Wasted days and wasted nights

One of the greatest tragedies of life in America is that so many people throw away their chances. I've never understood how someone can be born in the greatest country in the world and not avail themselves of the opportunities that people in most other nations of the world would give anything to have. The history books are replete with people who gave up everything and risked everything, even their lives, to come to America while far too many of the people born here were doing nothing.

We live in a country where anyone can achieve anything with the proper motivation and dedication. Anyone can get a degree, learn a trade or achieve a profession. Anyone can make their lives count for something if the want to but many don't.

They take their lives for granted. Perhaps they never realize how fortunate they are to live here where the average life expectancy is 78.1 instead of Angola where it's 38.2. Maybe they don't think it's significant that the average income in the U.S. is $37,500 a year, third highest in the world, while in India its $2,880 and in Sierra Leone it's an unbelievable $530.

We have a more or less permanent underclass of people in this country who achieve very little with their lives. The amazing thing is they have no hope in the most hopeful country on the planet. They accept their lot in life without striving for more, without ever once trying to be the best they can be. They join gangs, become criminals, get addicted to drugs or alcohol, abuse their spouses or their children, and often die young because they make one bad choice after another. We have a moral obligation to leave this planet a little bit better than it was before we got here but far too many leave it worse.

You may think it's their choice to do so but we don't live in a vacuum. The choices they make impact on everyone else. We imprison more people per capita than any other country in the world and our tax dollars not only support that massive system but also the judicial and criminal justice system that comes before it. We have a large welfare system where the "doers" pay for and support those who don't, and those rolls get larger every year.

On the other hand, I see people everyday at the college from all walks of life trying to make themselves better. Middle-aged men and women working full-time jobs who arrange their class schedules around their work; traditional age students who do the same thing because their parents aren't able to pay for their education; handicapped students who make monumental efforts despite their disabilities to get an education. If they can do it, anyone else can do it too but many simply fail to try.

They're too busy just taking up space.

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On a lighter and brighter note, my column last week about my upbringing and, in particular, the food I grew up with brought a couple of unexpected and pleasant responses. An old girlfriend of mine who now lives in Tulsa sent me the recipe for chocolate gravy and a lady living in McCook brought me some delicious pinto beans, ham hocks and homemade cornbread that was both delicious and nostalgic. Thanks to both of you.