Nurturing Freedom

Whether they are in grade school, middle school, high school, or college, they are 'students'. Students are students because they are in a structured environment for learning. The future of this nation depends on students to learn and mature. At every graduation ceremony, you will hear the phrase "You are the future". These are not idle words. Those words express a reality which is undeniable.

Lately however, our students have interpreted 'the future' to mean now. It is natural for a student to question their elders on the way that certain problems get resolved. The inequity of wealth distribution is an issue that students insist on solving.

If the idealists ever gain the power to pass laws redistributing the nations wealth to the poor. They would learn one of the lessons that they do not teach in school. For starters, the entire premise of equal wealth distribution is fatally flawed. Most recipients of unearned wealth do not benefit from having it and for most of the poor in the United States, being poor is a personal choice not a chance dealing of the cards. For instance, family "A" receives money from the government, according to the wealth redistribution plan.

We can say with certain reliability from observing the winners of the lotteries that the first things that will happen is that Family "A" will start purchasing things that they were never able to obtain without that money. A new car, a Plasma TV, a big house, a boat, and even quit their jobs. But the money is soon spent. Family ties strain to the breaking point because related family "B" members think that family "A" should share that money since family "B" have already spent their money. Very few will invest and save. The sad thing about unearned wealth is that it is unappreciated.

The idealists are well meaning. Their efforts to have everybody enjoy some of the worlds bounty was one of those well-intentioned efforts. But they could see that the poor were using the money irresponsibly. And, instead of being grateful for their new bounty, the ex-poor demanded more. It became an impossible pit to fill. The solution was to stop the redistribution of unearned wealth. But the idealists really believe that they can make the world a better place. To make redistribution work, they attach strings to its use. The wealth redistribution advocates had to either take control over how the recipients spend the money or face riots from the people that they were trying to help. Every string attached to that money, erodes freedom. The ex-poor will no longer have the freedom of choice about their life and those who had their money taken for the redistribution plan lost their freedom of choice. When people can no longer use money as they see fit, they lose some of their precious freedom. The value of having money is to be able to use it to trade for something. When others dictate what you use money for, then what good is it? But from the idealist point of view, they want everybody to be happy. To them, making everybody equal monetarily equals a balanced world. Our students are immature and idealistic but they are not alone. A lot of adults also share this simplistic view of the world. We all go through stages of idealism on our path to maturity. But some never get past the idyllic dream of Utopia.

The power wielding elites of our society want your support so they can maintain their power. They play on the hopes and desires of people with the promise of fulfilling their dreams. Better jobs, no more wars, no more pollution, and government backed medical care - all of the usual carrots dangle in front of the voter at election time. But just as in unrequited love, the promises go unfulfilled.

The young idealists make perfect targets for unscrupulous politicians. The idealists hope for a Utopia that can never be but willingly follow a politician who sings the wooing songs of building a Utopia. But do not sell these wayward youths short, these idealists do have power. Their power is in their numbers, they hold your freedom in the balance trying to make a Utopian dream come true. More and more of our young believe that the heavy hand of government is the only vehicle that can solve problems. You can do your part to help the situation by supporting a balanced curriculum in our colleges, or things will continue to get worse.

Cheers,
-Robert-