June 14, 2006
If you ever needed an example of the destructive force of liberalism look no further than a recent study from the Trust for the Study of Adolescence in England . They found that girls as young as 13 are deliberately getting pregnant as a “career choice.” Young girls, faced with the prospect of a dead-end job, are choosing instead to have children at great expense to the government. This latest trend places Britain atop the European community in teen pregnancy, and no wonder. When the government subsidizes your “career choice” why not take the path of least resistance.
Liberals in England applaud this trend as an alternative to involvement with drugs and alcohol. They maintain the decision to get pregnant is an either/or choice with substance abuse as the alternative. Of course, we know better. Pregnancy is not an inoculation against substance abuse. In fact, it very well can exacerbate an already depressing existence. But the Brits' casual attitude toward teen pregnancy is just another rip in the fabric of their socialist society. Their socialist mentality has led them to trust the government to make their every decision and bureaucracies are notorious for making the wrong ones. In the name of “the common good” the government conveys a message, either overtly or covertly, that getting pregnant at 13 really isn't so bad given the alternative of poverty and misery.
We've seen a similar trend here in America with out-of-wedlock births skyrocketing in certain segments of our society. You see, poor people - in the eyes of liberals - are too stupid to take care of themselves. They simply must allow the government to take over their lives because these inferior people will only make more of a mess of them. Once the government has its grip on you at the tender age of 13, it's doubtful you'll ever break it. And they know that.
I was in England a few years ago waiting to meet with a member of Parliament and I was watching the proceedings with interest. One orator repeatedly referred to their cradle-to-grave dependency on the government, not in the pejorative but praising the system that “has helped so many of our countrymen.” It's a systemic attitude that Big Brother knows best. I harbor no ill will against our cousins across the Atlantic but their government-dependent socialist system is not something I want to emulate. However, there are many in this country who hold them up as a beacon of hope for an imperfect country like ours. We may not be perfect but, for the most part, we still have our dignity. We still understand that when we depend on the government for our happiness then we're not truly happy.
The old rallying cry of the American Revolution still holds true - Live Free or Die. We cannot allow the power-hungry socialist elites of this country to turn us into anaesthetized zombies who only trust what's spoon-fed us from the government. We are still a country where people are risking life and limb to come here rather than to leave.
But we must remember what made us great. It was a spirit of individualism. It was a burning desire to control our own destiny. It was the fact that you can still come to this country and create, invent, invest, and work hard and still keep most of your money. What made us great is the fact that there was no great equalizer that brought those at the bottom up and those at the top down. We make our own way in this life and happiness comes from within ourselves. And that is true happiness.