It was almost 30 years ago did I realized how much trouble this country was in because we were not teaching our children to overcome adversity. Our company was hosting a fundraiser for a local children's program. It was a bowl-a-thon and some of the kids were bowling with us. As I recall the kids we had were around 7 or 8 years old and they were not very good bowlers. Like a lot of kids they became frustrated and wanted to do better. I began giving them some pointers that would help them and encourage them to do better. My colleague kept telling them that they were doing great! The kids knew they were not but she was telling them that their worth or value was not tied to their ability to bowl. It is not, but it is tied to their ability to overcome adversity and improve which are skills they needed to learn.

It has essentially has morphed into a belief by many progressives that we are not going to hold people responsible for their actions because they have been put in situations or circumstances that leave them to make the wrong decision so truly it's not their fault. That could not be more wrong! It does nothing to benefit the individual or society at large. We are products not of our circumstances but our decisions. Often we do find ourselves in situations that are not of our doing, especially when the government is involved, but we have the ability to make a decision in how to deal with the circumstances or situation.

Atlanta Councilman and mayoral candidate Antonio Brown found himself in a situation this week that some would call ironic. How he reacted to the situation many of us will call moronic. Brown was attending a function and as he was leaving he saw someone to whom he wanted to speak. He stopped his Mercedes-Benz and got out of the vehicle. Three or four kids ranging in age from 6 to 12 jumped into the car and stole it. Brown attempted to stop them but was unsuccessful. The vehicle was located later and the children were detained.

This situation is ironic because Brown as a Councilman voted to reduce the police budget by $73 million which resulted in the lack of police officers who would normally have been providing security for this function and might have prevented the theft of Brown's vehicle. Brown has no comment about that specific situation.

It is moronic because Brown said he will not press charges against the youths since they were acting out of desperation. They needed the money that they hoped to get because of generational poverty that they have found themselves born into. Which might actually be a function of having a Democrat run city but that's another discussion. Brown also wondered why these kids were not in school and if they decided they didn't want to attend school why were they not at the recreational center? That is where the enforcement needs to be in Brown's opinion. Either get the kids in school or make sure that they are a recreational center.

Brown has taught these kids a very valuable lesson: there are no consequences for your actions. He assumed that the kids were stealing the vehicle in order to make a profit and not out of seeking a thrill. It still doesn't matter, the kids did something that society has deemed to be illegal. We have also decided that there should be consequences for their actions. Hopefully these kids have a parent that will provide consequences that will deter them from taking such action in the future. Sadly, it is not likely because of what the government has done to the family nucleus.