Pride comes from self-esteem. Self-esteem is earned. Self-esteem comes from within. Our young are generally taught that self-esteem is conferred by someone else. If you are not well liked; if you aren't the best at something; if you aren't the queen of all the bees, you can have little self-esteem.
Corollary, people with (earned) self-esteem tend to be more self-sufficient than those who depend on others for an opinion of themselves and they are also more dependent on society in general to provide sufficiency.
Let's remember that the House of Representatives has been controlled by the Democrats since 2006. Bush was President but was obstructed when he tried to make changes that would avoid the 2008 meltdown. Such arrogance on the part of Pelosi, Reid and Obama to have "fixed" a problem they were instrumental in causing in the first place.
My grand-daughter asked the other day why I was spending the money that she will have to pay back. Grandpa. "What ever happened to pay-as-you-go?"
My grand-daughter asked the other day why I was spending the money that she will have to pay back. Grandpa. "What ever happened to pay-as-you-go?"
Every law and every rule that comes from a law is a FREEDOM TAKEN from you and added to the government.
Most recognize the need for improvement. Most want the change to slow down so they can find out and digest what it really means for them. Several are active with letters to the editor and to members of congress.
The candidate with the best "content of character" is your best representative. He'll give up his job before compromising his representation of the people. Now, question is -- do any candidates have the kind of character we could vote for instead of against the other guy?
Live next to one. Can see it from my house. Been to several others, too. I am impressed by the sense of community and the fact that people actually care for each other in an extended family. Non-reservation America used to be like that several generations back but we have lost most of it. Values don't get reinforced and transmitted to the next generation. Now we generally rely on the government or the media to let us know what our values are or should be. (Sad)
Poverty -- lots of it if you measure it in material terms. But, then that is an outsider's perspective. I'm sure that from the inside of the community there are the same "human" problems as anywhere else.
Maybe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence -- or maybe it is simply not understood as well as your own grass.
By the way, I have no idea why there is a Bureau of Indian Affairs. Seems discriminatory to me. Shouldn't ther be a bureau for white affairs, black affairs, chinese affairs, mexican affairs, etc?
I believe the Indian Nations in the United States have a tremendous amount to offer the rest of the American culture. You (collectively) know more about the federal government's ability and willingness to change the conditions of a contract (treaty) than anyone else. Your children are (or maybe used to be) taught to respect their elders not because of their age but because of the wisdom they had acquired. The quest for the spiritual is impressive. Poverty, you know about it. I don't know much about culture in the Indian Nations but in my view, individuals are poor only in terms of material things. But, material things have historically not been that significant except in terms of their utility or spiritual value. The sense of acceptance and belonging even for a non-Indian visitor is awesome.
There are other members of the Indian Nations on this site. They participate and contribute. Encourage your friends to do the same. Maybe we will all benefit in some way from the dialogue.
![[Avatar]](/images/avatar26.png){kind=avatar}
Joint