We're Smarter....Trust Us.

After watching countless hours of political coverage over the last several months, I think I have finally figured out why I have an aversion to the policies of Democrats. It isn't because I love the NRA....I don't. It isn't because I think war is the answer...I don't. It's because when it comes down to it, Democrats think government can make better decisions for me than I can. Why is this? It's because they think they are smarter than us. Obviously, if I don't have health care, it's because I am an idiot, right? If I don't have a college education, it's because I am a dolt. If I can't afford to live in a home large enough to embody the "American Dream," it's a result of my dimwittedness, right? There are so many holes in this type of logic it's laughable, but here are three that make me scratch my head:

1) Not everyone with the mental capacity to do so chooses to go to college. Did you catch that word "CHOOSES"? Some of the most successful people I know have no education beyond high school and they don't blame the government for their lack of postsecondary education. They actually made a choice to do something the government doesn't recommend and they succeeded. Scandalous.

2) Success in this country should not be equated to wealth. I was shocked to watch profiles of people who were supposedly struggling economically in our country when they were still able to drive $30,000 gas guzzlers and eat out at restaurants. Have we lost our minds? If we find it difficult to make ends meet, we should definitely adjust our level of living to our means. I think people find this so difficult because they think they are successful as long as they can eat out or drive a certain type of car. We need to get real. The government is not the solution to personal wealth, nor should personal wealth be our primary goal in life. If we have learned nothing else over the last several weeks, we have surely learned that we cannot rely on money.

3) Health care is a privilege, not a right. I know what you're thinking. I have a cold heart. Hear me out first. Although I am focusing on health care here, I could have replaced it with education and made the same point. We have the keen ability in our culture to take things for granted that we see as a right. Look at our education system. We are spending more money than any other country in the world on our education system, but we are failing. Why is this? I believe it is because education is not seen as a privilege, but a right. Students are forced to attend classes, forced to make certain grades, and forced to learn a specified curriculum. Imagine what education could be if the government did not dictate all these areas. It is the same with health care. It shouldn't be shoved down our throats. We should also come to terms with the reality that we are not invincible. Immortality is not an American right.

Because these programs do not pay for themselves and they are good for us, the royal smart people in Washington only ask that we donate a few bucks and all our needs will be granted. Well, listen up democrats (and you rogue republicans)...I think you may have missed something fundamental to how the government is supposed to work. It's a little something called the Declaration of Independence. In it, we are guaranteed the right to "life, liberty, and the PURSUIT of happiness." Your promises of a world-class education and top-notch healthcare are admirable, but pay careful attention. It is not your right to place these in our laps, but our right to pursue them. Something interesting happens when people pursue their own happiness. Not only are they likely to achieve it, but they are likely to have developed the tools to sustain it. If you try giving them happiness without asking them to work for it, they often lack the tools to sustain it and you have created a cycle of dependence. We have to get back to declaring our independence.