Spoiled, dependent, entitled, indentured, enslaved
Are spoiled children born that way? According to British writer Roald Dahl, “Some children are spoiled and it is not their fault, it is their parents.” Spoiled children have parents who give them everything they want instead of teaching them to earn what they want, instead of teaching them responsibility and independence. Quite simply, parents of spoiled children fail to heed the advice of “The Country Parson,” Frank A. Clark, who said, “The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.”
Well, my dad did not have a problem teaching us how to get along without him. He supported my dreams, saying I could do anything I wanted and I could have anything I wanted. All I had to do was pay the price, which always involved sacrifice and hard work. He saw many of the complexities of life as relatively simple, work hard and pay your own way. And if you want more? No problem; work more.
How well is our parent government teaching us to get along without it and to stand on our own? Is it teaching us responsibility and independence? Is it teaching us to work hard and pay our own way? Or is it teaching us to depend on it for our wants and needs, teaching us we cannot get along without it, and spoiling us all the way to socialism?
More than any other president, Lyndon Johnson led this charge with his “War on Poverty” he claimed would “lift people out of poverty.” His plan included massive numbers of welfare programs, which, rather than lifting people out of poverty, taught them to depend on the government for their needs rather than standing on their own and paying their own way.
And to ensure that people did not try to regain their independence, the government changed the name from welfare to entitlement. We are entitled to this or that from the government. Moreover, we cannot feel bad receiving an entitlement; it’s a right.
Have decades of entitlements “lifted people out of poverty?” No. They created perpetual poverty, perpetual poverty through dependence on the government. Political commentator Star Parker wrote a book about government entitlements, “Uncle Sam’s Plantation,” comparing entitlements to Southern slave plantations.
Our socialist-minded politicians created lifetime entitlements, not short-term aids to “lift people out of poverty.” The government designed entitlements as career choices, not as a means to gain independence, not as a means to “get along without it.” The government designed entitlements not only to last a lifetime, but also to be passed on to the next generation like an inheritance. The socialist-minded politicians created perpetual poverty, perpetual entitlements, perpetual indentured servants, servants Ms. Parker writes, who are dependent on “Massah Uncle Sam.”
Ms. Parker “found her way out” of welfare entitlements, moving from the indentured servitude of socialism to “wealth-producing capitalism.” But, as she writes in a recent column, the government is back on the path to socialism, back on the path to “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” where people remain dependent.
And this path to “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” is short and our government understands this all too well. It courts the entitled votes, the dependent votes. It promotes bussing the entitled to the polls. It promises ever more entitlements in exchange for votes. It cannot deport illegal aliens because they are 12 million potential entitled voters.
The government does not court the votes of dreamers and builders. It fears them. It fears dreamers and builders. It fears responsibility and independence. And it works to suppress those traits by “sharing the wealth” with those who are entitled to it.
Spoiled. Dependent. Entitled. Indentured. Enslaved. This is what the government needs; otherwise we might dream of leaving the plantation of “Massah” England, “Massah” South, or “Massah” Government.
The price of getting our wants and needs met for free? Our freedom. The founding fathers thought the price too high. Do you?
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2 Responses to “Spoiled, dependent, entitled, indentured, enslaved”
Beverly Sands says:
August 29, 2010 at 5:10 PM
Great column, Craig. You quoted one of my favorite people…Star Parker…read her book years ago and still follow her. Great gal! Keep up the good work! B&B
Gloria Howell says:
August 30, 2010 at 10:50 AM
Craig, bull’s eye again. You and Star Parker are right on the mark. Nothing feels so good as the freedom to choose, act, and to reap the rewards of your own hard work! Kep it going! Gloria Howell