government offices work - we're paying for this, people!)

Like some people, I closely scrutinize how my tax dollars are being allocated. Unfortunately, we do not live in a society in which we can choose how our tax money gets divvied up (this would be fantastic, democratic, as well as show what areas and services no one cares about - and can be eliminated). For instance, I don't want my tax dollars feeding convicted rapists or murderers and keeping them in jail. If you read my blog long enough, you'd know my stance on paying for inmates to stay in jail. I just hate bailing out people who made their own bed and now have to sleep in it. I'm not talking about bailing out people who had some bad breaks. That is different. I'm talking about cleaning up after people who made unwise choices - they need to live with the consequences of those choices and if that means they sit in a jail and starve to death - well, I guess that is what will have to happen.

How about the education system? They are now catering to the weaker and under-performing students with this new feel-good grading system, which doesn't seem to want to fail anyone. As a result, the overachievers and good performers are being dragged down, and if not, they are enrolling in private schools where they are allowed and encouraged to excel. Meanwhile, we are producing more people who can't spell, who can't speak English or French (and this seems perfectly acceptable these days), who seem to think that it's perfectly acceptable to cheat on exams to get ahead. Again, I don't care if they fail the underachievers. That's how an education system is supposed to function - you meet the grade, you pass. You don't, you repeat (hey, at least there's even a repeat option!).

Companies used to be a little bit more departmentalized, in that each unit functions independently and a well-contributing unit will be rewarded, whereas a poorly contributing unit will start having layoffs given to its members. These days, under the guise of collective achievement, a poorly performing unit can and does have a directly adverse effect on other contributing units - the excuse here is, "well, we are part of the same company, so we take our lumps together and we win our races together". I don't subscribe to this socialistic mumble-jumble. If I was running a company, I'd axe all the poorly performing departments, rather than take away from the profitable departments in order to maintain some semblance of corporate balance.

I'm a strong believer in individual achievement. You essentially live or die based on your own actions, so you really can't blame anyone.