Government May I?

We’ve all heard the saying “Mother may I?” either as a child or as a rule-testing teen or young adult. More often than not, the term is spoken with laced sarcasm. Asking for permission is not one of human nature’s greatest traits. We enjoy free will and most of us abuse it by solely focusing upon what makes us as individuals happy. Looking a little deeper into the conversation we had yesterday, today I am going to write about the transformation of government into our “adult parents.” Government no longer believes their reason for existence is to be “for the people, by the people.” Our government is evolving into power wielding, right dissecting, and wealth distributing bad parents.

You can replace the term “bad parents” with the term socialists if you like. Our elected officials are in office to protect our citizens, not tell us how to live. Government is not a parental figure and should never be the answer to all of our issues. People complain about government being at the root of all evil and in their very next sentence expect the government to help them out of their current crisis. While I do agree that the government should help us out of any crisis they created, they are not responsible for helping us out of our own private issues.

Too many people are relying upon the crutch of government to satisfy their needs. There are too many rewards available which create reverse incentives for certain people deterring them from working hard and pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. Simple fact is that it is easier to rely upon the government to satisfy the problem rather than do something about it yourself. We do not like asking permission, but the vast majority of us have a very real aversion to working hard if there is an easier way out. A simple example would be the issue of steroids in athletics.

As we continue migrating toward asking “Government may I?” our current Presidential election has shown tendencies of increasing this very real evolution. In an interview of Barack Obama performed by Bill O’Reilly, Obama was asked point blank about income redistribution. Obama, as we know, supports taxing the wealthy to support those “who have it tough.” We’ve all seen Robin Hood and this is the basic theory behind being “neighborly.” Obama stated, “… if I am sitting pretty, and you have got a waitress who is making minimum wage plus tips, and I can afford it and she can’t, what’s the big deal for me to say ‘I am going to pay a little bit more?’” O’Reilly rightfully calls this a socialist tenet. Income redistribution from the rich to the poor is a cornerstone of socialism.

The issue I have with being “neighborly” is that Obama wants to make it law that EVERY so called wealthy person must redistribute their honestly earned wealth to someone who did not. The American Dream has always been to “make it.” Why should the people who realize their dream be penalized and forced to give up a portion of their dream to others who are not applying the same effort and heart to rise above their tough times? I would like free money from the government but I wouldn’t feel right in taking it from people who have rightfully earned it if I have the ability to do something about it myself. Sure, there are situations where the world is upside down and there are people who can’t win for losing but they are the exception to the rule.

Obama goes on to say that the government has “certain things we have got to do. And we have got to help people who have a tough time affording college, so they can benefit like we have benefitted from this great country. People who are having a tough time, they don’t have health care, people who are trying to figure out how they are going to pay the bills. And there are certain things we have got to do.” Most of America is in this boat as the economy is hurting, budgets are strained, saving money has become non-existent, and costs of living outpaces our earnings increases. Is Obama saying that he is going to cure the middle class angst and money issue by redistributing the wealth to those who need it in “tough times?” No, he is directly aiming his statements at a voter segment that will run to the ballot box in November if they are “promised” free money.

The American Dream still exists and everyone has the same shot at it. Allowing government to become our adult parents thwarts the will to succeed and increases our dependence upon it. Of course, political parties will continue to follow an agenda based upon strengthening their power over the voting public. Until the public chooses to work for their rewards and refuses or stops expecting government handouts, our political parties and government will in fact become our adult parents. Parents which we must ask “Government may I? in the end.

Citation:  http://www.billoreilly.com/