America’s Entitlement Problem
The national media, along with a great deal of Americans, has been plugged into what is happening in Wisconsin over collective bargaining rights. While public sector unions have certainly helped cripple our nation’s economy the bigger crisis we face is the reality that more Americans today are on the government dole than ever before.
Call it FDR’s genius moment during the crucial stages of his administration, or the unwavering goal of liberalism in the 1960s, but whatever we call it, everyone realizes it caused a cancer that has metastasized into a monster.
Today, Americans want it right now, for free and at someone else’s expense.
But are we better off having a society where one-half works and pays the load for the other? Case in point; take a look at how the majority of America’s anti-poverty government programs have worked since their inception. Think about the billions of dollars that have gone to fight homelessness, drugs, and poverty, yet more Americans suffer far greater among these issues at the present.
So it isn’t any surprise that the other side of the coin, those individuals who work for a living and care about their nation’s debt, are upset over an increase in entitlement spending.
It’s kind of like fixing the massive hole in your roof with bubble gum. Is it working and if so, for how long?
Once upon a time in America, the math was simple: Democrats would capture power by abandoning the idea of working for a living and replacing it with the notion of putting a majority of Americans on a government check through government give-a-ways or the more proper term, “entitlements.” And that is exactly what has been happening since shortly after the Great Depression.
Since that era a huge voting bloc of Americans has shifted from a “what can I do to earn this” mentality to a “give it to me now” way of thinking. This is not only the root cause of our nation’s economic collapse today, but more importantly our democratic election process.
Imagine if you walked down your street and passed out $100 bills to every person living in your neighborhood. Next you tell them they will get this “free” cash once a week until they are dead as long as they keep electing you to political office. Who would have the courage to say no? Who would have the cojones to vote for your opposition? That’s right. Not many. And that is exactly what is happening today in America.
Flash forward to the present and we are in the middle of what some are saying is the decline of America. So what are local and state governments doing? They are telling folks the checks can’t be handed out anymore. They are trying to save our Republic by slashing government spending which means cutting entitlement programs. And much like what is happening in Great Britain is certain to happen here at home; an unruly mob of protestors who didn’t get a free check in the mail this week has turned to violence.
Having to tell someone they actually have to go to work and make a living, imagine that?
America is a very charitable country. In fact, we are number one in the world for charitable gifts so it shouldn’t be any surprise that we would want to take care of our own here at home.
And we all recognize we have a responsible to take care of our senior citizens because many of those individuals fought for our freedoms.
The problem is we are saying to each other, “hey whatever happened to me, you are to blame which means you must pay me something or give me something in return”. Today, young Americans feel as though they have a right to something and that somehow they have earned everything for doing little or nothing to achieve it. The worst part is, for the first time in our nation’s political history, we have elected a man who believes in this same mentality.
This newfound attitude is obviously the quintessential antithesis of America’s founding principles that revolved around hard work and a deep-seeded respect for honesty.
If so many Americans feel the need to turn away from the history books and focus on the latest reality show, maybe they should take a look at what happened to the Roman Empire shortly before its fall.
The parallels are frightening.
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Ashley Stinnett lives in West Virginia, where he serves as an adjunct college instructor, writer, media and public relations consultant, public speaker, volunteer for various conservative organizations, and a civilian recruiter for the NRA. He is registered with the Associated Press, and is a nationally syndicated columnist with The North Star National. He is the author of the new book, “Grasping Appalachian Conservatism: How Not To Be Mistaken For A Latte Liberal.”
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