Apathetic generation needs to take work ethic of old to heart

Discontent. Dissatisfaction. They initiate change involving a simple two step process. I want something I don't have: I am discontented. So, I work hard, and get what I want: I am satisfied. Our nation was founded by a group of individuals motivated by discontent. Facing unfavorable religious persecution, the Pilgrims sailed to North America hoping to find freedom. When they arrived, they toiled hard to preserve their freedom and improve their standard of living, and eventually, their hard working attitude became a cornerstone of American capitalism, promising great rewards in return for great work.

With growing trepidation, however, I believe that we are beginning to witness a significant reversal in the evolution of our nation's work ethic. Though we once toiled hard, driven by the tantalizing prospect of success, we now sit idly on our haunches demanding that the fruits of our labor be handed to us without having labored at all. The inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that were so carefully delineated by our forefathers have been wrongly reinterpreted to include things such as the universal right to health care.

We all know-or should know-that something cannot come from nothing. And that is where we have strayed from the ways of our ancestors. Whereas we would have formerly worked to earn enough money to afford health care, now we put forth our shaky assertion that we just flat out deserve it. After all, we're Americans right? We're good for it.

Next thing you know, we'll be telling each other that we also deserve the right to employment. Hey Morgan Stanley, I went to Duke therefore I deserve a job-that'll work, I'm sure.

Thus, it appears that the dissatisfaction which formerly spurred our ambitious efforts has become its foremost opponent. We complain of our lack of this and that but choose to do nothing about it. And to whom do we turn to solve our problems? Ironically, we have put our faith in the U.S. government, foolishly believing it to hold the mystical powers of the Wizard of Oz. Give us health care, we cry! Give us unlimited welfare! Give President Clinton a heart, courage, and a brain, too!

We've obviously gone a little overboard. First we think we can get something for nothing; now we think the government has the ability to violate the laws of physics and bureaucracies. Why do we continue to assign responsibilities to an institution that has failed so many times? As I write this column, I am still waiting for package that was sent two weeks ago through the Postal Service. Mismanagement of Social Security has caused it nearly to dry up, although I have been paying withholding taxes for years. Billions of dollars are spent annually on war that will never be fought, while the number of uneducated children continues to grow at an alarming rate. And yet we still demand more from our government.

Such over-dependence on someone other than ourselves demonstrates a disturbing character flaw within our citizenry. Our focus is often too much on what we can't do rather that what we can do. Rather than search for solutions to our problems, we want only to assign blame to the individuals who caused them.

There was a time and a place in U.S. history, however, when people were unable to use the government as a crutch. It was during the pre-New Deal era and when the going got tough, the tough got going. President Hoover used the term "rugged individualism" to describe the concept of working hard for what you wanted-even during the beginning of the Great Depression.