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OPINION

Care Enough to Limit Dependence

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
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There was a time in America when people were reluctant to take charity and were embarrassed to be dependent on the state. Though at times such help was necessary, people worked hard to get back on their own feet as quickly as possible. Remaining dependent was humiliating. Self-reliance was expected, encouraged, and honored. Americans worked to earn their piece of the American Dream.

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Working hard and earning your own way were strong American values. There was no minimum wage. You took the best job you could find. You had to justify raises you earned and were grateful when you did. Every job provided invaluable life lessons about customer service, pride in workmanship, and the need to do that little extra to get ahead. You respected authorities with integrity and tried to earn their respect. You were proud when you did.

Today, “advanced” Western societies seldom talk about charity. Citizens aren’t required to earn their way. The left claims that all citizens have the basic right to healthcare, education, housing, and a minimum wage. To feel embarrassed for taking aid is now offensive and politically incorrect. Earned success has given way to entitled lifestyles and a guaranteed “living wage.”

As the November election approaches, Democrats will claim that Republicans don’t care and only want to cut the cost of government. But before you vote, consider some important questions: Does government-run “caring” work? Are unearned support and wage ”rights” good for those they’re supposed to help? Is taking more and more from those who have earned income to give to those who demand support an incentive system that will ensure America’s future?

Far too often, such programs create a seductive trap of dependence that is hard to break. Once trapped in chronic poverty, one’s life is spent maximizing one’s benefits and securing all of the aid possible. These citizens are paid by the state to exist rather than to contribute. Skills don’t matter; personal responsibility doesn’t matter. Their only job is to maintain their lifestyle at the expense of taxes paid by hard-working citizens. You can look to Europe’s decline to see America’s future if something isn’t done.

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Anthony Daniels, writing for Imprimis, described Britain’s permanent underclass: “There is a dialectical relationship between the worldview of people at the bottom of society and the complimentary worldview of what one might call the salvationist bureaucracy of the government. In the old Soviet Union there was a joke in which the workers would say to the party bosses, ‘We pretend to work and you pretend to pay us.’ In the case of addicts, they might say, ‘We pretend to be ill, and you pretend to cure us.’ … One of the possible dangers or consequences of such a charade is that it creates a state of dishonest dependency…. They wait for something that will never arrive, and that at least in some part of their mind they know will never arrive—but that officialdom persists in telling them it will arrive someday. Dishonest passivity and dependence combined with harmful activity becomes a pattern of life….”

Under the Obama administration’s “transformation”, are you better off? Is America better off? Are you tired of hearing people complain about the jobs that are available instead of rising to the challenge of taking what’s available and proving their value? Are you embarrassed by teens who say they don’t want to be seen “flipping burgers” or working in the fields? Are you tired of seeing college students, subsidized for pursuing majors where there are no jobs, expect the government to pay off their loans resulting from poor choices?

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Vote for the “caring” politicians who will care enough to put sane limits on our out-of-control welfare society that is imprisoning the lower class in perpetual poverty and dependence. Vote for politicians who will protect the property rights and incentive system that has rewarded hard work, saving, and personal responsibility. Help make America great again.

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