Ever wonder what would happen if you just sat back and waited for someone else to provide your every need in life? Would you survive? Would your dreams come true? Would you be satisfied with your life?

There is a great deal of discussion these days regarding entitlements. From what already exists in our society, like those things promised decades ago and still in place, to what is being established and now touted as the next great thing, entitlements fuel the foreseeable future with the prospect that self-achievement is no longer necessary. For that matter entitlements help to form the mindset that really everything should be given rather than earned. After all, just wait and the right entitlement will come along to “fix” everything for you and you won’t have to lift a finger. Isn’t that what everyone wants?

There was a time when America stood for working hard and achieving your dreams…almost any dream if you set your mind to it, worked for it and challenged yourself to reach for it. Now, the status quo is “what can you do for me”?

America was founded in part on the belief that if you paid your dues and your own way and kept within the letter of the law while working hard you could follow your dreams and achieve whatever you set your mind to. Today, that seems desperately left out of most commentary describing the next “everyone gets some” plan. Just look at the entitlements that are being built as you read this….healthcare for everyone, with the catch that some in America will pay for more than their share to insure those who do not have insurance plus pay their own way; immigration for those who have illegally entered this country and by receiving this amnesty program these same people also receive all benefits applied to legal citizens for which they have paid nothing for to date in our system of taxes because they were/are undocumented. As an example, most illegals work under the radar for cash and therefore do not have taxes withheld (one of the reasons why they are called illegals) which means for the years they have been in this country illegally, they have benefited from the use of American freedoms but have paid nothing toward the cost of same as documented workers do. Pay it back over time? Really? How’s that going to work? College for everyone? There’s another great sounding project, but how is that paid for and who is paying for their college plus others?

Each of these plans continues to grow an entitlement mentality which allows the person benefiting to believe they are “entitled” to these “free things” without any mechanism in place to repay the generosity shown to allow that individual to succeed. Further, when participating in these “free” programs, the entitled individual never feels a sense of debt or obligation but rather a sense that if they can receive this for free, why not find other things I don’t have to work for? Did you work to get where you are today? Did you pay your dues and pay taxes and pay your own way? How is it fair to ask those who have worked so hard for the successes they have in their lives to give more to the “less fortunate” to “allow” them the same opportunities? Shouldn’t the “less fortunate” have to work for their successes too? Why should they be “entitled” to success if they are not willing to work for it?

America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. In my mind that means you are free to work and succeed accordingly. In my mind that means you can accomplish many things and you are free to do so but you don’t just get a golden ticket that says “here I am, make me successful, or wealthy, or happy, or living the
American dream. It’s called the American dream because you dream of being successful/wealthy/happy….not that you are handed those things and never had to lift a finger.

Once again…..I am Overcome By Events!