October 25, 2016 @ 8:00 AM
I was listening to a call-in radio show on my way home from church recently. After telling the host of the show that she knew Hillary Clinton was dishonest and could not be trusted, a female caller went on to explain why she was still voting for Hillary. According to her, Hillary was her best chance at getting what she wanted from the government.
A recent survey revealed something absolutely shocking about America's younger generation. According to the survey, they would gladly vote for a socialist or communist if they felt such a candidate for elected office was the one most likely to get them what they wanted from government. Like the caller on the radio talk-show, this gimme, gimme generation sees government as its personal bellhop, existing for the sole purpose of answering its every beck and call.
Have you noticed how often present-day politicians resort to telling tearjerking anecdotes about individual Americans? They explain how this particular person's specific problem will be solved by them once elected to office. It's as though the federal government exists to be all things to all people, which, of course, is an insane proposition and human impossibility.
Every time government narrows its focus to solving a particular problem of an individual American, it blinds itself to the problems it creates for all other Americans. Permit me to illustrate my point.
John Doe wants a gizmo, but can't afford one, so some politician promises John that if John will vote for him, he'll see to it that John gets a complimentary gizmo once he is elected to office; after all, every American has a right to a gizmo. Once elected, this politician introduces legislation that America's rich gizmo manufacturers, who are not paying their fair share, must start giving complimentary gizmos to all of America's downtrodden, like Mr. Doe. Due to the huge cost of manufacturing mandatory, complimentary gizmos, one gizmo factory after another goes out of business, resulting in thousands of Americans losing their jobs and livelihoods. Of course, these unemployed workers go on the government's welfare roll, which results in increased government spending, as well as a tax increase on America's already overtaxed and shrinking workforce. Eventually, the bankrupted gizmo industry has to be nationalized, resulting in the government funding of gizmo manufacturing. This, of course, results in an increase in our country's unpayable national debt, since the only way our bankrupted government can pay for the manufacturing of gizmos is with hot checks written on foreign creditors. All of this, just so that John Doe can have a gizmo!
American citizens used to understand that citizenship was a serious responsibility that required sacrifice on our part to assure our country's success, solvency and survival. Well, no more; in fact, today you don't even have to be a citizen to get in on the government dole, as is proven by the ever-growing number of illegal aliens receiving financial aid and freebies from our federal government. Forget about the admonition of John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Instead, today's Americans don't ask anything; they only demand that their country give them free gizmos galore.