We are robbing our children and their children, of money with the huge national debt, but also of something much more valuable. We are stealing their independence, creativity, self worth.
We are allowing them (in many cases) to be dependents of the state with no ambition, no ability to deal with adversity, no belief in themselves as the captains of their own ship.
The thing that made this country great was our rugged individuality, our ability to invent and develop and imagine, our strength to overcome long odds, and our vision. The grandparents of today lived very different lives that of those a short 40 years younger. We grew much of our food and ate it together at the family table. We all had responsibilities, from the youngest to the oldest. We repaired things rather than replacing them. We read books, wrote letters, listened to baseball on the radio and helped our neighbors.
Time marches on, we read Kindles, send emails, watch every possible event on TV and often don't even know our neighbors. We think a certain level of living is a right. We have no problem being cared for cradle to grave.
We think every kid deserves a trophy. We deny the differences in our cultures. We don't want to see our kids hurt or lonely or struggling.
Maybe they don't need to churn their own butter but they do need to earn it.
Our desire to make our kid's lives better than our own is robbing them of all the good stuff.
Dick Doonan
