Unfortunately, after 70 years and thousands of social programs costing trillions of dollars, people are still not self-elevating. Instead, the inner cities are decaying, academic performance is suffering, the prisons are overcrowded, the courts are overworked, and more and more people are becoming dependent on society every year. At a loss to explain why progress is not being made, advocates of Spring Theory have concluded that undiscovered inequities, lingering hindrances, bigotry, America's tainted history, and the harshness of capitalism are to blame.
A breakthrough in understanding human nature sheds new light on the subject of how to resolve America's social problems. We now know that Spring Theory is wrong and Gravity Theory is correct. In short, Congress has been working with the wrong view of human nature.
Human beings are more like the animals than we would like to believe. Just like the animals, our primary motivation is to resolve any incidence of discomfort. As such, unless we have lofty goals, we will indulge in behavior that satisfies our immediate needs. Satisfying immediate needs makes us short-sighted and solely self-serving, the characteristics of bad behavior.
To rise up and perform admirably requires lofty goals. If we hope to achieve them, we must (a) question our animalistic tendencies and (b) delay gratification. Any response less than empowering behavior will cause us to fall short of our lofty goals, making us uncomfortable.
Summarizing our breakthrough discovery
We don't choose empowering behavior because we are elevated beings. We choose empowering behavior only if choosing bad behavior will leave (elevated) goals unfilled, resulting in our discomfort. Similarly, we don't choose bad behavior because something is preventing us from performing admirably. We choose bad behavior only if doing so resolves our discomfort. As such, without elevated goals, we automatically default to bad behavior (this is Gravity Theory).
Assuming that we are resolute in applying correctly what we now know about human nature, we can literally turn America from the cliff. We merely need to reject Spring Theory and apply Gravity Theory aggressively.
Applying Gravity Theory
Essentially, we now know the secret to effective social engineering. In short, human beings will not perform admirably just because society removes social hindrances such as poverty, bigotry, and the other inequities of life. To get citizens to self-elevate and perform admirably, society will have to cause them to acquire elevated goals. Only those with lofty goals will choose socially empowering behavior, but only to avoid becoming uncomfortable from failing to achieve their goals.
People without lofty goals will surely become complacent, lazy, and dependent if society merely removes obstacles and hindrances. This explains why capitalism in general and the "American Dream" in specific (the notion of getting ahead and making it big) has been such a powerful influence in the overall success of America.
Individuals who seem to strive continuously for greater heights are not demonstrating some intrinsic self-elevating human characteristic (Spring Theory). They are motivated only because they are uncomfortable. They are in pursuit of goals that have yet to be met. Their unresolved goals cause them discomfort. Essentially then, the difference between human beings becoming achievers or dependents is determined by the level of their respective goals. Without unachieved goals (causing discomfort), human beings will not rise up.
How exactly can this new knowledge be applied to make our social programs effective? The short answer is that we must retool our social programs according to our new understanding of human nature. More specifically, we must be sure that our social programs insure only survival, not comfort. If we truly want to help citizens self-elevate, we must be sure that the help they receive is less than that which will make them comfortable. As such, all measures of comfort must be removed from society's programs if we hope to help people self-elevate. If we do, people will become productive and America's social problems will be resolved.
Two applications demonstrate how applying this breakthrough discovery will lead to enormous social benefits.
Example: "The Soup Kitchen"
Spring Theory says that people will self-elevate if given the chance. If people don't perform well, it is because something is holding them down. Therefore, society has concluded that we should offer hot soup and a fresh cup of coffee to people who have been burdened by the inequities and hindrances of life. We have assumed that such gestures of compassion merely provide a little comfort to those less fortunate, offering them hope, love, and encouragement in their struggle to regain their footing in life before rising up and facing the world anew.
The problem is that Spring Theory is wrong. Gravity Theory says that people without lofty goals will not self-elevate because they are already comfortable. Because they are comfortable, they will not work to improve their condition. For those who have no goals beyond the hot soup and fresh cup of coffee, gestures of love and compassion will only serve to make them comfortable. Having made them comfortable, they will not self-elevate and improve their condition.
Only people who are still uncomfortable after the hot soup and the fresh cup of coffee will rise up and perform at a higher level. Those who self-elevate and move on will do so only because they are still uncomfortable. More specifically, they have goals that are not yet met, causing them to be unsatisfied (uncomfortable). Restless, they will get up and move on. Those who don't self-elevate have no goals beyond the hot soup and fresh cup of coffee. Comfort is achieved by the hot soup and the fresh coffee, so they will naturally look forward to the next serving.
The difference between people who self-elevate and those who remain homeless is only the level of their personal goals. Human beings are not predisposed to rise up. We are predisposed to become comfortable. Once we are comfortable, we are no longer inspired to self-elevate. Consequently, to provide even small measures of comfort to people without elevated goals insures they will come back for more measures of comfort.
This analysis leads to the following conclusions.
As a society, we must decide if we care about helping people for their benefit or for ours. When we help others, it makes us feel good to see their expression of joy. When they take a whiff of our aromatic soup, it gives us an intoxicating feeling to witness their approval. So when we serve the soup, who is it for really — them or us?
Assuming that we truly want to help others, we must be sure that the social services we provide only insure survival. They must not insure minimum standards of comfort.
Insuring minimum standards of "comfort" or "survival" are different goals and they cannot be achieved simultaneously. If we insure minimum standards of comfort, we will surely grow the dependency class. In contrast, if we remove the comfort (the pleasure) from the social services we provide, we will balance the budget, pay down the debt, and inspire every citizen to self-elevate and perform admirably.
The New "Soup Kitchen"
According to Gravity Theory, the soup kitchen should be established only to insure survival. All measures of comfort must be eliminated if we truly want to help those we serve.
As a first step, the "Soup Kitchen" must be called something less attractive (such as "Public Shelter"). Second, the only purpose of the public shelter must be to insure survival. As such, there can be no soup, coffee, or soda — nothing cold, hot, sweet, sour, salty, or bitter.
The food offered should be limited to a cart of fresh fruit and uncooked vegetables, bottled water, and a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.
Of course, some will call this solution cruel, but these measures follow Gravity Theory and the proper purpose of a social service — survival.
The Patriot Party believes in expanding social services if necessary to insure the survival of every American. However, the social services provided must be retooled to reflect Gravity Theory if they are to work.
Providing sustenance without comfort will insure that those in the public shelter will remain uncomfortable. At the very least, they will have to self-elevate (do something productive) if they wish to enjoy a hot bowl of soup or a fresh cup of coffee.
The New "School Lunch Program"
Serving hot meals in school should be disbanded if we care about our children and the future of America. If our children are faced with eating fruit and vegetables if they don't eat breakfast at home or if they forget their lunch, they will remember to eat breakfast at home and they won't forget their lunch.
In the process of making breakfast and a bagged lunch, parents will get more involved with their children, children will learn what it means to be a parent, parents will be more inclined to check homework assignments and talk with their children, a major burden will be lifted from government, and children will not be conditioned to go through life with their hand out looking for government to feed them.
Conclusion
It will be tempting to allow Spring Theory to coexist with Gravity Theory when convenient, when it serves a competing special interest (such as winning the support of the various unions), or when the consequences seem minimal or non-existent. However, doing so will only perpetuate America's social problems, preventing us from turning America away from the cliff.
The Patriot Party understands the correct view of human nature and is dedicated to retool our social programs accordingly.
