It seems there are a lot of people upset about what Obama recently said about business owners. I'm not going to talk about whether or not his wording was perfect because that would be a red herring of the real issue. It's something to complain about when you don't want to listen to what the person actually said. I don't agree with Obama on a lot of issues. He has good intentions, but he's clueless as to how to prioritize. However, you cannot take something someone said and dismiss it, or worse condemn it, because the guy who said it didn't know how to prioritize. There's wisdom in what he said whether you want to admit it or not.
If you are confused by what was said and you think he was wrong, ask yourself: "Would I have a business if ____________?" or "Would my business have failed if ______________?"
Think of people that maybe could have done something to help you. Would you have a business if no one ever fed you as a child? Would you have a business if no one taught you how to read? Would you have a business if someone didn't organize a society in which entrepreneurship was encouraged? or Would your business have failed if no one built the road leading to it? Would your business have failed if no one taught you how to run it? Would your business have failed if no one bought your product?
If even one of those questions was a yes, then you didn't do it alone.
And since most of the people who seem to be upset about what Obama said aren't actually business owners, you can think about what you have accomplished and how maybe you didn't get there on your own.
I know being dependent on others is scary. So scary that we use words like "interdependence" to mean that yeah I'm dependent on you, but you're also dependent on me, so we're even. I know that we want to believe that if we have food storage, a garden, savings and a house paid off that we don't need anyone else, but it isn't true. We will always need someone else. We will always need our families. We will always need our friends. We will always need our church leaders. And we will also always need someone else to work, so we don't have to. We don't work to be independent. We work for each other. We work so that our position is filled so that someone has time to have a position to help us. That's life. That's the gospel. That's the point. We didn't come here to learn independence. We came here to learn complete dependence on Christ and God. We came here to learn to love which we can't do alone. We came here to learn to live in and like Zion. Zion is unity. Zion is working together for a common goal. Zion is not barricaded houses with fathers guarding the food storage pantry with his rifle. Zion is sharing. Zion is caring more about the greater good of the group over ourselves. Zion is letting go of fairness. Zion is not something that will happen after we're dead, so we don't have to worry about it. It's something that has to happen now in our hearts. And what a great way to start! Making peace with the fact that to get where you are now, you were once and perhaps still are dependent on someone else.
