History Lesson for our Leaders

As the semester has progressed, the term "entitlement" has progressively been incorporated into socialist terminology. There has been more mention of entitlement in recent weeks than I would have ever imagined at the beginning of the semester. Surely, our country is searching for reasonable solutions to the fraying economy and unstable future. Perhaps turning to lessons learned from history can inspire our leaders to reach great heights. The following clip is a concise historical perspective of the role of government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgE

Can we learn from history or is our unprecedented situation too far removed from any historical lesson?

Tea Parties

On April 15, 2009, tea parties protesting government spending and taxation were held across the United States. The issue of entitlement spending became part of the protests. As part of this historic protest, news reporters took various stands on the tea parties. Bill O'Reilly from Fox News gave the following commentary including his thoughts on entitlement spending.

">Bill O'Reilly Talking Point click on April 15, 2009

Can we blame big government spending on entitlement? Should all entitlement spending be grouped together with corporate bailouts? Will needed entitlement spending be dumped into the sea with bailout spend-a -thon?

Uncle Sam's Plantation

I love the following report, not only because it brings attention to the issue that entitlement mentality is quickly turning into socialist style policies, but also because it shows the courage of the author to publicly share her personal story which led her from an upbringing in an entitlement situation into what she believes is the freedom of capitalism.

Back on Uncle Sam's plantation

Star Parker - Syndicated Columnist

Six years ago I wrote a book called Uncle Sam's Plantation. I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it.I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas -- a poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960s, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty.A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems -- the kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families.Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed 50 percent.I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism.But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction.Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash.There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation.In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short term economic stimulus."This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America 's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, healthcare, and education."Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability."Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the Synfuels Corporation, and the Department of Education.Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 -- The War on Poverty -- which President Johnson said "...does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty."Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out-of-wedlock births.It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

Could Entitlement Lead to Socialism?

With the ever-changing political atmosphere our country currently is experiencing, could the entitlement mentality lead us closer to socialism? If the majority, most convincing, or loudest group of individuals promote entitlement through social policy or a wide-spread way of thinking, our government could and seems to be incorporating socialist policies. This simple analogy shows a perspective of the ramifications of a socialism:

A Simple Analogy


An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that....

Do you agree? If we feel entitled, are we actually giving away our power to others leading us to socialism? Or, is it better for those in charge to create an equal atmosphere where individuals all experience life the same...the same economic status, the same education, the same health, the same lifestyle?

Back By Popular Demand

Back by popular demand is another satirical approach to the increasingly common sentiment that entitlement to what we think we deserve versus what we can afford is corrupting this nation.

http://consumerist.com/consumer/clips/snl-skit-dont-buy-stuff-you-cant-afford-252491.php

Is the entitlement mentality really just a product of tunnel vision? Have we come to a place where members of our society are incapable of seeing beyond their immediate wants? How do we teach a "work before buy" mentality?

Perhaps comedic clips such as this one will speak to the hearts of some who truly have never understood an "earn it" mentality. While I still believe some entitlement policy is necessary for various populations, clearly there are many in this country that could use some enlightenment on entitlement.

"In the know" on entitlement

With our country's crazy economic times, one fascinating and perhaps positive response from the public is surfacing. Individuals are finding themselves "in the know" or increasingly aware of government's management of their tax dollars. With this heightened awareness of government spending, entitlement policies are thoroughly scrutinized with opinions and suggestions cropping up like green grass after spring's first rainfall. Stuart M. Butler Ph.D, of Heritage Foundation makes several suggestions for the future of entitlement policies emphasizing the need to remember our future generations:

"In this vision of the future, therefore, social insurance programs would no longer be entitle ments without limits. Nor would they have an auto matic preemption of resources over the needs of other features of our social contract, such as educa tion and housing. And no longer would the finan cial interests of today's active and retired generations automatically take precedence over the financial interests of our grandchildren."

With so many people "in the know" regarding suggestions for policy making and in this case entitlement policy, can our leaders actually adopt some of these suggestions? Or, are they too enmeshed in the system of "i'll scratch your back if you loan me a billion dollars?"

Comedic Response to Entitlement

One way to approach the entitlement mentality is through comedy. This clip on youtube does just that....reduces our ever-changing perspectives to absurb levels. I've mentioned before that media outlets are a great way to produce change in public opinion and consequent public policies. Differing approaches that promote ideas can be a good thing. This time, it's a comedian on the soap box....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

Do you think comedy is capable of producing change?