By: T. Scott Gross
10/26/2016
The facts may not always support the conclusion, but living in a small town certainly feels safe. And it’s logical to think the nearly 50 miles of rolling hills between the two towns presents a geographical, sociological and economic barrier that protects us from the wild ideas of the big city. You could think of it as a psychological version of Trump’s wall. But, other than to make us feel safer, offers no real protection.
(I don’t agree with that – it will make it easier for the border patrol to control it.)
Distance won’t save us from political correctness or big city leftward leaning. It may be human nature to underestimate potential threats to our safety. Out of sight really is out of mind. Threats that aren’t directly in your face are easy to discount.
Threatening social trends are especially easy to ignore until we suddenly reach a tipping point. I believed we have reached a new social tipping point masked in entitlement.
Now that more than 50 percent of Americans receive some form of government subsidy, we can no longer help ourselves from helping ourselves. Pardon me for over-simplifying, but our federalist system is essentially a system where the federal government takes as much money from the states as possible. The confiscated money is sent to Washington where it is reapportioned to suit the political sensitivities of the bureaucracy. Government-sized overhead expenses are deducted before the cash that remains or returned.
And no one complains because the reapportioning suits the needs (political sensitivities) of the local officials who are satisfied, so long as their pet projects are funded, so long as their pet projects are funded. It’s scary=close to money laundering and, not unlike an addiction to drugs where the dealers know that once you can get someone hooked they tend to remain hooked.
Economics Professor Jack Chambless of Valencia College in Orlando likes to start his fall sophomore classes with an essay assignment. Chambless ask his students to describe their idea of the American dream and to then to tell what role the government should play in helping to achieve that dream.
Chambless said that about 1 in 10 of his students think a government that leaves them alone would be best but about 8 in 10 want a government that actively funds the common welfare. Their laundry list of government-sponsored benefits goes something like this:
-Free college.
-Minimum annual salary deposited directly to all citizens. whether they work or not.
– Free health care, of course?
-Assistance with a down payment on a nice house.
And who should foot the bill? Student-age thinkers are willing to “take the money from the wealthy, if necessary.” Somewhere along the line, it became the duty of the rich to subsidize the poor.
We wondered where young people get such ideas.
Our American values and economy are tightly bound. You cannot understand one without having a least a basic understanding of the other.
Just for fun, we asked a local teacher who teaches advanced placement history to Juniors to create a simple citizenship quiz (modeled after the quiz our government gives to soon-to-be new Americans).
Then, we also quizzed the not-so-young lunchtime crowd at our local senior center. We hoped the results would give us a general idea about what we know about being Americans.
The students average score was 77.5, while the older crowd turned in a surprising 85.5 What’s that they say about old age and stealth beating youth and ambition?)
We think it’s fair to expect patriotism and American values to be taught in our public schools. But it’s not unreasonable to think those same topics should have at least an occasional share of dinnertime conversation. As the election draws close, there has been a lot of talk about who we should invite in and who should be locked out.
If you would like to take the Citizenship Quiz online – the site is:
Just a thought – how do you express your patriotism? Would you be chosen to be invited in or locked out? Democracy works great if you are among the fortunate.
We may have reached a tipping point where it will be critical that every citizen understands both the power and the responsibility of being an American.
Otherwise, we may find ourselves at a tipping point from which there is no turning back.
kommonsentsjane
kommonsentsjane 