Socialism should be road less traveled
I would like to share the wisdom of a recent e-mail I received. It sums up socialism in a nut shell.
An economics professor said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class.
The class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the third test rolled around the average was an F.
Their scores never increased. Instead, bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for anyone else. Thus, all failed to their great surprise, just as history has shown socialism to ultimately fail. The truth is, the harder it is to succeed the greater the reward, but when government takes all the reward away no one will even try to succeed.
ó Chuck Hughes
Salisbury
Learn and move on
This is in response to the March 15 “Management moment” on page 8A (“Learn from mistakes and move on”).
When I was growing up and in the second or third grade, Mom would call my Dad in and say, “David is having problems with his math. I was never good with math.”
Dad would come in, look at the problem and say, “Sonny boy, if you do not first succeed, try, try again.”
Then, the next time, he said, “Sonny boy, if you cannot get promoted and graduate forward, then you can get demoted and graduate backward.”
Then, the last time Mom called Dad in, he said, “Sonny boy, the man that never tried anything, never did anything. The man that never made a mistake, never did anything. And the man that never failed never did anything.”
So, my children, take note of your piano lessons. Anything you try will take practice. My two nieces bugged my sister to take piano. They took three lessons before telling their mom, “We do not want to take piano. We cannot play like Nancy.” My sister said, “You cannot expect to play like someone who took lessons for five years after you’ve had only three lessons.”
So, my children: Remember what my music teacher said: “Practice makes perfect.” Do no quit before you get started. This goes for math problems and physics problems in college. Put your mind to the grindstone and get with it. Go on as this newspaper article tells it.
Many people say, “I’m afraid to try because I might make a mistake.”
Just remember, the man or woman who never made a mistake never did anything.
ó F. David Candler
Salisbury
China Grove woes
In January 2004, the China Grove town board voted to annex an area along Patterson Street, extending to N.C. 152 and past Five Forks. Annexed residents have been paying the taxes but don’t have sewer and most don’t have water. The area south on U.S. 29 to Bostian Road was annexed in 2007 and is getting water and sewer. Some of this area got sewer in 2003; they were not in the city at that time and did not pay anything. Give the services to the people that were annexed in 2004. The town has roads that need repair.
The town has ordered a new firetruck and is buying two more police cars. By being able to take their police cars home, officers save $400 per month. The limb pickup needs improving. Downtown parking places downtown are not marked off and the town is the dirtiest it has ever been in 52 years.
The people running this town just don’t get it. They are paid very well and get their insurance paid for by the taxpayers. City Hall has five employees who are all overpaid.
All private enterprises have to cut back, and we have to pay more insurance and copayments.
For the past three years, insurance costs have increased 6 percent each year. Private enterprise shifts this cost to the employees; only city and county government employees get this free. If you add these benefits, it will add $4,000 plus to their income, which private employees do not get. Work to lower taxes, water and sewer bills for the China Grove citizens. We have too many employees.
No raises or cost-of-living raises please. All our property is overvalued, so residents pay more taxes.
ó Troy R. Elliott
China Grove
Elliott is a former alderman in China Grove.