Our Complacency is Killing Us

[Valin]

Next Generation Voter:

Bethany Bowra

2/19/13

 

Government isn’t the solution to the problem; government is the problem. – Ronald Reagan

 

When it comes to dependence on government versus help from local charities, churches, and non-profit organizations, President Reagan’s words never rang truer. Americans are consistently becoming more dependent on the federal government each day; in 2011 alone, approximately 110 million people in the United States received some form of federal welfare. One in five Americans are dependent on the government for some form of assistance, ranging from Medicare to food stamps to housing to healthcare. Students’ dependence on government to pay for their college educations has nearly doubled. More than 70% of federal spending goes toward dependency programs. While assistance is certainly necessary and should not be denied to individuals and families who need help getting on their feet, the help is coming from the wrong place— the federal government was never created to provide for its citizens; that should be the responsibility of others around the person in need. We’ve become complacent in our willingness for the government to have its hand in our personal lives.

 

The main duty of the federal government is to provide a strong national defense at home and abroad. Aside from that, a majority of responsibility is left to the state and local governments to manage their own affairs— including providing for citizens in desperate need. There was never a reason for the federal welfare system to exist aside from the easy opening it had into the lives of citizens under the guise of “helping.” As a result, the welfare system has gone virtually unchecked and been allowed to expand “as necessary” to include millions of citizens, many of whom are taking direct advantage of the system and using it as an easy handout. Translation: Complacency.

 

Of all the dangers that face a constitutional republic such as ours, the greatest is complacency. Allowing the government to grow at its own rate, unchecked, allows it to inch further and further into your life until you wonder how it got so far. It is easy, of course, to let the government provide for those in need; on the surface, the plan is ideal. Those who are struggling will receive the assistance they need while your daily life is minimally affected. However, at the core of this plan lies an agenda that many fail to see coming. The government isn’t an individual who can “care” for you— it isn’t something that truly cares about your well-being. Too often, the Left buys votes with welfare checks. As long as they can keep you dependent on their policies, they leave you a choice between voting for Democrats to continue your needed assistance and having it cut off. As a result, people have become complacent to vote however they need to as long as it means their check comes in every month. This isn’t malicious or anything close to it; just complacency.

 

(Snip)