Readers are always asking me to please write about good news. I have good news.
I’m happy to report that at least some young people are still in favor of liberty, and willing to acknowledge the horrendously unfair and reckless policies of our current government.
Check out SOSliberty.com. This organization in not committed to either political party, and consists of high school and college students who resent the debt they’re being saddled with from the moment of birth. The reason for this debt is so that current politicians can feel good about themselves, and maintain their hold on power by spending money and wealth that hasn’t yet been created. These politicians are counting on the next generation to create trillions upon trillions of dollars in wealth to pay off this debt. A growing number of these young people, it turns out, are resentful about it and are speaking up about it.
I am constantly asked (only by liberals) how I can be a psychotherapist and an otherwise reasonable person, but not be a liberal. In reply, I can now point to these young people. I might say: How would you like it if you were 17 years old and someone handed you a million dollars worth of debt, before you even got started out in life? What kind of therapist would not encourage you to speak up for yourself and say “STOP!”?
This organization is not partisan. They’re neither Republican nor Democrat. That’s a good thing, because both parties are equally to blame. But it’s important to remember that the Democratic Party sets the Big Government agenda. They always have, and they always will. The only hope for the country is that we reform the Republican Party, when it comes to fiscal irresponsibility and Big Government statism. The Democratic Party is unreformable, totally beyond redemption in this respect. If the Republican Party is not reformable, or at least replaceable, then we’re quite frankly doomed.
The debt we have already racked up is unsustainable. There’s no end in sight. If Obama wins reelection, which means his policies are given a “thumbs up” by the majority, we’re going to continue racking up more and more debt. The economy will continue not to grow much, and we’ll more than likely have another economic downturn of some form or another. This will be used to justify even more government spending, and probably more government restrictions and infringement of liberty than America has ever seen. The debt and deficit will go way beyond the limits that groups like SOS Liberty are currently decrying.
Liberty and fiscal responsibility are interconnected. It’s more than a fiscal issue. It’s a moral issue, as well. One striking thing about this group is that they’re calling our fiscal policy by its actual name: GENERATIONAL THEFT. As their mission statement says, “Each high school student today is inheriting an average debt of $870,000 which is grossly unfair considering that most high schoolers cannot even vote yet. SOS Liberty believes older generations are essentially stealing our future and we’re not too happy about it.”
Dictators of all stripes always love to parade young people in front of the cameras to mask their true intentions. Obama, in 2008, sold himself as the candidate of young people. What about the massive expansion of government debt? Are we supposed to ignore the debt, and pretend it doesn’t exist? If so, then why do we even bother to have a currency at all? We could just have the government simply mandate everything that everyone wants and needs, and do away with “the economy” altogether. Clearly, it does not and cannot work that way. Politicians know this, but they’re not willing to tell the American people that they must face the truth: The federal government is way beyond bankrupt.
I won’t claim that SOS Liberty (or any group) is right about everything, and I can’t vouch for every position they will ever take. But I applaud their willingness to identify the problem, and to do so on moral terms. Their futures are literally being STOLEN from them. They never had a say in the expansion of the entitlement state, and they had no say in the massive debt piled up by the Obama Administration and Congress over the past 3 years. But they will have to live with the consequences, more than most of us, because they are going to be alive longer than those of us who are middle-aged or old.
The ones with the most to lose are the ones who are the youngest. Infants and children are too young to understand that as it stands, America’s best days have come and gone. It’s all down hill from here, at least on our current course. High school and college kids are old enough to grasp what’s ahead of them. I maintain that it’s psychologically healthy and morally just for them to fight this with everything they have.
I’ve had enough of people like Obama claiming, “Look at me. The young people love me. That shows I’m right.” Not all young people feel this way, it turns out. There is hope for change, after all.
