Do Not Feed The Wildlife….

Today’s proverb is proof that our welfare system here in the United States was never meant to be permanent. If you have ever been to a national park where there is wildlife, you know there are signs that tell us "do not feed the wildlife". Why? Because the animals will become habituated (lazy), and depend on humans for food. When this happens, the fate of most animals are sealed. Sickness (due to eating unhealthy), relocation and having to adapt to finding new food, and the threat of being put down because of the potential of harm, all come into play. When humans continuously feed wildlife, the animals are no longer wild. They become dependent upon others for their sustenance. It’s the same way with humans. If we provide them with essentials to live, eventually they will become lazy and depend on the system to sustain them. Why work if you don’t have to? The system is necessary in the short-term, but long term it does way more harm than good. There has to be motivation and responsibility involved in order for the welfare system to work. Take either away (motivation or responsibility), and you create a habituated human, rebelling against the system, demanding more and more, robbing those that really (temporarily) need it. As the joke goes, “what do you get from a pampered cow?” Spoiled milk. Those signs in the national parks are there to protect the wildlife. Why doesn’t that same perspective apply to human beings?

21 A servant pampered from childhood will become a rebel. Proverbs 29:21