(The Entitlement Nation, Part I | The Entitlement Nation, Part II | The Entitlement Nation, Part III | The Entitlement Nation, Part IV)

We, as a nation, need to get off the Big Government drug. Like any drug, it sounds fantastic when the pusher is trying to get you to take that first hit, but in reality it’s simply a step toward a lifelong addiction. And like any addiction, it will ruin your life, and the lives of those around you.

The Declaration of Independence stated that among our unalienable Rights are the Rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. You have a right to pursue it, but you are not entitled to it. Meaning the government has no responsibility to provide it to you.

The people walking around with 8 kids and living in a row house do not need our help. They need to get off welfare and get a job. They are no more disadvantaged than anyone else. America truly is "the land of opportunity." Everyone, regardless of background, has the opportunity to succeed here. Look at guys from India, Pakistan, Somalia, and other countries that are running convenience stores at every corner… they didn’t benefit from growing up in a rich white-collar neighborhood and attending nicer schools than someone in the inner city. Look at all the immigrants who came to this country over the past 232 years with next to nothing. How many grandfathers came over speaking no English, having almost no money, and didn’t benefit form our educational system. But did they sit around and get a welfare check? No. They got a job at places like Ford, Westinghouse, and U.S. Steel, saved enough money to pay for their wife’s (and kids’) boat trip over, bought a house, and retired with a pension.

We all have choices in life. Social programs or the lack thereof don’t define the character of a person. It doesn’t make someone commit a crime. Parenting plays a much larger role than government programs ever will. Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can succeed in this country if they reach down inside themselves and strive for that success. If you ask any successful person, (and I’m not talking about someone from "old money" like Paris Hilton) they’ll tell you the same thing: being successful is hard work and it’s not easy. There is no Great Oppressor holding you under an iron thumb. Even with increased government regulation, ever-increasing taxes, and endless seas of governmental red-tape, anyone can be successful in this country. Regardless of how you were brought up, regardless of where you live, if you have it inside you, you can be successful. No one is holding you down, no one is holding you back… except yourself.

Thomas Jefferson said it best: "All eyes are open, or are opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to give ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others." The only difference between a person deemed a success or a failure is a failure within the person, not with the government. Government hand-outs are no substitute for hard work and personal responsibility. Remember the Three Pillars of Liberty: personal responsibility, personal charity, and free markets.

So the solution is simple: do your part. Save for your own retirement. Be responsible with your money. Be a good parent. Help out a friend or a neighbor. Start a business. And most importantly, get involved.

Tomorrow: Part VI — A Light in the Darkness

(The Entitlement Nation, Part I | The Entitlement Nation, Part II | The Entitlement Nation, Part III)

The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money. – Alexis de Tocqueville

This election cycle, candidates are pushing ever-harder for expanded entitlements and, in turn, a larger federal government. Some examples:

• Senator Clinton has campaigned to create a U.S. Public Service Academy. This proposal would train future government workers, costing the taxpayers $200 million annually to run the academy, and untold billions in wages and benefits for an increasing number of government employees.
• Senator Obama proposes a Foreclosure Prevention Fund to "assist individuals who purchased homes that are simply too expensive for their income levels." No need to be responsible with your money and ensure you can afford that new house, because The Government will bail you out. This plan would cost taxpayers $10 billion annually to allow people to be (for lack of a better word) stupid, have no consequences for making bad decisions, and effectively take no responsibility for their own actions.
• Senator Clinton proposes a $50 billion "strategic energy fund" to research new sources for energy and fuels. Forget supply and demand, The Government will dictate what you power your car with, and how the electric company produces your electricity. When this plan would fail in 20 years after spending untold billions on this program, (and well after we’re beholden to its mandates), the Government would, predictably, tell you how much you’re allowed to drive, and regulate how much electricity you’re allowed to use.
• Senator Obama proposes an "American Dream agenda," which would provide students with a "free" college education. This "free" education would cost taxpayers an estimated $26 billion a year. We have seen the value an alarming number of teenagers put on their "free" high school education, but this entitlement would be different…. how exactly?
• Both candidates are calling for government-run healthcare, which would cost taxpayers even more billions annually, and degrade the overall quality of care.

Nothing is free. It has to be paid for by someone, and anything the government gives out is paid for by the taxpayer, to the detriment of all taxpayers. Only by allowing the free markets to prevail in all instances will we benefit all taxpayers. Do not allow yourself to fall for the bribes of politicians, for they are bribing you with your own money. Do not demonize the rich, for they are the creators of jobs. Do not play the victim, for we each have it within ourselves to live The American Dream.

That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built. — Abraham Lincoln

Tomorrow: Part V — The Soluton

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January “was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average.”

China is surviving its most brutal winter in a century. Temperatures in the normally balmy south were so low for so long that some middle-sized cities went days and even weeks without electricity because once power lines had toppled it was too cold or too icy to repair them.

There have been so many snow and ice storms in Ontario and Quebec in the past two months that the real estate market has felt the pinch as home buyers have stayed home rather than venturing out looking for new houses.

In just the first two weeks of February, Toronto received 70 cm of snow, smashing the record of 66.6 cm for the entire month set back in the pre-SUV, pre-Kyoto, pre-carbon footprint days of 1950.

And remember the Arctic Sea ice? The ice we were told so hysterically last fall had melted to its “lowest levels on record? Never mind that those records only date back as far as 1972 and that there is anthropological and geological evidence of much greater melts in the past.

The ice is back.

Oh really now? So is it Al Gore who’s really “preying on our fears?”  Certainly there will be something we can do about “global climate change” (which is the new way of controlling the conversation, since it’s becoming increasingly obvious that global warming is a farce.)

Kenneth Tapping of our own National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon.

So the sun changes the climate here on earth? No, really? Who would’ve thought that a 1,392,000 kilometer-wide ball of thermonuclear hydrogen burning at 28 million degrees would affect us here on earth. Sarcasm aside, this prediction, unlike “global warming” has some prior evidence to back up it’s hypothesis:

The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbours froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased.

Be sure to read the full article: Forget global warming: Welcome to the new Ice Age