What's Really Wrong With America?

Media and political pundits have pontificated for years on what ails America.  The maladies usually end up sounding like a litany of liberal rants: income inequality, climate change, federal budget cuts, gun violence, tax fairness and immigration reform.

But those are sound-bite issues gift-wrapped for political gain.  The real problem in America is a an unhealthy sense of entitlement.  Too many Americans expect the government to solve all their problems instead of accepting any personal responsibility for their own life decisions.

The best illustration of this affliction appeared on the opinion page of a recent issue of the USA Today newspaper.  The author's words are a poignant illustration of the attitudes and values of Americans who believe tax payers should pick up the tab for their bad choices. Here's the letter:

"I am a single mother who just graduated from veterinary school.  I have $396,000 in loans. Veterinary doctors do no make what human doctors do, although we have similar debt burdens and years of education.  I have student loans from before 2007 and therefore do not qualify for the pay-as-you-earn plan.

"President Obama's proposal simply extends this existing plan to all of us with high student loan debt relative to our income.  It is a welcome relief for someone who is just trying to realize her dream of saving animals' lives while putting food on the table for my family."

The writer's reference to the president's student loan program came on the heels of Obama's proposal to make repayment of debts easier. His recent announcement included a scheme to eventually forgive student debt balances.  It was a partisan political stunt hailed by those addicted to government alms.

For the record, student loan debt in America now stands at $1.2 trillion.  That is more than the combined credit card debt of every American.  The frightening pace of the debt should concern tax payers who are already on the hook for the 5.4 million borrowers who have defaulted on their loans.

Obviously, none of that seems to bother a single mother who racked up nearly $400,000 in debt.  Did she not experience second thoughts about borrowing that much money?  Did she ever consider what a veterinarian earns and do some simple math?  Apparently, it never crossed her mind.

Now President Obama, America's savior-in-chief, has come galloping to her rescue.  Does this single mom understand tax paying Americans will subsidize her loan relief?  She speaks of her dreams for her family. What about the dreams of hard-working Americans who will bear the burden for her excesses?

This is the America we live in today.  My dreams are more important than yours.  I can't be held accountable for my decisions.  It isn't my fault a college degree costs so much.  My government has plenty of money and owes it to me to pay for what I want and cannot afford.

What kind of cockamamie country have we become?  Americans once relished rugged individualism. We worked hard, earned everything we received and expected no help for some bureaucrat in Washington. Today self-reliance has been vanquished, replaced by self-pity, envy and dependence.

That is not the America most of us have known.  Yet new generations are growing up that have never experienced anything but government handouts for everything from heating to housing to food. There is a insidious expectation that government's role is to make their lives easier, more comfortable, less stressful.

The result is America is changing before our eyes.  Some people carp about the lost of independence. But far more Americans are willing to trade their freedoms for a nanny government that takes care of them. That is another step closer to socialism.  Once taken, democracy becomes but a lost dream.