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Forced sharing leads to disappointment, bad behavior at church picnic

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mwkruse
in

FortWayne.com: Forced sharing leads to disappointment, bad behavior at church picnic (HT: Victor Claar and his mom)

When I was 12 years old, the Youth of First Christian Church had a picnic at Honor Heights Park in Muskogee, Okla. The good ladies of the church brought loads of potato salad, baked beans and coleslaw, but every child knew the real action was in the sack lunch Mom had packed with their favorite delight. Our mom had fried some chicken.

That was a real treat for us as she opposed fried food on general principle long before such health concerns were fashionable. I had the breast pieces, my younger brother, Robert, got the drumsticks, and sister Susan got the thigh pieces.

Just before the prayer was to be given, the Rev. Wilbanks made an admonition that went something like this: You young folks should not be greedily holding on to your own sack lunches; rather you should empty your sacks and contribute the contents to the common table — after all, sharing was the Christian way.

I was horrified. …

… We economists constantly remind the public and policymakers that private-property rights are essential in generating incentives for production of goods and services. But an additional point is warranted: The absence of private-property rights inevitably discourages good manners and deportment in the distribution of goods and services. Social behavior reduces to the lowest common denominator of 12-year-old boys.

Comments

4 responses to “Forced sharing leads to disappointment, bad behavior at church picnic”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    I get the point and agree with it. However the example is a bit off base. Wasn’t the pastor just making a teaching point ?
    With millions going to bed each night not know where their next meal is comming from or if they will even make it throught the night and Christians in America for the most part don’t even think about those in real need in a ditch in a far away road with no hope….a Sharing lesson for 12 year olds is juts what they need. And more of it.

    Reply
  2. ceemac Avatar
    ceemac

    Interesting. Never heard of that kind of church dinner that was a combo potluck picnic. We always had potlucks when I was growing up in 60’s and 70’s. With orderly lines.
    And I took a different eco lesson from church meals.
    Up until late 1973 there was were always a lot of big plates of roast beef with the potatoes, carrots and onions. (and I didn’t grow up in a big beef producing area and this was in the day before crock pots) But when they economy went south after the oil embargo roast beef disappeared from the pot luck. (I recall the news stories about how fast the price of beef was rising in 1974). In the almost 40 years since I have been to a lot of potlucks and I bet I can count the number of roasts I have seen on 1 hand. As far as I am concerned the economy has never recovered from the oil embargo of 1973.

    Reply
  3. vanskaamper Avatar
    vanskaamper

    There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as caring and sensitive because he wants to expand the government’s charitable programs is merely saying that he is willing to do good with other people’s money. Well, who isn’t? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he will do good with his own money — if a gun is held to his head.
    ~ P.J. O’Rourke

    Reply
  4. ceemac Avatar
    ceemac

    the 1st time through i missed that this was a youth picnic not an all church event. Actually it sounds like it may have been a children’s event where the 12 yr olds were the big kids.
    I do wonder why the minster did this. Was a simply a poorly planned teaching exercise?
    Or was he aware that some children had shown up w/o brown bags.
    If it was the latter then he probably should have consulted with some of the mom’s about the situation. I suspect the mom’s would have arranged some sort of orderly sharing situation.
    I feel pretty certain that if I had been there with 2 chicken breasts and my mom had been there as well then I would have been sharing my chicken. And if I resisted and sassed or talked back I could imagine being sent back to the car with NO chicken.

    Reply

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