A Pair of Similarly Questionable Claims

Vacation and Volcanos.  Both start with V.  Both can be a Blast.  Both can be Tourist Destinations.  But Both should not be considered a cost to the taxpayer.


The European Commission seems to think that vacations are a given right and that taxpayers should be responsible to provide vacations to all.  The overseas vacation is no longer a reward, but a right, the story states.


An airline companies are seeking a bailout from their governments for the loss of business that resulted from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano.  The costs related to putting up passengers should be borne by the government, the article reads.


I do not disagree that vacations can make for more productive people and a healthier society.  Creating a balance in one's life is rather an art, a trial and error until a path is defined that resembles a balance for its traveler.  And as a corporation, if I can convince someone with the authority to pay my "unexpected" bills for me, then bravo, good on me.


But that is not the point, at least not for me.  This is about accountability.  This is about taking responsibility.  This is about understanding that your life, whatever it is, it's yours, and yours only.  There are many forces including other people and their lives that influence and interfere with your life.  But like a Canadian Native Chief once said, if your life is boring, you're boring.  Our society is devolving into one where each and every small increment of responsibility is some one else's.  There's another Canadian Native Elder that once said to me - if you want something you haven't had before, you have to do something you haven't done before.


So the vacation?  The recovered costs and losses for airlines?  The world is in a funk.  Lotsa things that used to be, aren't anymore.  We are and will continue to live different lives as the world progresses through a re-balancing of trade, currencies and global finance.  This is a transition, and it continues.