Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opiate of the people.” Perhaps a twenty-first century version of that statement could be, “Entitlements are the opiate of the people”!
We are creating generations of adults (age-wise) who, in behavior and responsibility, can best be described as children or adolescents.
If we are guaranteed free education through college and free housing and food without accountability, we are not learning adult responsibilities; nor are we allowed to grow up if we are required to have health insurance. What we are allowed to eat also appears to be imminent on the government’s menu for our well-being.
Americans, who are unable to work through no fault of their own, should have the benefit of government and personal aid to assist in any way needed. However, liberals and the mainstream media have convinced millions of Americans, who CAN and SHOULD work, that government CAN and SHOULD take care of them, regardless of their own personal involvement in the effort.
For years, economists have been aware of something called “earned success.” Basically, earned successes are those achievements that a person has obtained by his or her own efforts, involvements and risks.
Taking chances, improving skills and personally growing in areas of creativity produce citizens who are happier, healthier, more fulfilled, less angry and envious and who live longer. We are losing our personal dignity as we are required to have less personal responsibility.
Prior to the official outbreak of World War II, the people of Germany and Austria, through the ballot box, exchanged their freedoms for the economic promises of Hitler. Will the citizens of the United States in the early twenty-first century exchange their freedoms and dreams for economic slavery centered in Washington, D.C.?
Enemies of the United States world-wide are becoming more evident in recent days, so why is a war being waged against Americans who strive for personal achievement and success instead of our true enemies? The November elections will show what we have learned from history.
John Potts, M.D.
Peachtree City, Ga.
