After seeing how so many people took advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program, I am now convinced that we are stuck with the welfare state that is going to give way to either a massive, oppressive tyranny or total and utter anarchy. Either way, no good will come if we all continue to suck on the poisonous, withered breasts of government when we really do not need to.
The problem is that the government programs are there in place. That is merely a symptom of something much larger and much, much more sinister. It is the attitude of the people that cause such programs to be created and remain in place. If anything, the Cash for Clunkers program has proven that the welfare state is here to stay.
I have even seen some supposed conservatives and libertarians justify using for a variety of reasons, none of which make any sense when you break down their ridiculous arguments. The first argument I encountered is that you paid into the system, now you should be able to cash it out. The problem is, as with Social Security, is that you were robbed by the system, they spent the money, and now you are merely taking the money that your children and grandchildren will have been robbed of when they work. But it is all about the children, right?
An example is if a thief stole your plasma screen television, fenced it, and then knocked on your door and offered you another, lower quality television for free. Instead of rejecting the obviously stolen television, you instead justify it by saying that you got something back from the thief. It does not matter that it is immoral to accept the television nor that if you just punched the thief in the face and had him arrested, you would be benefiting all of us. Instead you are more interested in your own selfish desire to get something back.
Another argument is that we should take advantage of it in order to speed up the bankruptcy of our nation. While I like the idea of starting over, as maybe the second time around we can close some of the loopholes in the current system that allowed the current nonsense to go on, it will not work. The primary reason is because the attitude of the American people will not have changed, despite having seen everything collapse around them. People are stupid and stubborn more often than they are sensible and reasonable. If you need historical context, look at the Mexican Revolution where after everything had been destroyed and the various warlords had gathered together in order to rebuild, they included everything in their old laws, in combination with contradictory new ones. The system became more corrupt than before as a result because with the contradictions in place, anything could be justified. While this happens in the United States, it is more difficult to do as there are still limits on the system that are honored.
I do not believe that you can be a conservative and justify taking a Social Security check. I think you are hypocrite and deceiving yourself if you believe that you deserve that money because there is no money there. The government stole you money and lied to you and you think that somehow justifies you taking it anyway?
There are two major parasites on the United States economy these days. The largest one is the government and the next one is the banking system. The best way to deal with a parasite, besides forcibly removing it, is to starve it. For the banks, that means we should not go into debt again, except maybe a mortgage, and for the government it means that you should not accept any kind of handout they are offering.
It is the attitudes that must be changed, not the system. The system will fix itself once we all start to agree that it is shameful to accept government handouts and government welfare.