15mules I agree with teaching your kids but I believe you had one word that is most important. RESPONSIBILITY. Responsibility in whatever they do will meet there needs throughout their lives. Taking ownership of what they do makes them want to work harder to be successful. Doing ones best means taking responsibility for your own actions whether it is while working, playing with toys or sports. Competition is good but not the goal of pummeling your opponent, rather making your preparation and training culminate in having you met your goal faster or better than the next guy. This ends up creating sportsmanship. If you are successful at teaching your kids, and I believe I have achieved that with mine, they end up teaching my grandchildren. If they do their job, which it seems they are, my grandchildren will continue the progression.

Now to the problem. There is a section of our people, encouraged by the government, to feel they have "entitlements". This is not teaching anyone to take responsibility for their actions, so in turn their kids see this false system as the easy path to living and just as my plan of teaching responsibility, the following generations spiral in the opposite direction. This is why I have always said that those on welfare, aid to dependents and other "entitlements" should not be allowed to make that their career path. Also force the same compliance to rules as one needs to while trying to get a job, like proof of education, ability to pass a drug test, and references that say they are trying to better/correct themselves if the past shows some severe mistakes. Unfortunately this will end up having the very hard decision of letting some people fail and suffer some severely consequences. The liberals will tell you that is unacceptable, but even while raising my children I chose to let them fail with some difficult consequences. Just as I did when I was young, they learned some of my most lasting lessons from these errors.

I am rambling on a little but this is one of my hot buttons.