The Government vs. the American Character | 5 Minute Video
Over the past 50 years, the purpose of the American government has radically transformed. Whereas its main goal in domestic matters used to be to protect liberty, the government is now an entitlements machine, transferring over $2 trillion per year from some people's pockets to others. Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute explains how the explosions in social security, medicare, medicaid, and other welfare programs are changing the American character for the worse--from one that is focused on individual responsibility and giving, to one that is focused on grabbing as much of the pie as possible.
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Script:
Over the past 50 years, the purpose of the American government has undergone a radical transformation. So much so, that even Franklin Roosevelt wouldn’t recognize it, let alone Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson.
Once admired for the minor role it played in citizens’ lives, the American government, both federal and state, has become, within living memory, a vast entitlements machine whose primary function is to dispense benefits.
Indeed, federal and state governments now devote more attention and resources to the public transfer of money, goods and services to individual citizens than to anything else.
By 2010 entitlement payments accounted for about two-thirds of all federal spending, with all other responsibilities of the federal government -- in other words, all the things government should do -- making up barely one-third.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 1960 U.S. government transfers to individuals totaled about 24 billion in current dollars. By 2010 that total was almost 100 times larger or $2.2 trillion. After adjusting for inflation and population growth, that was still an increase of 727%.
What does this all this mean? And what is the consequence?
From the founding of our nation until quite recently, Americans were regarded, both at home and abroad, as exceptional in a number of ways. One of these was their fierce independence, which informed not only the design of the political experiment that is the U.S. Constitution, but also Americans’ approach to everyday affairs. Specifically, this meant an affinity for personal enterprise, a horror of dependency and a disdain for anything that smacked of a hand out.
Overcoming this historic cultural resistance to accepting government aid has not been easy. But it has been achieved. Far from being a source of shame, accepting government aid is now considered normal, even desirable.
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