Blaming The System

Monday, October 10th, 2016 @ 12:00PM

By now most Americans are aware that our country is in financial trouble – big financial trouble. In fact, from a financial standpoint, America is virtually on the brink of economic collapse. The reasons for this, according to pundits and politicians, are many: runaway federal spending, a huge negative trade deficit, an overly burdensome tax code, high unemployment, and a weak economy, just to name a few. However, these same pundits and politicians seldom, if ever, comment on one of the most significant causes of America’s economic distress – the huge number of people in America, both citizens and illegal immigrants, who are living inappropriately on the government dole at taxpayer expense.

True, there will always be people in need – individuals who, through no fault of their own, find themselves facing desperate circumstances resulting from job loss, declining health, or physical or mental impairment – it is for these less fortunate among us that our compassionate society provides assistance. In fact, America has long been known as the most charitable nation on earth and we willingly accept the cost and challenge of helping those who cannot help themselves.

But what about those people who are perfectly capable of supporting themselves but choose, instead, to live off others? Should Americans be forced to bear the burden of supporting these unmotivated freeloaders? I think not.

In order to justify receiving benefits they don’t deserve, freeloaders blame the system. They argue that an unjust system – economic, educational, legal, and otherwise – is the cause of their predicament. This, of course, is a great falsehood that costs American taxpayers billions of dollars a year.

The truth is that if you cannot succeed in America, you likely cannot succeed anywhere. There are countless programs in place in this country to assist those of limited means in improving their lot in life. For example, there are student loan programs, indigent defense programs, job training programs, small business loan programs, etc., etc. With all these programs in place, all it takes to succeed in America is motivation and a little old-fashion elbow grease.

The problem is that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. No matter what programs federal and state governments create to assist freeloaders, they cannot be forced to utilize these programs to better themselves. Why? Because motivation comes from within. Making matters worse, for every program created to help people help themselves, there are two or three (or more) programs that make it easier for them to remain freeloaders – entitlement programs of every sort such as welfare, Medicaid, food stamps, subsidized housing, etc., etc.

And even worse than freeloaders are the politicians and activists who gain personally through promotion of freeloading behavior. These elected officials, or lobbyists, or members of liberal special-interest groups who cast themselves as saviors of the downtrodden, actually extract power, influence, and even their incomes through exploitation of freeloaders. In fact, the last thing liberal politicians, lobbyists, and activists want to see disappear from the American landscape is people supposedly in need of taxpayer-funded government entitlement programs. If that happened, their raison d’etre would come to an end, thus forcing them to get a real job or seek government assistance.

America is drawing ever closer to a financial calamity due, in no small part, to the staggering cost of supporting millions of unmotivated freeloaders. As long as the American electorate allows liberal politicians to buy votes with entitlement money, the problem will only get worse. Inevitably, an end of the outrageous abuse of entitlement programs will occur, and it will come about in one of two ways: when the American electorate stops electing liberal politicians or, when the American economy collapses altogether. Either way, the abuse is destined to come to an end as American taxpayers cannot endure the financial burden much longer. Regardless of the means, when the end does come, freeloaders and their liberal allies will blame the system. Of course, truth be known, they will have only themselves to blame.

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