It went largely unnoticed, but one month ago President Obama unwittingly delivered a golden sound bite for conservatives. While speaking at a million-dollar fundraiser in the People’s Republic of San Francisco, the president told the crowd of donors that if he didn’t win re-election in 2012, “then we’re going to have a government that tells the American people ‘you are on your own.’” The president went on: “If you get sick, you’re on your own. If you can’t afford college, you’re on your own. If you don’t like that some corporation is polluting your air or the air that your child breathes, then you’re on your own. That’s not the America I believe in. It’s not the America you believe in.”
If it were not already obvious that the president is out of touch with the American spirit, this quote should eliminate any doubt. Clearly, the president is a true believer in the nanny state. He believes in an America where the government is there to care for every sick individual and pay for every student’s college tuition. In Barack Obama’s America, if the government isn’t either heavily regulating or actually providing a service, then there is something wrong. Look no further than healthcare or his record on welfare. The number of individuals receiving food stamps increased 33 percent between November 2008 and 2010 and his proposed budget for 2011 projected doubling the amount of money spent on food stamps. Of course, it is unsurprising that President Obama’s remarks were met with resounding applause in that setting. That speech was delivered in the most liberal area of a state in fiscal ruin because of a culture of fiscal and personal irresponsibility. Remember, this is the same state where the average citizen owns debts of $78,000 against an income of $43,000.
Every American even remotely familiar with the principles of the Founding Fathers should have heard the president’s speech and thought, ‘Good. I don’t want the federal government intruding in my life anyway.’ Contrary to what the Left argues, the government is not the solution to every problem; the government is an encumbrance on individuals seeking upward mobility. The American people live in the Land of Opportunity where individuals can make their dream a reality with determination and by capitalizing on their natural abilities—the American Dream. Conservatives believe in the American Dream, but sadly, many Americans are quickly losing hope in it.
It is time to restore the virtues of personal responsibility and self-reliance in our society. The most direct way to do this will be to tackle two major sources of irresponsibility and dependence: entitlements and welfare. Due to the expansion and explosion of spending on welfare and entitlement programs over the years and complete unwillingness to change that trend, the federal government has nurtured a culture of dependency. Countless individuals are becoming more dependent on the federal government to take care of their basic needs. As Bill Wagner points out,
The drift of society [has been] away from personal responsibility toward letting “someone else” do it. That someone is the “government,” but what seems to fall through the cracks is the fact that the “government” is us. It’s just folks, and by ceding authority over key aspects of our lives like retirement security, health care coverage, and education to others, we lose freedom and control over our lives.
Government will never be the solution to our problems. To quote Dr. Terry Paulson, “As Ronald Reagan reminded us, the effectiveness of government should not measured by how many citizens government helps, but by how many citizens don’t need government help.” Paulson writes about how Alexis de Tocqueville, in his famous book Democracy in America, attributed the entrepreneurial spirit that makes this nation great to the practice of limited government. America needs to return to the ideals of liberty and equality that Tocqueville praised 176 years ago. As Paulson says, “A return to individual responsibility and caring communities would foster economic growth, create new jobs, increase personal charity, and revitalize community involvement.”
Conservatives believe that government assistance should be a spring, not quicksand. It’s time to apply reforms like those of 1996 on a much larger scale. The last time benefits were tied to work, millions of Americans left welfare for jobs. The American Dream is by no means dead (80 percent of Americans worth $5 million or more grew up in middle-class or lesser households). Instead of more government, let’s remove the barriers to job creation and watch those who are personally responsible and self-reliant soar.
Hahahahahha
“80 percent of Americans worth $5 million or more grew up in middle-class or lesser households” is your evidence that the American Dream isn’t dead? What percentage of Americans who grew up in middle-class or lesser households are now worth $5 million or more? You can bet your ass it’s nowhere close to 80%.
Also, supporting Pell Grants and regulations on pollution doesn’t mean you favor nanny-state government control. It means you don’t like breathing in dirty air and you think there’s a national interest in making sure the lower class is able to afford college instead of continuing to work low-wage jobs generation after generation. The horror! The government tyranny!
Get a grip.
No indeed, it’s not dead. Feel free to click the link to see more examples
Also, feel free to peruse this Pew Research Center study showing that Nearly six-in-ten (58%) Americans believe it is more important for everyone to be free to pursue their life’s goals without interference from the state, while just 35% say it is more important for the state to play an active role in society so as to guarantee that nobody is in need. It also shows that only 36% of Americans believe that success in life is determined by forces outside our control.
Unchecked federal backing of more and more questionable student loans (which are defaulting at an alarming rate) is going to be the next great financial crisis. It is not the federal government’s job to put people through college, nor is higher education a right. Also, air pollution regulation is being used by the Obama administration as a thin veil for its war against greenhouse gases and in support of cap and tax. That actually is government tyranny.
Get a grip.
Kevin, you are absolutely right in your observations! Thanks for a great article! Keep on keeping on!!!!
Well said Kevin….I’m sure you’ll get plenty of negative remarks from people your own age, but when you get out in the real world…working, supporting a family etc.then hopefully some of these people will figure it out. Merry Christmas and God Bless!
Kevin your comments are truly spot on! You get it!!!!!! Keep your articles coming. I wonder just how many more of your generation are clued in? You do your parents proud! You are one of the movers and shakers! I am glad to say I knew you when!
Sounds like you hate poor people.
Go on, hide behind your anonymity, leftist.
Kevin, I loved your article! You give me hope that our next generation will be able to keep America strong!!! Hopefully, your article will also help to open the eyes of many people, young and old, to the importance of personal responsibility!
Don’t forget that the United States Alexis de Tocqueville praised 176 years ago had large sectors of the economy dependent upon slave labor and what I would hope many today consider wholly unacceptable levels of wage earning. There are many things that have changed in the last 176 years, and I’d be willing to bet that you appreciate most of them. Also, while education might not be a human right, we can’t go back to the level of education of 176 years ago. The nature of today’s economy requires a far greater level of education among the general population in order for us to compete on the world stage.
Alternatively, we could just get rid of all workplace laws and health and safety laws and go back to the working conditions of 100 years ago (going back to before the industrial revolution seems completely impossible at this point). Health and safety protections were put in place to prevent workplace abuses and to keep this planet inhabitable in the future. But then again, I’m going to bet you are among the fortunate ones in the country who doesn’t really care about the workplace conditions or job or “others” because you will have a nice well-paying job in an office, with health insurance, etc. Why should you have to concern yourself with the working conditions of others?
I could go further on how we already don’t care about the working conditions of the people who toil away day after day to support the extraordinarily privileged lives that many Americans already lead, but leaving the territorial boundaries of the United States seems to be a little too far beyond the scope of this post, even for this tangential and rambling post.
Keep arguing that socialism is bad, while the democratic socialist nations of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark continue with stable and prosperous economies.
Oh and if we go to an entirely hands off approach such as it were in the 1920s you get the 1930s crash and the same happened oh just a few years ago with the financial system unregulated. Because the problem with letting capitalism do its thing is that human nature will prevent its eventual success. Regulations are necessary, assistance is necessary, get over yourself.
If any of those economies were actually “socialist,” you’d make a good point.
We avoided a Great Depression in the early 1920s because of no regulation, and we caused the Great Depression of the 1930s because of intervention–tariffs, the New Deal, and fractional-reserve banking. Tah dah…get over yourself! And Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark are all in the top 15 (I think) of countries with most economic freedom (which means not socialism), and suffered greatly when they started to expand their respective welfare states. Of late, they’ve all liberalized greatly (i.e., free market), and have liberalized in key ways that the U.S. has not, contributing to massive growth–hence your confusion: economic liberty and not socialism has caused to the success of Scandinavian economies.
This article is a joke. Thanks for the laughs.
please never be in charge of anything or anyone
I think you unfortunately forget that Democrats and Republicans only publicly disagree. Realistically, their policies are nearly identical on most issues – whichever corporations buy them off, that’s the direction they will vote in.
There was a recent documentary on Vimeo.com that makes the point that Obama, who many conservatives believe pursues socialist policies, is actually acting to support the existing capitalist system. Specifically, the argument is made that the largest campaign contributions came from large labor-intensive industries and banks that have directly benefited from his policies. In particular, they discuss how labor-intensive organizations like GM, Ford, etc. pushed for the Health Care Reform bill as a way of shifting expensive health insurance onto the government’s plate.
So if you consider how this legislation actually benefits private enterprise, why would you necessarily oppose it?
And aside from that, why would you focus on ideology instead of actual policies? Would you want to work in a coal mine or a factory without labor laws or courts to protect you from being abused by your employer? Would you want to work in a factory with conditions similar to those Chinese and Indian workers experience? Do you actually believe that if you removed all these safeguards businesses would actually pay their workers more money?
AND, do you in any way consider what it means for businesses and the wealthy when capital concentrates even more at the top? Did you bother to think of the following: the less money the average consumer has, the less they will be able to spend. The less a consumer can spend, the less money will be earned by businesses. The fewer the amount businesses earn, the fewer the employees they can afford to employ. The fewer the number of employees paid, the lesser the number of consumers who can consume.
In other words, having no regulation and declining real wages for employees means the wealthy lose out even more in the long-run. That is of course, assuming they’re not seeking short-term gains that they can then invest in emerging markets like China, India and Brazil. In that case, SURE – fucking over American businesses and workers is “economically sensible” if it means a business will be able to make-up for lost profits else where.
Heck, they can even let their American businesses starve and declare bankruptcy in the U.S. so they can avoid paying taxes. After all, once they screw over American consumers and workers, why not screw over the government, too.
But considering you’re a “Patriot” I would have to doubt that you would actually advocate destroying American Society/democracy for the sake of profit. I mean…. that would be treasonous, wouldn’t it be?