Winning is good. Everyone likes to win, including me. At the risk of totally dating myself, I remember a television program that aired when I was very young in the southern California local market called the "Billy Barty Show". It's really not the show I remember, but I have a wonderful memory of Billy Barty making a "personal appearance" at one of the local supermarkets and how excited I was that my father was going to drive me there to meet the show's star in person. "Star" might be going a bit too far, but when you're only 5, anyone actually on television makes that list.

 My father had promised to take me to see the host of this kids show and I was excited beyond belief to meet someone who was both famous and no larger than myself (Billy was a "little person"). Even though I nagged and nudged, we got a bit of a late start. I could tell this really wasn't the trip my dad wanted to make, but he forced himself so as not to disappoint his son. We pulled up to the market, parked and rushed to find Mr. Barty packing up the last of his gear getting ready to leave.

My dad could see the sadness in my eyes that we had missed whatever entertainment had been planned. As fathers do when placing themselves in positions such as this, he made his way closer to Billy and asked if he might be able to take another moment to say hi to one more fan. I remember Billy turning to face me with one of the biggest and most sincere smiles I had ever seen and extended his small, pudgy hand toward me in greeting. I was thrilled. He actually apologized for having packed up all his stuff, but told me he had time to allow me to play one game. From the car he was driving, he pulled out a large wooden board, looking entirely home made and (pardon the pun) dwarfing his slight stature, with a row of switches on the front. Billy told me to pick any switch and flip it to see if I might win a prize. He then said, "I think you'll win. Go ahead, try."

Long story short, yeah, I won and took possession of the candy bar that was my prize. I have always been thankful for what Billy did for me that day. I know he rigged the game now, even if I had not been sure at the time. He allowed me to feel like a winner, exactly what every 5 year old should feel like. 

While I will continue to not only defend but extol the virtues of what Billy Barty did that day, I understand it was only appropriate because it involved a 5 year old boy. Somewhere along the way in America, we decided that "loosing" or "failing" is never a good thing for anyone. When my children started playing organized sports, I found that scores were not really kept and everyone was told they were "the winner" when it was over. I asked about that at the time, getting the types of answers you might expect. "We want them to have fun and not worry about the competition" or "They will have enough pressure to produce as they grow up, they should be able to just relax and play the game."

In schools, we go out of our way to not hurt each child's "self-esteem". We don't correct bad behavior because it might hurt someone's feelings. When we find teachers failing miserably to bring those in their charge to even the most basic level of performance required in a discipline, we don't place more pressure on the students to achieve, we make the tests easier so the scores look better. You might think that "no child left behind" means we work harder to ensure that child keeps up. There are two ways to make sure you don't miss the bus; Run Faster or Stop the Bus. In education, we have parked the bus. While they don't miss it, too many times children don't go very far with the education they're given.

We have carried this same mindset into the workplace as well. While there are plenty of examples, the New Haven firefighters come to mind easily. Here we have the situation where a number of persons take a series of tests (oral and written) to determine suitability for promotion. When the results are in and it is discovered that only whites and hispanics will have the opportunity to be awarded that promotion during the next 2 years, the test is nullified. The city admitted that the reason to throw out the test was simply due to the absence of any black candidates with a passing score. They didn't like the results and claimed it must not be "fair". We'll see if the supreme court agrees.

It's one thing to desire to not crush the hopes and dreams of a five year old, it's another thing entirely to rig every contest we enter for the rest of our lives. Failure is a part of life, at least it should be. It can be a tough lesson to learn, but failure impels us to work harder, study more, prove our worth and, ultimately, succeed. You cannot win unless someone else looses. Your victory is meaningless without the struggle and competition. We are better as a people for the competition that provided us better products, safer conditions in which to work and play, lower prices for goods and services.

An entire continent was conquered and a form of government was established on this principle. Those that founded what became the United States understood two important concepts;

1) Our rights and liberties are ordained by God, not man, and each of us deserve to be free. 

2) The government should be an arbiter of disputes that arise from competition, provide an arena where competition can flourish and stay as far removed from actual involvement in the marketplace as possible so as not to prejudice the outcomes.

It used to be that "necessity was the mother of invention", but it seems that is no longer the case. That was when we believed in self reliance and individual initiative. We have given over to government our right to be free in a free society, our ability to be self reliant. To be free to succeed, we must be free to fail. No one is too small or too big to fail. Not the individual, not the corner store, not General Motors. That also means that no one is too small to succeed. That is, in fact, the promise of America. It's what allows anyone that will work hard enough to harvest the fruits of their labor, to attain to whatever heights they have set their sights for. 

We cannot have it both ways. The opportunity to succeed comes with an equal opportunity to fail. We either have the desire to be able to achieve the dreams and hopes we carry in our hearts and minds or we give ourselves over to the control of government who will dream and hope for us. As for me, I want the right to fail, to stumble and grope my way through the darkness of an uncharted course. I want to be able to fall down and know that I can get back up. If I have that, then I also have the right to embrace the light at the end of a long tunnel and breathe the air of an entirely fresher content I find there. The reward gained is always in proportion to the effort expended. I felt like a winner the day Billy rigged the game, but that really wasn't winning at all, it was a handout. Our government wants to rig all the games, determine all the outcomes and handout the rewards as it sees fit. I am told in that way, no one looses. I think we all end up loosing in this.

Let me know your thoughts, I always appreciate them.

Terry