By Sam Morgan
Ever wonder why education here in America is in the toilet (compared with other nations), especially at the college level? Look no further than the liberal socialists who have burrowed their way into academia over the past few decades. They “teach” their misguided philosophies and vitriol as to what’s wrong with this country and who’s to blame. If they really want someone to blame, they need to look no further than the mirror!
Their “open-minded” ideals and viewpoints fly in the face of what made this country great — the perseverance, drive and success of the individual. It’s the very freedoms we enjoy that have allowed us to be the best we could be — without the fetters of a government gone berserk!
We’re suffering from a hedonistic society of narcissistic Americans who have been taught at home and in school that they are absolved of all responsibilities for their actions; that government is the answer to all ills; that government has the right (and therefore only) solution to all of their problems; all they have to do is give up their individual freedoms, including the ability to think for themselves, and the government will make them secure. Government will provide everything — from birth until they croak! More government will solve everything and make us all feel good.
Contrary to what they teach in classrooms these days, government did not make this country great — the freedoms our forefathers fought and died for did! We didn’t get into this economic hole by accident; we spent our way here with our five-planet lifestyles and because we sat back and allowed Democrats and Republicans to make a profession out of politics. Once in office they forgot why they were put there!
Thank God for the individual thinking and reasoning of members of the Tea Party movement, the Libertarian movement and anyone else who has had the guts to stand up against the socialistic crap devouring our nation — for people who still believe that protecting individual rights always trumps mob rule. They’re the ones trying to turn this express-train-to-hell around by trying to return this country to common sense based upon founding principles. The failed policies of past administrations (especially Obama’s) should be readily apparent; you cannot spend your way out of debt no matter how much money you pour down the hole. That’s insanity! In an economic crisis, you don’t go out and spend even more money you don’t have!
What really concerns me is that these liberal pundits of politics and economics who appear in the newspaper and permeate every college faculty offer no real solutions to today’s problems. All they do is point fingers of blame and recommend we can’t do anything but hunker down or hang on for the ride. Rather than teaching students how to think critically and develop and practice sound economic principles and judgment, most of the time seems spent on demagoging conservatives for their values.
I have a few recommendations to counter this madness.
America, it’s past time for us to wake up and take a good hard look at what we’ve done to ourselves. It’s time we faced a hard fact of life: You cannot spend more than you earn and expect to survive for very long! Nothing in this country is free. It’s time for entitlement programs to be scaled-down, eliminated or made profitable. Remember the story of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”? We have way too many grasshoppers being supported by fewer and fewer ants.
We have been taxed to death. Over the years, we’ve lost most of our manufacturing base because companies have been wiped out by government bureaucracy, red tape and taxes — bled dry until there was nothing left but to close the doors. No wonder the survivors went offshore or overseas; they had to if they wanted to survive and make a decent profit. Our productivity suffers because government still tries to subsidize unviable products and services while over-regulating and over-taxing successful small businesses or large corporations and everything in between. We need to pass the Fair Tax and implement it while abolishing the IRS.
We should establish term limits for all political offices and reduce or eliminate the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups. We should hold all who seek office to high standards, and we should get to know those who wish to lead before we vote for them.
Finally, since our so-called leaders have only managed to kick the can down the road instead of solving this nation’s ominous problems, if we are going to survive this crisis as a nation, we are all going to have to do some soul searching and find ways to work together or this country is doomed.

Sam Morgan lives in Salisbury.

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