There are several societal problems that we each must first overcome in order to prosper. In the America of today, the old-fashioned sense of personal responsibility has been largely abdicated. While striving for our life-long goals, each of us must always remember to be our own persons and make our own decisions. We must take responsibility for our own actions. In many ways, the public education system has wronged us. We cannot expect life to give us a recovery assignment if we make a bad decision. We simply must learn from our mistakes and do better in the future. We cannot blame someone else for our shortcomings. We must take responsibility and better ourselves.
After today, the official ending to our childhood, we cannot continue to carry around a sense of entitlement. We will only be entitled to the things for which we are willing to work. In the real world, things will not just be handed to us. Everyone here is guaranteed an opportunity to achieve the American Dream. The American Dream itself, however, is not guaranteed. We have to make that happen with hard work. Centuries ago, this was the basis on which this country was founded.
Today, with our society’s sense of entitlement, things have changed. No longer is hard work necessarily rewarded with success. In a similar fashion, absolute laziness often carries few real consequences when the government will support you. My advice to you: Do not be a “moocher.” Build character and earn a livelihood yourself. While financial security is now possible through laziness, we will all have more pride and satisfaction knowing we earned it through our own hard work. Even if excessive regulations and taxes prevent us from growing successful, the pride and satisfaction will still exist. We must remove ourselves from this modern attitude. We must take personal responsibility and resist entitlements. The worries of the future demand that we rise to the challenge.
Our parents and many older relatives have experienced a great fortune that, unfortunately, we will not be able to share. Our elders grew up during the most prosperous economic conditions in the history of humanity. Conditions in America were primed for financial success for several decades. In recent years, however, this advantage has all but ceased. Admittedly, our society is troubled. Our national debt is deplorable and current politicians have grown ineffective. The future is more uncertain than it has ever been before. Apathy about governmental issues has truly grown unparalleled, allowing our political leaders in recent decades to destroy America’s financial foundation. While the eventual effects of this monetary dilemma largely go unnoticed to most of us today, we will guide our country down the path toward destruction. Hard work and personal responsibility will save this great country. So, if pride and satisfaction in your life is not an incentive to try your hardest, do it for the future of America. Do it so our children can experience America in all its greatness.
