Posted on 01/25/2025 2:59:06 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Donald Trump’s job is to make America great again. Improving your own life is up to you.
There are lots of reasons to be excited about Trump’s return to power. He’s pledged to unleash America’s energy industry. Cheaper energy and a better regulatory environment should help contain inflation. The border will be locked down while officials deport illegal aliens.
But even if he accomplishes his entire agenda, there’s one thing Trump can’t do—guarantee you a more successful life.
That may sound like a contradiction. If Trump is going to help America, doesn’t that require that he make things better for Americans? It does, but there’s an important step missing in that question—the choices you make.
For instance, one of the best predictors of personal happiness is being in a great marriage. Earning more money raises a person’s chance of being “very happy” by 88%. Being married increases your odds by 151%. But being in a “very happy” marriage boosts your likelihood by a staggering 545%. That’s all according to Brad Wilcox, author of the excellent book “Get Married.”
That’s good news. You can work on improving your marriage regardless of who the president is.
There’s a loneliness epidemic, according to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. He’s right. In October, a Gallup poll found 20% of adults said they felt a lot of loneliness the previous day. That suggests around 50 million adults feel isolated. It’s a miserable feeling and can lead to destructive behaviors like drug and alcohol abuse.
It’s also fixable. Go to church and join a small group. Volunteer. Sign up for a sports league. Reach out to family members.
These steps are all harder when you’re lonely and depressed. It’s why a safety net of families, churches, and engaged neighbors are so important. The government can give you a check, but it can’t give you a hug when you need it most.
This is true even in finances. It doesn’t matter how much Trump cuts taxes. If you spend more than you make, you’ll always have money problems. The best way to improve your financial health is to budget and pay down your debts. Dave Ramsey has helped an untold number of people, myself included, do just that. That’s some practical advice that’s much needed in Washington, D.C.
Trump can create an environment that leads to more job openings and lower housing prices, but you still have to go to work and earn your paycheck or start your own business. In his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vice President JD Vance described working in a tile distribution business before attending Yale Law School. Jobs there provided a path out of poverty for those near his poor hometown, but turnover was high.
“Too many men [were] immune to hard work,” Vance wrote. He continued, “There is a lack of agency here—a feeling that you have little control over your own life and a willingness to blame everyone but yourself.”
This isn’t to say that political leadership doesn’t matter. It does.
Think of it this way. Imagine life is a mountain path with many ups and downs. The job of Trump and other elected officials is to fly above the path and clear away landslides and boulders that make navigating it difficult. If Trump does his job well, removing those barriers will help more people go further on the path. That’s making America great again. But Trump isn’t going to fly you to your preferred destination.
The wonderful yet scary thing about freedom is that it forces you to enjoy or endure the consequences of your own decisions.
If you want to be "rescued", you will not only have to make your own way to the helicopter, but you may want to have a pilot's license as well.
Lots of lecturing ..from people with perfect lives I’m sure :)
Leave this nonsense to the left. No one EXPECTING Trump to give them anything voted for Trump.
Except a chance
This is exactly the opposite of what the Left preaches and believes.
The Left does not believe in individual responsibililty or individual effort.
The individual, in Leftist ideology, is a pawn blown about by society and those above him.
One thing he does need to start doing is finding a way to whittle down the number of retards in black robes who are destroying America for their communist butt buddies in the DemonRAT Party.
That's going to require a major cultural and personal transformation that goes way beyond politics.
Excellent point.
Maybe writings like this can help two generations of some who have been raised to believe that their every lack of success is “somebody else’s fault”. Perhaps we can get back to a belief in personal responsibility now that DEI is out, at least in government jobs.
Effing stupid. Nobody expects Trump to guarantee a successful life. If that is the only thing they can find that Trump can’t do they shouldn’t even have published the article. All I want Trump to do is get the government out of the way and let me succeed. At the same time I will be the judge of my own success. So far I already feel more successful and I have since November.
What about a happy divorce?
Exactly. People just want the decks cleared.
Remember Reagans advise on the nine most horrible words that arrive at your door......
“Too many men [were] immune to hard work,” Vance wrote. He continued, “There is a lack of agency here—a feeling that you have little control over your own life and a willingness to blame everyone but yourself.”
Must have been a UNION shop.
Re: The One Thing Trump Can’t Do.
Another—something like....
In the first century a man approached Rabbi Hillel and challenged him to teach the Torah while standing on one foot.
Hillel replied: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah, all the rest is commentary. Now go and study the commentary.”
Excellent post. Its all about merit. People just need a shot. One thing I love is that so many Immigrants are enterprising and start businesses, even if its a taco stand or a Pizza joint. I see lots of folks begging on the street, mostly white too. I never give them 10 cents—to help their addictions. BUT, street musicians, playing on the corner, I always pay. They bring music to the world, I like music, so I drop in a few dollars. I want to encourage troubadours. You pay what you want to see more of.
“Go to church and join a small group.”
What’s a “small group”?
LOL
I saw The Nine walking single file to some meeting somewhere or other a few days ago. I swear two of them were trolls from under some bridge, they were indistinguishable... I wondered to myself, how in the world did they get there.... My best guess that a lot of male Senators are indistinguishable from trolls also, so they voted to confirm. Like associates with like.
As long as I’m no longer held back for the sake of “equity” I can do just fine on my own.
II Chronicles 14:7 “If my people, who are called by my name
will
1) Humble themselves
2) pray;
3) seek my face; and
4) turn from their wicked ways
THEN will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sins
and will heal their land.
This is the recipe for healing and happiness!
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