I hope you enjoy this article as much as I do. I would like to add that I would include NIMBY's and "Viewshed" whiners as well as anti development types who scream the loudest when thier neighbors exersize thier own rights, as deadbeats too. --ed.

Deadbeat Alaskans
Before I get started I would like to point out, that I don't believe all Alaskans are deadbeats. The pioneers of Alaska were and surely a hard-working tough bread. I'm also not completely anti-union or anti-social programs. I truly believe that many union workers earn their money and that many people on social programs just had a string of bad luck.

However, I've lived in Alaska for a little over a decade now. One thing I've noticed about this state is the extensive number of people who live off their fellow Americans and Alaskans. There is a huge "entitlement way of thinking" and a "look out for number one" mentality up here.

I remember my banker telling me, not to worry about earthquake insurance. She said if the big one hits, the government would bail us out. I live in an earthquake zone so I bought earthquake insurance because I don't trust the government to bail me out and I don't think it's the responsibility of the government to bail me out either.

Someone told me that after the Big Lake fire was over, many Alaskans thought the government should pay for their vacation homes. I don't have a vacation home and if I did I don't think it’s the governments responsibility to cover me.

When I first arrived in Alaska I met a lady who worked for the state. She pointed out that on the federal level she always voted conservative and on the local level she voted liberal. She explained it this way, on the federal level Alaskans should vote conservative to protect the oil industry which in turn will mean more money for Alaskans. Yet on the local level, if you are a state employee you should vote liberal to protect your union benefits. She loved Mr. Knowles. This lady was an office manager who managed less than 10 employees. According to her, she had a retirement worth well over 1 million dollars. I was in the military at the time; she said she would hide her sons before she sent them to war. This lady was simply a self-serving deadbeat who was the center of her own universe. My only regret was not asking the waitress for two checks.

Take my friend lets call him Jay to protect his identity. Jay is a nice guy whom I like very much. Jay is about 60 so that makes him a baby boomer. I don't like judging people. And their financial affairs aren't my business unless they are taking money from me. Again I like Jay but here are a few things that bother me about him. Jay is a former union employee. Jay retired at about 50 due to a disability after working at his union job. Jay worked for a monopolistic unionized organization that most Alaskans have to buy from. From what I understand, Jay is supposedly still disabled; he receives not only union disability but I believe social security disability as well. Yet it appears to me Jay has now recovered. Jay goes snowmaching, fishing and any other outdoor activity you can imagine. Jay is pretty good with his hands so he does a little under the table construction work. Jay has a home in the lower 48 and one here in Alaska. Jay also has a fair number of toys as well. I pay more taxes than Jay, yet Jay is wealthier than I am. I am in my 30's and I will probably never receive a dime of the social security I paid in. So if the government takes money from you and refuses to pay it back, then it is a tax, right? My wife had a major operation a few years back and her medications are extremely expensive. Jay on the other hand receives his medications for Free. Jay complains about the price of everything. If he hires someone to work on his home, you better believe its some guy who works real cheap. And then Jay will try to take advantage of him.

I don't want to sound like a whiner and I am not jealous of Jay. However, I grew up in the Deep South where my father and our church taught me "thou shall not steal" My father taught me to expect an honest days pay for an honest days work. If a man was disabled and couldn't provide for his family, then it was the nearest relative’s obligation to help and the church was always willing as well.

Perhaps Jay thinks I am stupid. He says I should work a union job and go for any benefit you can get from the government. He says I should look out for number one. I hope and pray that I never sink to the level of Jay. Because I believe this "looking out for number one" mentality will one day be our undoing.

Alaska is one of the most unionized states in the nation from public servants to utilities to oil companies. We also receive more pork per ca-pita than any other state. I like uncle Ted, but there is no way on earth I would have had the balls to ask my fellow Americans to pay for a $2 million bus stop (I think that was the amount Anchorage mayor Mark Begich asked for, but I could be wrong). We have soldiers in Iraq without adequate tools needed to do their job, which is to kill the hell out of the Islamo Fascist. I was ashamed of uncle Ted when he almost had a heart attack on the senate floor over the bloated bridge money. I wish he had gotten as upset when senator Dick “Turban Durbin” made his comments. Or why isn’t he as outraged for the Marines at camp Pendleton who were falsely accused of killing Iraqi civilians. Anyway that’s another story.
From what I understand Alaska state spending is 2.5 times the per ca-pita national average. I pay more property taxes on my 1700 sq. foot home than my father does on 400 acres of farmland in the lower 48. You would think that the majority of the people on hillside in Anchorage would be business owners. Yet in my experience most of them are unionized workers. There are some estimates that claim 40% of Alaska's population is employed by the government. Add in the number of people in this state who receive social service entitlements (many of which are funded through the huge pork this state receives) and you may very well have the most socialist state in the nation.

Perhaps this is why we have busloads entitlement moms who keep having babies out of wedlock coming to Alaska every year. Perhaps this is why we have teachers who chose to be teachers for the benefits rather than the children, and police unions who support union loving candidates rather than those who would help them fight crime. And don't even get me started on the utilities. We all know why they are so high. And like any business oil companies must recoup their cost. And if they or any of their sub-contractors are union then that cost will be more. And guess who pays, we do at the pump. My God if all of the lower 48 states were like Alaska, America would have fallen a long time ago.

In most states you are compensated by what the free market says you are worth, as it should in a Free Society. I work for a business like most people do in most states. I get paid by what I produce and my negotiating skills. Again this is how it should be in a free society. You have the right to make whatever you can as long as you do it the old fashioned way, honest Entrepreneurship & Investing rather than Union-ship or Robbing the publics trust.

When my wife got sick, I didn't pull out the Americans with Disabilities Act. I simply asked for some time off and my employer agreed. I suppose it was because I was a good employee.
Jay on the other hand like many Alaskans, is paid by the negotiating skills of union bosses and his own ability to fleece his fellow Alaskans and Americans through government programs. I would wager that if a study were performed on the compensation including pay, retirement and other benefits of union employees in Alaska vs. Alaska small business owners, I truly believe the union guys would come out on top. Notice I said compensation and not overall wealth. Most business owners are better at managing their money and therefore become richer.

Over half of America's tax dollars goes to health and social services when the money could be better spent. We have a huge trade deficit. We are building the wealth of nations like China who may one day use that wealth against us in a military way. Jay always shops at Wal-Mart. He likes competition when it comes to buying but not when he's selling. In my experience most union employees are that way. Many unionized teachers don't want vouchers for private schools yet I would wager on a construction project they get 3 bids.

It's against the law for businesses to meet and fix prices. It's called collusion, yet unions are allowed to do it all the time. Wouldn't be great if Anchorage had 3 or 4 teachers unions to choose from instead of just one?
Again I'm not anti-union or anti-social programs. I use Eisenhower's Yardstick, which says "is it good for America”.
Years ago unions served their purpose. They prevented sweatshops and created better labor laws. And yes some companies do treat their employees badly. Years ago social programs benefited the widowed, the truly sick and disabled. Social Security disability is an insurance program that you pay into, if you are truly sick and disabled then yes you have the right to make a claim and expect benefits.

Yet today because of abuses, social programs and unions have morphed into something monstrous that no longer meets Eisenhower's yardstick rule. Our nation is being devoured from within. One of the greatest challenges of a free society is to maintain a balance of power between special interest groups. In Alaska we have seen the scales severely tipped in favor of those who would rob us. But the most important component of our nations survival is this, the service of others before self.
During the great depression you had children running away from home so their younger brothers and sisters would have food. During WWII old men stood on the beach looking for the Japanese Navy. In the Revolutionary War farmers let their crops rot in the field to go fight for freedom. What was the saying " We pledge our lives and fortunes for this endeavor"
Modern day Americans have certainly fallen short of their patriotic duty and dishonored their fathers. And I'm sorry to say Alaskans like Jay have sunk even further.

I have met many other Alaskans just like Jay. And I've spoken with other private sector employees like myself. It is extremely tempting. They like I seem to have strong convictions. I just don't think I could look my wife in the eye or myself in the mirror if I were like Jay. And when I meet my maker, I will have enough sin baggage to account for, no need to add to it. It is a sin in any way to undermine our nation. And the arguments that "I did it for my family" or "if you don't take the money, someone else will" just doesn't wash.

Again I like Jay, he's a nice guy in many ways. And Jay did work a fair number of years and I truly believe Jay was a good employee, like many union employees. However, his stealing of public money bothers me. Remember the government has no money, it's all ours. The fact that he worked for a monopolistic unionized organization bothers me as well, because most unions have one goal, which is self. They would support the devil if he supported their cause. And I'll admit that much of corporate America would do the same i.e. illegal immigration-cheap labor, global economy-cheap labor.

I've really tried hard to think the best of Jay. I suppose I was just lying to myself. I don't think Jay truly realizes the damage he and people like him are doing to this nation. You see Jay rarely watches the news and when he does vote, the question he asks is which candidate will benefit me most rather than which is best for the state or country.
How did Alaskans get this way? I believe a lot of it is generational. The patriotic WWII generation begot the baby boomer generation, which are still babies I might ad. Well in all fairness to the baby boomers, they were brainwashed by Communist professors during the 60’s. I wish Senator McCarthy were still around so he could take on the ACLU. And my Generation X is even worse. Unlike the pioneer Alaskans who came up here because of the love for the state, the folks that came up during the oil boom mainly came for the money. I’ve seen well to do guys up here that no one in the lower 48 would have hired. The oil money was flowing like the mighty Mississippi and everyone wanted their cut, the unions, social service recepients and especially the state. Today the oil river isn’t as wide as it used to be, yet we still have a bloated unionized state, a “thumb-sucking liberal habitat” if you will.

Since my youth I dreamed of living in Alaska. I read many Jack London novels. I love the Alaska outdoors. However, my wife and I are considering leaving this state. I guess I am just tired of self-serving Alaskans like Jay. Even though Alaska has some fine people, there are way to many Jay's up here. What I am wondering is how long will our nation stand with Americans & Alaskans like Jay.

Sincerely,
A concerned American & Alaskan
PS: American should always come first