Give Me Liberty or Give Me Socialism

Before anyone can ask for either Liberty, Socialsim or something in between, we first need to define what each means. This is not easy due to they are both subjective in their defintions. Liberty for example, can range from anarchy(no government, we just inhabit the earth with no rules) to very limited freedoms such as those that may exist in a Communist country.

Socialism itself has a certain definition in the dictionary, but we have all come to use the term, for one reason or another, to define different aspects of government. Government itself is a form of socialism.

What we do know is that for a society to work efficiently, it must have an organized structure. This comes in the form of laws, regulations and infrastructure. This also requires the ability to enforce such laws and regulations while maintaining the sovoreignty of the country.

Our Founding Fathers went to great length to establish a national constitution that provided the necessary power to a central government, in order to provide sufficient national security and protect americans natural enalienable rights. Its duties are enumerated in our Constitution. The main focus was for the states and individuals to maintain as much self-governance as possible. This in my opinion included all personal needs such as: food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, retirement and education. The states were given leway to experiment in socialism, while recognizing that the individual, family, friends, churches and charities could provide most basic essentials.

So, we come to the question everyone has to ask themselves: How much liberty do you want and how much socialism do you want? There is a wide range to choose from which is why our politics are so divisive.

The more liberty one has comes with more responsibility. An example would be: If you do not want Social Security, you have to accept responsibility for your personal disability and retirement needs. This can be a blessing as well as a burden. On the one hand, you can take the 12.4% of your earnings that currently go to Social Security and apply them to your own investment portfolio, which can lead to a very nice nestegg. But, some will be irresponsible and fail to plan for their later years or possible disability.

What needs to be considered when social programs are promoted is, just how affective will they be and what are the possible unintended consequences. These consequences could include: how do they affect the self-reliance of the individual, how much fraud and abuse may be associated with them. We have to question the governments true ability to implement these programs. I think we can all testify to the fact that government management of social programs has had less than desirable results. Examples would be the constant growth in payroll taxes necessary to maintain SS/medicare, the mind boggling taxcode, the massive national debt and the heavy distortions caused by GSE's(Fannie, Freddie, FHA and Sallie Mae), which contribute to excessive costs in college tuitions, healthcare provision and the housing bubble that led to our current financial crisis.

I would ask that you give reasonable consideration as to just how much government we should have, while we attempt to pass liberty to future generations . That you would take an honest look at the current social programs and judge them by their practical viability and not just by their good intentions. I would also ask that you try to picture the future of this country considering its current path, and lastly, I ask you to be prepared to give up your vested stake into our failing pension/Social Security system that are leading to the serfdom of future americans.