Era of Irresponsibility

I am making the formal declaration that America - and the world - has entered the Era of Irresponsibility. This did not occur overnight; it has been building for a long, long time. Therefore, there are good reasons why others may say that this era began at some earlier time. I'm not going to quibble too much over such things. For me, I mark the first day of the era of irresponsibility as February, Friday 13th, 2009.

It was on that Friday 13th that I happened to read an article in a paper I usually do not see: USA Today. The article on page B1, "World's efforts trail USA's" (by David J. Lynch), is a brief about the "stimulus" spending of USA and China compared to the rest of the world. Contained near the end of the article was this short, salient paragraph: "But if countries that accumulated sizable financial reserves in recent years, such as Germany and Middle Eastern oil producers, don't do more, they will face a backlash, says Adam Posen of the Peterson Institute for International Economics."

Face a backlash for practicing fiscal responsibility? This is the predictable result of liberal policies that rob both nations and individuals of any reason to act responsibly. All Americans who have been living responsibly for many years, many because they made conscious choices to sacrifice for a better future, are being punished. Those who overspent and did not save and paid no mind at all to improving their lives through education, experience, and personal excellance are being rewarded at the expense of responsible people. Everything that the government is doing rewards bad behavior. Acting fiscally responsible has become the moral hazard. Given this logic, what reason does any rational person have to continue making sacrifices for their personal and familiy's success? You earn it; you save it; and your government will take it to reward those who have made poor choice after poor choice.

This extends far beyond economics; liberalism has also bankrupted moral, ethical, and spiritual responsibility. It has been demanded that America provide billions upon billions of relief to alleviate suffering in third world nations. This has been done for so long, it is a way of life. At the same time, the same governments receiving our free money reject any requirements that they improve their own accountability to their citizens. They have been allowed to continue to practice unabated totalitarianism; moreover, they express openly outright hatred toward America for even suggesting that their people live free.

Liberal collectivism has done the same thing nationally. Successful businesses and individuals are required upon threat of fine and imprisonment to subsidize the consequences of poor fiscal, moral, ethical, and spiritual choices of others while having zero ability to change the negative, irresponsible behaviors. This is not compassion; it is extortion.

Led in large part by the recently passed stimulus bill and other proposals being imposed upon us by our President and Congress, our nation and our world have formally and institutionally ushered in the Era of Irresponsibility. This is not going to be a pretty picture.