The Era Of Responsibility

Remember back in the days when you were expected to be responsible for your own life? What has happened in our society that now you are expected to be responsible for everyone else? I am disgusted by grown men and women who stick their hands out and beg a specific lifestyle from the government. What happened to the stigma tied to such behavior? Where is our shame?
There is nothing wrong with a little shame. It causes you to work harder to avoid it. Recently however, hard work is the thing which is stigmatized and "societal victim" status is worn like a badge of courage. We treat "single-by-choice" mothers like Medal of Honor winners and welfare recipients like a national treasure. Meanwhile, successful CEO's, small business owners, and self-made millionaires are lambasted and vilified. The era of responsibility has gone by the wayside only to be replaced by an overreaching sense of entitlement.
Sure, I feel a sense of entitlement. I feel entitled to the basic freedoms which are outlined in our founding documents. I believe they are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". I don't believe they are "health care, home ownership, free education, and a government handout". In fact, I think these are akin to spraying Roundup on your vegetable garden. It kills all future production.
We have just saddled our children and grandchildren with an unimaginable debt load. That one act of entitlement-mentality greed is analogous to child abuse. We are mortgaging our future generations to satisfy our personal wants. Who is going to support all of them? Who is going to help them get out of the economic nightmare we are creating? We won't have to do it. We can't do it. Were too busy feeling sorry for ourselves and playing the role of victim.
This entitlement-mentality is the culmination of years of granting victim-status to the very people who are perpetrating the crimes. The "single-by-choice" mother who condemns her child to exponentially higher suicide, homelessness, crime, and poverty rates; the "fit but lazy" welfare recipient who lives off the backs of hard working Americans; the "I deserve a home" sub prime borrowers who destroy the equity in everyone home; and the "health care is a right" crowd who, if they are allowed, will saddle doctors and nurses with work while looking at you to pick up the tab.
The era of responsibility is dying the death of a thousand blows. Is there no one to fight back? It is up to you and me to end the entitlement mentality and resurrect responsibility.