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The Clarksville Times, Thursday, November 11, 1971, Page 9 —— — our votes to be a littte more careful with our tax money. Politicians who forge ahead with unnecessary spending at times when all indications point to a slower course have managed to get our govern ment in a worse mess than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. By Jimmy Hurt We came across the story the other day of some farmers who began working on the theory that they could eat all their big potatoes and keep the small potatoes for seed. They did this for some time, eating the big potatoes and planting the small. It wasn’t long, however, until a new understanding of the laws of life came to them. Through the years during which they kept up the practice, nature reduced the size of all of their potatoes. They kept getting smaller and smaller until soon all were the size of marbles. They learned through bitter experience that they could not keep the best things of life for themselves and use the left overs for seed. The law of nature decreed that the harvest would reflect the plant ing -- small plants produce small vege tables while large plants continue to produce large. Planting small potatoes is a common practice with most of us. We take the big things of life for ourselves and plant the leftovers. We expect that by some crazy twist of the laws of nature our self ishness will reward us with unselfishness. But, like the hapless farmers, sooner or later we'll learn too that we can’t eat the big potatoes and keep having them through the years. We reap what we sow. Next year is an election year and we’re getting primed for some exciting races. We also keep hoping that the voter will remember who it is that keeps on con stantly draining our pocketbooks. Like the prisoner who said to the judge who’d given him 30 days in jail, ‘‘You’re awfully generous with my time,’’ We ought to remind those who ask for if you’re interested in figures, try these for size. As a result of the American system of free enterprise operated by the kind of religious, creative, hardworking people who settled and made this country, Americans, with only seven percent of the world’s land and six percent of '‘s people own 71 percent of all the cars, 56 percent of the telephones, 83 percent of the TV sets and 90 percent of the bathtubs. This standard of living wasn’t achieved by accepting government handouts. Foreigners didn’t do it nor did the often critical youth. It was and is a tribute to American system enterprise. The squares over 30 and their parents, who are responsible for the success of the free enterprise system gave much of its fruits to their own youth and to other less fortunate countries. Sometimes we wonder if it’s appreciated. And almost in the same vein of thought, Roberta Price of the Saint Jo Tribune observed: ‘‘A gray-haired old lady was preparing to enter a bus on a busy street. She was somewhat crippled and large. Her arms were loaded with packages. As the bus door opened, a man waiting behind her offered a helping hand, “‘The old lady smiled but shook her head, ‘I’d best manage alone,’ she said, ‘If I get help today, I’ll want it tomorrow.’ “In one sentence, she summed the whole welfare tragedy,’’ Al White in the Johnson County News advised ‘‘Try to see yourself as others see you -- but don’t let it make you angry.’’
Newspaper Details
Clarksville Times
Clarksville, Texas, US
Thu, Nov 11, 1971
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 14 Feb 2026
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