Only When the Money Runs Out Will Young People Think for Themselves

“Students will question the lies they were taught in school. . . But not until the money runs out.”

?Our own society owes itself to the writers of the Enlightenment.? But we fail to espouse the movement?s central principle?doubt.?? Doubt everything.?? We study what is.? Never why.? Never what should be.?? For that reason, the education we have received here is not only incomplete.? It is entirely hollow. . .

?I was moved by the countless hours wasted in these halls.???? I know how highly this community values learning, and I urge you all to re-evaluate what it means to be educated.?
Kareem Elnahal ?Unapproved? Commencement Speech.? Mainland Regional High School.?? June, 2006.

When his classmates recognized the truth of that speech, they stood up and cheered.

When the school principal and administrators heard that truth, they reacted in a different way by cutting off? his microphone.? Later they publicly and privately denounced Elnahal?s ??selfishness?, ?disloyalty?, and ?lack of gratitude?.?? Then they spent months creating new rules and procedures to stop any future students from doing the same thing.

That incident inspired my first column for this newspaper.??? In each of my 338 columns since then ?I tried to educate you, the reader, in the same ways Elnahal wanted to be educated at Mainland High School.?? By raising doubt, challenging beliefs, and provoking discussion.

President Abraham Lincoln is said to have once remarked, ?The philosophy of the classroom today will be the philosophy of government tomorrow?.

After more than six years, the philosophy of Mainland Regional High School (which is typical of? most public high schools in America) is now the philosophy of national, state and local government in the United States today.??? That philosophy is something like this:

1.????? ?Take the courses, get the grades, join the clubs, and play the sports that help you get ?into college. ??Don?t get a real job during the summer.?? Instead train for an obscure sport that gets big college scholarships or be an intern for a ??non-profit? ?help the homeless, the environment, or some other worthy ?progressive? cause.

2.????? Put you and your family deeply into debt to go to college.??? Take the courses, get the grades, play the sports and join the clubs that will look good on a resume for a job with the government, or a ?public? corporation or non-profit funded by the government.

3.????? If you don?t have inherited wealth or connections, be satisfied after college with an unskilled job that doesn?t need your degree–Or a low-pay, no-future job with a taxpayer funded ?non-profit? organization for some ?progressive? cause.?? If you can?t get ?affordable? government housing, move ?back home with Mom and Dad.? In any case, always vote for Democrats because ?they care?.?? And will give you more unemployment benefits, food stamps, free healthcare, free contraceptives, (free everything if you claim to be a hurricane victim), and the cancellation of all student loans.

4.????? Since the ?American Dream? of? individual success and achievement is built on evil aggression, racism, and environmental destruction, it is OK not to know how to start up or run a business, prepare a simple contract, or apply for a building permit or mercantile license.

5.????? And you can get even more free stuff? if we didn?t waste money on a military to defend our country.?? We would all be safer if the whole country were a ??gun free? zone ? just like an elementary school.
The philosophy of ?yesterday?s public high school is today?s philosophy of government.??? The ?news? on Yahoo, AOL, and MSNBC ?is a rehash of yesterday?s high school current events.??? During the ?hurricane?, most citizens supported federal and state officials who treated them like children.

Is there any hope of changing this?

Not right away.??? We can?t expect young people to believe that liberty brings prosperity when Republicans like NJ Governor Chris Christie and House Speaker John Boehner join Democrats and the ?progressive? media in falsely claiming that government spending and ?green energy? (and higher electric bills) ?create jobs?.

But socialism and communism always fail because they always run out of other people?s money.?? Right now, the federal government is borrowing 46 cents for every dollar it spends.? The NJ pension and Social Security ?trust? funds are insolvent.?? What is now happening in Greece and Spain will soon happen here.

Only when the money runs out will today?s young people start thinking for themselves like Kareem Elnahal did six years ago.?? Only then will they question the lies they were taught.?? And the understand the truth of? New Jersey?s motto, ?Liberty and Prosperity?, which they were never taught.

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4 thoughts on “Only When the Money Runs Out Will Young People Think for Themselves”

  1. Some young people are beginning to think for themselves. Ron Paul had large extremely enthusiastic audiences at colleges and universities during his last Presidential campaign. This give me some hope for the future although we are rapidly running out of time.

  2. So are you blaming the high school kids for clinging to the idea of a “normal” life that the boomers, and subsequently the kids parents, believe they are entitled to? I’m a “Millenial”, a part of what so many in the media have termed the “lost generation”, a generation that has to accept that we will have less than your and your parents generations. As much as the kids have to think for themselves, it occurs to me that the parents of North America have to think for their kids and not lie to them and tell them everything is going to be ok if you play ball with the education-industrial complex. Thankfully some in my generation were able to grab at that last gasp of the american dream and find jobs in an increasingly aging and irresponsible workforce. A workforce who selfishly wont give an inch to sustain any remaining prosperity in light of their own retirement. I’m being general, most boomers understand this problem, but the ones with power don’t care to budge and know their cohorts will play along. My point: Everyone needs to wake up, the Boomers havent fought for anything since before they had kids in the 70’s, and the Xers were handed their lives on a silver platter, so who sets the example?

  3. The money can’t run out, when the FED can just print more. See, its right there; rule 11 of monopoly!

    Why should “young people” think for ourselves, when “old people” are just going to steal it anyway?

    Its the elderly who are putting their descendants into debt.
    Would you believe that the two government welfare benefits of Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security are the two largest components of our federal budget!

    23% to Medicare/Medicaid, 20% to Social Security, 6% to pay the interest on the debt our elders left behind. That’s almost half our federal budget!!! — to pay for the old folks’ bad choices. The current system has rewarded people, specifically the elderly, for making bad choices. And not just bad, but horrific, immoral choices!
    But most of our elders are blind to this truth.

    Considering the generation of those currently retired made the mistake of electing representatives who squandered their nest eggs, why don’t we begin ‘welfare reform’ and budgetary austerity by assisting the elderly to learn from their bad choices?

    No “elective procedures” like knee or hip replacements, just money for diet and exercise regimes, aspirin, all the LSD the elderly want! If you want heart surgery or cancer treatment, then get a job!

    Before you write that I’ve violated someone’s rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be “demeaning” and ruin the elderly’s “self esteem,” consider that it wasn’t that long ago that taking someone else’s money was demeaning and lowered self esteem, and that’s precisely what you’re now doing to your grandchildren — BY FORCE!

    When people who screw up receive benefits for doing so, someone else must forfeit a benefit without screwing up.
    If we are expected to pay for other people’s mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.

    AND while you are on Medicare and Social Security subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes, that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are receiving a Gov’t Social Security check. If you want to vote, then get a job!

  4. Yes to the entire article as well as to the fact that there is a ton of truth to all 3 posts. First I will say that I have been reading Mr. Grossman’s articles for years, and one thing is consistent: the facts. I can not remember one time when any of his critics attacked the facts that he presented, at least not in an effective way. That’s the thing about facts, they’re facts, not someone’s opinion.

    And Pete, yes we elected selfish idiots. Or people who were good in some ways, but became selfish after being elected. Lately, with the Tea Party movement, there are a few elected with their heads on straight who are not selfish and trying to do the right thing, but they can not do it alone. We have to elect more people who believe in doing the right thing and actually follow the constitution.

    People who do not want to hear the truth change the subject, attack the person bringing the truth, stating that they are a wacko, or just simply spin their wheels making fools of themselves. Unfortunately, because most of the media is controlled by people who sell the lie that having a huge government solves everything, then too many of us wind up believing that this irresponsible plan of action (which is a repetition of failed societies) is actually the way to go. By the way, don’t take my word or Mr. Grossman’s word, just check out the truth yourself. Open any (truthful, not one that has been doctored) history book and you will find that every society in history that evolved into socialism/big government eventually collapsed on itself. For us, eventually is coming fast.

    Tom, you are right, I was encouraged that so many young people were energized by the truth that Mr. Paul brought. Unfortunately, the Republican “old school establishment” that is almost as much as a problem as the liberals in most cases, used their leverage and the people that they have paid off to eventually diminish his effect. I say diminish and not silence, because Mr. Paul is still fighting as a true conservative/constitutionalist, similar to his son Rand. Governor Christie is in some ways worse than an obvious liberal- he is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” liberal. Just check out the fact that the state budget is higher than we he came into office, his stance on gun control, and his love of partnering with the source of many of our problems and financial burdens- unions. Make sure to vote for Mr. Grossman on June 4th in the primary, and tell everyone who will listen to do the same. Check out grossman4nj.com and see if you like what he is about. One thing for sure, what you see is what you get-the opposite of most politicians where their story changes depending on who they are talking to, and whether or not it is before or after the election.

    Brady B- Neither Mr. Grossman or myself blame anything on you. (If I may assume to speak for him). If you re-read his article and his other writings, he blames the establishment and those of us who have been around the track and (should) know better but yet still feed you lies. I will give you an example of the truth. The biggest financial burden on the New Jersey taxpayer as well as the Federal Government taxpayer is the salaries, health care, sick days, personal days, vacation time, inability to be fired almost regardless of performance, retirement pay and retirement health benefits of taxpayer funded jobs. All of this obviously has to be cut back (for anyone who can comprehend simple addition and subtraction), but most people and virtually all of the media and virtually of the Democrats and Republicans do nothing about it, despite the fact (again, fact) that everybody who will open up a government budget sheet knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is where the biggest problem lies, thus, this is where the answer is. But instead, almost nobody will insist we get serious about cutting salaries, benefits and retirement pay, etc, not even for future hires, which hurts no one. If this does not prove how crooked the system is and how greedy and selfish the establishment is and how they absolutely could care less about the good of the country, their fellow man, the young and future generations, then I am afraid that anyone who would maintain otherwise is someone who refuses to accept facts, logic, math and common sense.

    A lot of this is about simply being educated with the truth. Our children, who are in their 20’s, clearly understand the truth as discussed above. They came up with their conclusions based on fact and logic. One of our children, when they learned about tenure, immediately came up with the logical, factual conclusion: it is an absolutely ridiculous policy that is a disincentive and has no place in a free society. Unless of course, your goal is to have the government become larger than what anyone can control, so that it can control you, for a time, until the money runs out and the whole country becomes paupers. Oh, wait a minute, we are almost there now.

    This is not gloom and doom for the sake of gloom and doom. In general I am a very positive person. But facts are facts. This is factual history and current events. Look at Europe. Take the Greeks. They spoiled themselves with huge numbers of people with government jobs and the retirement age being I believe 52. When the government woke up too late and suggested raising the retirement age because the math didn’t work, young and old actually rioted. The old because they thought is was unfair to make middle-aged people work, and the young because they wanted the government jobs that the 52-year-olds normally vacate. But this is what you get when you inflict big government upon yourself. By the way, the only reason Greece is not a total mess is because other countries are (temporarily) bailing it out. Eventually, they will implode further unless they make huge, painful decisions. But by the way, is it fair for other countries to pay for Greece’s stupid, selfish decisions. Is it fair for anyone to have to do that ?

    There is a small airline somewhere (perhaps somewhere in Asia?) that just started to charge airfare tickets by people’s weight, because airline fuel is very expensive, and why should a person who weighs between 100-200 pounds pay for a portion of someone’s fuel who weighs 3-400 pounds ? Before you get too angry, I am overweight and I think I too should have to pay the extra airfare.

    Pete- I hope you are joking about the money printing thing. In case you are not, other countries have foolishly done that (like we are), for example Germany during World War II. The money became next to worthless-you needed a huge amount of it to by a loaf of bread and kids were making kites out of the money it held so little value. So again, we are making conscious choices that we know for a certainty are simply digging our own graves. Fact, history, math, logic. Lord help us from our greed and stupidity. And I agree with you a 100%. I am approaching senior citizen age, and I actually want my social security significantly reduced because the math doesn’t work and i refuse to be selfish for the sake of later generations. Ditto for Medicare/Medicaid.

    And although I generally vote Republican because some of them actually make a few attempts at fiscal sanity, I will say that under George W we started Medicare Part D (drug coverage for seniors who have more assets/income than welfare level). Sounds nobel, but math/facts should have prevailed. We had no real plan to pay for it. I have nothing against many of the the expense items in our governmental budgets, but you have to have a balanced budget. Every household in America is required by law to spend the same or less than what comes in. I say required by law, because if you are not, then you have to steal.

    So why don’t we throw our politicians in jail ? Facts, math and logic dictate that we should ! They are stealing from you and me, as Pete pointed out.

    I have many other facts to mention, but I will give you a rest. Remember to vote for sanity and selflessness, even if you are receiving taxpayer monies, and convince others to do the same, for the sake of our country and future generations.

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