Idiocy

'Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others.' - Ayn Rand, "Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal"


A recent post on the 'shtfplan.com' blog written by Mac Slavo entitled 'Plundering the American Dream:  College Students Demonstrate the Idiocy of Our Education System' was recently brought to my attention (thanks to F. Booth).  Check out the link; the read is worth a few minutes of your time.  An economics professor at Valencia College in Florida had his sophomore students write an essay on what the American dream means to them and what, specifically, they wanted the federal government to do to help them achieve that dream.



First of all, why is anyone at any university asking what the federal government can do to help any of us achieve the American dream?  Nowhere in the enumerated powers of the Federal Constitution can I find the clause that states the Federal Government must help individuals achieve the American Dream.  It is self evident that you, and you alone, hold the keys to achieving your professional and financial goals and dreams.  The state has no business being your big brother or favorite uncle.  Turning to the government for such matters announces to the world that you are a loser.  Where is the shame?  But I digress...


Getting back to the essays written by the Valencia College sophomores, about 10% of the students said they wanted the government to leave them alone and not tax them too much and let them regulate their own lives.  [Note:  such a paltry number of students holding this view should alarm all liberty minded citizens - clearly our work is cut out for us.]  Given my jaded views on Americans in general, I am surprised that there were that many students who expressed that view. Good for them.


On the other hand, over 80% of the students said that they wanted free healthcare, they wanted the government to pay for their tuition, they wanted the government to pay for the down payment of their house, and they expected the government to, quote, 'give them a job.'  Ouch.  Have our children become THAT ignorant?  By the way, here is an excellent example of the misuse (or abuse, depending on your perspective) of the English language.  Somehow we have become accustomed to using the word 'free' for those very things that entail significant costs - somebody, in fact, many people, are paying for those freebies. Orwellian, isn't it?


I have said this before - I do not fear what any given politician can do to me or my liberties.  I do however fear the mindless citizens who have the right to vote these self-serving panderers into office.  The danger is very real - with each succeeding generation we are unleashing hordes of clueless citizens who truly believe in the 'free lunch'.  As I have said before, Americans are in desperate need of remediation regarding the proper role of government.


But it gets worse.  One of the professor's students wrote the following:

"As human beings, we are not really responsible for our own acts, and so we need government to control those who don't care about others."

You can't make this stuff up.   I couldn't agree more with the author's assessment:

"One could understand the naivete of such responses from elementary or high school students, but we’re talking about adults of legal voting age, the majority of who have no concept of individual liberty and personal responsibility.  These young adults are the future of our nation and in the nearly twenty years they have attended school they have learned only one way to achieve the American dream: to plunder it from others." - Mac Slavo

 Indeed.