We in education have seen the rise, in the past twenty years, of a new phenomenon. This spectacle is the parent who, desperate to make sure that their child does not ever have to suffer the consequences of their terrible choices, will intervene in discipline issues, will argue with teachers over grades, will edit, correct, and sometimes even DO their child's homework, even to the point that when a child is a complete bonehead said parent will swoop in and take the blame. We even have a name for this phenomenon: the Helicopter Parent. So named because they hover around their child in a desperate attempt to keep them safe from anything.
Nobody questions that this is a bad thing. Children raised by Helicopter Parents tend to become irresponsible, immature adults who never take responsibility for their actions, and who, as a result, never accomplish anything close to their potential. They tend to struggle to maintain relationships or form friendships or partnerships because they have a hard time having relationships that require equality or give-and-take.
Likewise, nobody questions the intentions of the Helicopter Parent. It is apparent that they love their children, that they want the best for their children and that they are genuinely interested in their child's happiness. What we have to question is their wisdom: somewhere in the whole process these people forgot that what made them the adults were the mistakes that they made as well as the success that they experienced. It is through failure that we re-evaluate ourselves and grow; the beauty of the idea of America is that it encourages great risk with the promise of great reward for success. The Helicopter Parent, though loving, fails to give their child the room to make that great success because they never learn what it is to fail and grow.
My opponent, Mr. Perlmutter/Bennett/Salazar/Markey, I believe, is a well-intentioned guardian of their constituents. I believe that he THINKS he is acting in the best interest of Coloradans and the nation as a whole. What he does not realize is that by bailing out the auto industry, by bailing out the financial sector, by voting for a $900 billion stimulus that failed to stimulate, and by having the federal government intervene in health care, he has created the Helicopter State.
Cross our border illegally? Don't worry--we won't prosecute you, we'll make sure that hospitals treat you when you're sick and that our already overburdened schools educate your children regardless of their preparation, and if you stay here long enough we'll even give you an easy route to citizenship.
Get sucked into a home loan that you could not afford? Don't worry--we'll yell at those evil banks and make sure they don't foreclose on you.
Run your country into the ground with crushing regulation and a reliance on Big Labor that refuses to work more than 30 hours a week? Don't worry--we'll back the International Monetary Fund in propping you up for a while, and then we'll yell at some of the big countries in your neighborhood so that they float you enough money to staunch the bleeding, inextricably linking their fates to yours.
Get caught being an incompetent Islamicist terrorist? Don't worry--we'll make sure we don't treat you too meanly, we'll make sure you get a lawyer real soon, we'll provide you with clean linens, three square meals a day, hermetically handled Korans, and a clear indication of the direction of Mecca so that this "religion of peace" which led you to attempt to murder hundreds of innocents is faithfully observed by you.
Put no emphasis on school for your child, do nothing to help teach them or prepare them for school, do nothing to back up the schools when your child is a bonehead discipline problem, and then wonder why your kid is not going to college? Don't worry--we'll test, discipline, and then correct the SCHOOLS so that you never have to take responsibility for your child's ignorance.
Have a stupid drunken night, make bad choices, and find yourself in an unwanted pregnancy? Don't worry--we'll sneak into a health care bill funding for federally funded abortions (yeah, yeah, and that Executive Order is worth about as much as the paper it was printed on), we'll force hospital workers to ignore their consciences, and then when somebody tries to discourage you from having an abortion we'll spend millions calling them an "extremist," and then make sure that they never hold the political power to act on their "extremism."
The rise of the Helicopter State is a tragic thing, and not just for America. A generation of young people content to let the government provide for them is not a generation capable of a Normandy landing, not capable of reinventing manufacturing and business systems to guide the world into the next century, and not capable of exploring the greatest reaches of the universe in search of transformation.
Were this government acting as it should, the banks that took us to the brink of financial collapse would have been surrounded by a firewall to protect the sectors around them, and then allowed to fail. The auto companies that cannot compete in the market place because of horrible Labor costs would have been sold off to people who can actually run a business and then restructured to be competitive. And the porous borders that allow just about anybody in without regard for ability, criminality, or intent would be CLOSED. Instead this government which Mr. Perlmutter/Salazar/Bennett/Markey have created swoop in on each of those elements and insulate them from facing the consequences of their failures and incompetencies. In the process, of course, they have created an enormously bloated government whose financial liabilities far outstrip its ability to ever balance out.
This is not the country Jefferson, Madison, and Franklin envisioned or which Washington created. This is not the country Lincoln fought to preserve, or which Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nimitz, or Patton defended.
The Helicopter State is a wonderful, safe, beguiling illusion. But that is all it is: an illusion. It sucks you in and makes you feel comfortable, until you start to notice that it is demanding more and more of you without really giving anything back.
It is time to open our eyes and stop the games. I will propose seven concrete steps to turn back the Helicopter State, and if agree with my vision of what your future can look like, then I hope you will vote for me. . . . | |
