My father and mother started life together so poor that their only asset was a one room cabin which my father had built on land his father gave him.  Yet, through many years of scrimping and saving, and desperately hard work, they became quite wealthy.  Not in the same category as Hollywood stars nor as Bill Gates, but quite comfortable financially.

But, others of their generation, the supposedly Greatest Generation because they won world wars,  decided that someone, somewhere, owed them a great deal.  Social Security was meant to be a supplemental aid to poorer people.  Now, people consider it their “due”.  Pretty soon, that generation formed groups such as the Silver Foxes, or AARP, to lobby for even more.   Seniors routinely expect a cost of living increase to their social security.  They want guarantees for their pension plans.  Almost every store accommodates them with a senior discount.  And, they demanded, and got, Medicare to cover their health expenses.

Is it any wonder that the 20/30/40s generations are demanding the same benefits from “Big Daddy”, a.k.a. Big Government, or us taxpayers?  “They” want to pay less taxes — who doesn’t? — but more payback.  They are demanding:  maternity leave for both parents;  fewer work hours;  higher unemployment;  job security, yada yada.  And, they are demanding that their families be covered by governmentally run health care, too.

The problem is that more and more people are getting money from the government in one form or another and fewer and fewer are being taxed to pay for these payouts.  Where does it end?  Do we really want America to become the land of moochers and not workers?

If this trend of governmental give-aways continues, will anyone work hard for a family business when they know that it will have to be sold to pay estate taxes when the parents pass on?  Will anyone start a new business when they know that the odds are against them because of governmental regulations and taxes?  How do you explain the benefits of hard work to this age group when they see the greed that drove an older generation to morph into a generation with their hand constantly out for more and more “free” benefits?  Somewhere, somehow, we have to stop penalizing those who have succeeded!

Everyone likes to think that they are unique and, in some ways, we are.  But, are our children a new generation?  I think not.  They have learned the lesson of greed and how to use politicians to get more and more of the “good life” at somebody else’s expense.   How sad that a new generation is just more of the same old, same old!