The Letter, the Warning and My Thoughts

Ronald Reagan once said, "We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." Now if only our Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches would act on what President Reagan said.

Have you received a letter titled "Isn't It Strange?" The letter is again making the rounds in social media circles. It asks questions to which our fellow Americans should know the answers, save for those caught up in modernity. It starts off asking, "Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture but ... after a shooting, the problem is the gun?" My take on this requires little discernment and even less logic. In other words, after a shooting, it is the gun, an inanimate object, that is the culprit, but after a bombing, it is not the bomb that receives the blame but the evil individual. In both cases it is not the evil individual who is to blame? I would like to ask America's anti-Second Amendment extremists what accounts for today's mayhem: Have guns become more evil or have people become more evil?

Later on in the same letter (admittedly, I have authored similar views in past script postings), there is a statement asking us to rename government programs, saying, "Get it straight: Welfare, Food Stamps, WIC ... are not entitlements. They are taxpayer-funded handouts, and shouldn't be called entitlements. Social Security and Veterans Benefits are 'Entitlements' because the people receiving them are entitled to them. They were earned and paid for by the recipients...no society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produced."

If one listens to the current debate and rhetoric of most politicians, both Democrats and to a smaller extent Republicans, it is about expanding the class of Americans who live at the expense of other Americans, whether they are promising "free" education and medical care or forcing Americans to purchase products such as ethanol in order to enrich others.

Toward the letter's end there is a statement that rings true and beyond debate: "I vote Democratic, because I'm pro-choice ... except on schools, guns, trade, health care, energy, smoking, union membership, light bulbs, plastic containers, health insurance coverage, what kinds of food you can eat.”

Being one who keeps track of citations, allow me to quote John Wayne, particularly for my peers, political representatives and my friends within academia; "I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living." I think John Wayne hit the nail on the head.