Last night, Congressman Ron Paul appeared on the Fox Business Channel to discuss the U.S. budget and the ever-expanding role of the federal government. While he continued to disseminate his non-interventionist foreign policy – most notably why he believes our involvement in foreign wars is a major source of our fiscal woes – he gave some startling insights into our growing dependence on Big Government and what that means for the nation.
What I found most salient, however, was his assertion that the riots that have become pervasive throughout Europe could spread to the United States. With over 20 million government workers employed at the federal, state and local levels, it has become increasingly obvious that this powerful faction will not submissively accept the comprehensive reforms necessary to make our government solvent.
One of the biggest issues is that there is a direct correlation between dependence on government and the loss of personal responsibility. As Senator Marco Rubio discussed Tuesday night in his exceptional speech at the Reagan Library – as government expanded and replaced institutions that had traditionally cared for struggling Americans, such as friends, families and neighbors, our nation was weakened. Americans, before the shift, were more inclined to live within their means and domestic policy was not crafted without any regard for future generations.
The free enterprise system, not government, is the primary reason the United States is an exceptional nation. Poverty, Rubio argues, exists solely and exclusively because Americans are denied access to it. The role of government should not be to continually grow and expand, but to enact policies that will create jobs and stimulate the economy.
Furthermore, those who rely on government as their only safety net are doomed to become enslaved by it. The Wisconsin recalls is only the most recent example of what can happen when public employees see their benefits threatened. While the government has a responsibility to protect those of us who are destitute and homeless, the ever-expanding role of government continues to polarize the nation and dismantle the middle class.
But, of course, we must deal with entitlement reform at some point. The course we’re on is simply unsustainable. While there might not be riots in the streets, as Ron Paul suggests, the day of reckoning is upon us. We have to decide what kind of nation we want to be.
For the sake of the country, I fervently hope we're ready to make the right decision.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member