Gratitude Breeds Resentment
By Ron Marr (07/25/03)
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; this is the principle difference between a man and a dog." Mark Twain said that, and over the years those wise words have become one of my primary philosophical approaches to human interaction. The quote rings true in the realms of financial, romantic, political and social relationships.
It's a sad fact of life, but what begins as gratitude almost inevitably leads to resentment. You can see it in the attitudes and actions of elitist liberals and the welfare recipients whom they woo for votes. The former wish to be viewed as altruistic saviors sharing a loving kinship with the common man...which is pretty funny since while they might let the common man haul out their garbage you can bet they rarely let one sit at the dinner table. It's hilarious - and sick at the same time - that so many wealthy celebrities berate the very system that allowed them to garner great fortunes. Note that not a single one has volunteered to give it all away. They appear to hate the very thing that gave them their station in life, but are unwilling to part with their windfall.
Gratitude breeding resentment...pure and simple. And, juvenile beyond description.
The latter group, the welfare recipients, are more times than not lackadaisical loafers who in one breath scream of how they are "entitled" to more, and in the next curse the government which puts food in their mouths and pays their monthly cable bill. It never fails to amaze me that an adult human could be so child-like as to believe they are entitled to anything that was not earned via their own brains and sweat. However, since nearly half of our population feels America should embrace the failed logic of Socialism, I suppose I am an anachronism. I come from the school which believes that our only true entitlements consist of the freedom to either succeed or fail, to make one's self happy or sad. Shoot me...I think people should work for a living and define their own future, rather than insisting that others do it for them.
Really, what more should a person want than freedom? Freedom to succeed. Freedom to fall flat on your face, to get up, dust off, and try again. For an able-bodied individual to accept a government hand-out should be the height of embarrassment and shame, something to be avoided at all costs. But, not in our nanny-state culture...not where so many wish to be cared for cradle to grave by an all-knowing, all-seeing Big Brother...who they then despise for changing their diapers and warming their bottle.
On an international level, you can see the gratitude/resentment paradox in our dealings with the UN, most notably with those member countries which would not even be in existence save for the United States. We've pulled their fat from the fire in time of war, we've given them untold billions in aid and medical relief when their people were starving or sick. We've protected their borders, freed them from the hand of tyrants, propped up their economies and voluntarily accepted trade restrictions which are hardly to our benefit.
And, after the first five minutes of gratitude (or false gratitude...more likely just behaving with a modicum of courtesy until the check clears) we are publicly hailed as the lowest scum on the planet, a totalitarian monster with dreams of global domination. Why do we bother? I could easily become an isolationist, for reasons having nothing to do with ideology but having everything to do with the fact that dealing with foot-stomping adolescents is a royal bore.
I won't go into the examples of resentful gratitude that one experiences on a face to face basis, save to say that loaning money to friends, family members, acquaintances or the romantic object du jour is a bad idea without a fully signed promissory note and the most strict of business arrangements. If you've never done it, you're wise. If you have, you know exactly where I'm coming from.
On the bright side, I think there is a solution to this unsightly phenomenon or irrational resentment. It does not involve federal regulation, or focus groups, or fact-finding committees or awareness seminars. The entire problem can be alleviated with one simple plan of attack and one simple gesture.
As I have many times in the past, I will continue to feed stray dogs. Our government might try a similar approach...caring for homeless curs roaming the streets of our cities, inoculating diseased canines in Third World Countries. Hell...lets get Jimmy Carter to start slapping up dog-houses from Appalachia to Somalia.
As for the ungrateful two-legged animals...let them fend for themselves.
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