By Joseph Bass

There are two types of hammock people — rich ones and poor ones. Both have been given safety nets, their hammocks. They lounge around the hammocks all their lives. They never develop self discipline, because they don’t have to.

One of my high school friends was a hammock guy. His parents were rich. “Bob” never had to deal with the natural consequences of his bad behavior. If he had suffered from his mistakes, he would have learned not to repeat them. That is how people learn self discipline. Bob never had any because his parents always bailed him out.

Bob was smarter than me. He made better grades than me. He was an extremely talented cornet player; our dance band performed at high society events all over the state. He could have moved to Hollywood and made a lot of money in studio orchestras with late night television programs. But Bob’s parents were always there with their money to provide whatever he wanted, so why bother?

While I was burning the midnight oil, struggling and trying to make it at the University of Oklahoma, Bob was partying at Arizona State. I don’t think he completed one class. After the university would not let him re-enroll, he came back home, and I could always depend on finding him during school breaks at the local bowling alley or pool hall. He was exceptionally good at both.

Another aspect of Bob’s lack of self discipline related to his health. He liked to eat a lot of good food and consume large amounts of alcohol. An expensive bottle of Scotch was his best friend. He was always overweight and mildly hung over. Although he was a year younger than me, he died many years ago. I don’t think he ever had a real job all his life.

Poor hammock people don’t have as much money, and the people providing their money are taxpayers. Poor hammock people lay about in welfare safety nets. They could find work in one of the many jobs people come to America to do illegally. But why should they bother? As it was for Bob, they have a safety net and do not have to deal with the natural consequences of their bad behavior.

And like Bob, poor hammock people don’t have to be concerned about what they eat and drink. If they become overweight and have poor health, the wealth created by taxpayers will be used to provide them with free health care.

A major difference between Bob and poor hammock people is that Bob was perfectly happy living his irresponsible, short, happy life. He was a “good-time Charley” to the end.

But poor hammock people often complaining about not having enough, and far too many taxpayers look upon them as being “under-served.”

The problem isn’t that society does not provide enough for them. The problem is they are given so much they never have to develop the discipline to work and do well in the American economy.

Joseph L. Bass is the executive director of ABetterSociety.Info Inc., a nonprofit organization in Hobson. Email him at ABetterSociety1@aol.com.