By Dr. Harold Pease
College enrollment is now in progress and a new semester or quarter begins in January. Dare I say to a generation whose work ethic has greatly diminished, what I was told prior to my many years of college? If you get a college degree you likely will have a higher level of income and more favorable working conditions. Certainly there are notable exceptions like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, who have no degrees, and those who major in medieval art, or some such discipline were there exists no real employment demand. But by in large in this country, barring an accident or unusual health concern, if you are poor by the age of forty you chose to be so.
Your choices, made between ages twenty and thirty, largely place you where you will be the rest of your life. The road to security and prosperity is education and is available to everyone willing to work. I tell my students that they may not be able to run out of the ghetto, even walk, but all can crawl.
There was no silver spoon in my mouth, being second oldest of 14 children, this option applied to me as well. Few were poorer than we. All night factory work and all day classes meant sleeping when you could. This was so for many years.
Others may find work and satisfaction outside formal education, but most will struggle in its absence. I have yet to meet a re-entry student; one who dropped out then returned years later, who did not wish they had stayed in school. The choice seems to be clear for most young people, work your butt off in school for at least four years in expectation of an easier life, or without school for forty without such.
Many, all with excuses, do not choose the education highway, dropping out of high school or college and thus choose poverty. They allow themselves to accept a lower place in society. Some pick up the visual signs of poverty such as degrading language, coarseness in their behaviors, and the appearance of one who is poor. Sometimes homes are not painted and lawns uncut, back yards dirt and weeds. In time they are easily recognizable as poor. Many come to believe that they are owed the basics, even some of the privileges of life. These become wards of the state and accepting of the philosophy that “it’s not my fault” and politicians have no problem confiscating the rewards of those who do labor to give to them. Food stamps, subsidized school lunches, housing, and healthcare and hundreds of other charity programs, instead of incentivizing this class to believe in themselves and work to be self reliant, seemingly teach, even enable, dependence.
Unscrupulous politicians learn quickly that these can be managed by subsidized gift- giving from those who do produce, which ensures that they remain in office. The “freebie class” becomes their base. Last year 47.5% of the adult population paid no federal income tax. Those who paid for all the programs of the poor were the other 52.5%. As a class, the poor want more, lose their sense of gratitude for those who are forced to subsidize them, and grow ever larger without education. The tax paying class diminishes as confiscatory taxes rob them of the benefits of their labor. They become the working poor. In time they too may be, without additional education, enticed to work less and join the poor class.
So back to the choices we make which select our future dependence or independence. Those choices remain available. Some few reenter the education highway. Now with a companion and children they sacrifice evenings to elevate themselves. Perhaps it takes twice or thrice the time but there is an end to poverty if one chooses wisely.
Stay in school my young friends and return my older friends. You will never be sorry that you made this choice. Your choices today will place you where you will be ten years from now. This law applies to all. You do not have to rob, or have the government rob for you, the fruits of others. You do not have to be the fodder for politicians who wish to give you the benefits of those who produce so that they can remain in power and addict you to the philosophy that it is owed you.
Dr. Harold Pease is an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He has taught history and political science from this perspective for over 25 years at Taft College. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.