Which Do We Want?

So, the government is going to help us get a new car. They are also going to help us get a job and, with the help of Justice Sotomayor, they will make sure no one picks on us or calls us bad names. They are going to be the sort of parents every kid wants growing up. Imagine if everyone could vote for the sort of parents they wanted. You could choose parents that told you had to get a job and buy your own car. Parents that told you that you had to mow the lawn and pull your own weight around the house. Or, you could choose parents that would get you a car, that would pick up after you, and let you sleep late on the weekends. Parents that would protect you from bullies and people who would call you bad names. Which parents do you think would get more votes? The grumpy old conservatives who tell us we have to get a job, buy our own stuff, and pull our own weight? Or the loving liberals, who tell us that we are special, and that if we ever need help with our rent, groceries, car payments, anything at all, we just need to ask? And all they ask for in return is that we vote for them and agree to live by their rules. I suppose the answer would depend on who you asked. Many, if not most children are happy to accept their parents' generosity, even if it means they have to live by their parents' rules. Some, however, come to resent their parents' charity and chafe at the idea of having to live by their rules. Those are the kids that would take a job, save their money, and move out as soon as they were able. Some parents dote on their children and dread the day when their children no longer need them. Other parents take pride in their children's independence and cheer them on as they leave home to begin their own lives.

Of course, we are not children. We do not choose our parents. But we do choose our representatives. Like parents, some politicians dote on their supporters and dread the day they are no longer loved or needed. They are the ones who offer to protect their supporters from bullies, get them jobs and free health care; even to help them buy a new car. Other politicians take pride in an electorate that can manage its own affairs, get their own jobs and buy their own cars. So, are we like children who want the government to take care of us, get us a job, keep us safe, protect us from bullies,and pick up after us so long as we agree to live by their rules? Or do we look forward to the day when we no longer need to rely on the government, and can at last handle our own affairs?