Throughout the history of the United States, one idea has been as crucial to the success of the nation as any other. That is the premise that all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This beautiful sentiment has somehow been replaced by the quest for 'Social Justice', meaning that we are all entitled to the same stuff, and if some of us can't get it by ourselves, the government is responsible for taking it from someone that has it, and giving it to us. I don't think there is anything more unamerican than that.
This nation was based on the preeminence of self-reliance and personal responsibility. The founders didn't want a powerful centralized government, that's exactly what they had just fought to overthrow. They wanted to promote self-determination, the idea that each person could be exactly as successful as their own personal gifts allowed them to be. It also follows that each person could fail.
Social justice, on the other hand, is based on the premise that noone should have more than anyone else. If you use your talents to get ahead, I deserve a piece of it, regardless of what I can or can't do to better my own lot in life. We can't figure out a method to raise up the poor and unsuccessful, without dragging the wealthy back down to meet them in the middle.
That is the crux of social justice. It is the neverending quest for mediocrity.
"If you can't do it, don't worry, we'll take care of you" says the government. "We'll just take some from that guy. Just because he worked for years to amass his fortune, saving every dime so he could buy a second home, then a third, then maybe a nice car and a boat. Just because he was good at investing his money and made a killing in the stock market, or maybe started his own trucking company or pastry shop or beauty salon. Just because you did nothing with the gifts God gave you and wasted every opportunity that came your way. What makes him more worthy of success than you. Why should he have all that stuff while you have nothing. We'll just take some of his stuff and give it to you. Just remember who took care of you when it's time to vote in the next election."
And that's how it works. Politicians are in a position of power. They use that power not to improve anything, but to solidify their power by basically bribing the masses with shiny trinkets like new cars and big screen tv's. In the meantime, any incentive to excel is taken away by the mentality of 'Eat the rich'. No matter how hard you work, no matter how good you are at your profession, once you reach a certain tax bracket, the government will swoop in and redistribute your wealth in order for them to maintain their position. So why bother to work, why bother to try, when you can live off the sweat of others.
The problem is, pretty soon no one is sweating any more. No one is working or building or paying. We all just end up sitting on the front porch of our government owned houses, waiting for our monthly kiss in the mail, and planning our next trip into town to wait in line for government cheese.
Entitlement programs are the true opiate of the masses. Once they get us hooked on them, it is almost impossible to kick the habit. This is what they are counting on. They get their claws into us, and they own us. Once we get a taste of 'free' health care, why would we want to pay for it ourselves. Just because the doctor performing surgery is a guy you wouldn't trust to deliver your newspaper, because noone wants to go to school for 8 years to earn minimum wage so he got his license from an online certification program in 6 weeks. Just because you have to wait 6 months to get your broken ankle set. Hey it's free right? Unfortunately, you really do get what you pay for. And 900 billion dollars is too high a price to pay for one more step on the long road from American exceptionalism to American mediocrity.
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