This file photo appeared in today's edition of the UK's Mail Online. The headline of the story carrying the picture says it all: "Children 'dumped in streets by Greek parents who can't afford to look after them any more'." The child, who can't be more than five or six years old, is playing a drum, hoping for passerbys to give him change.
Some points from the article:
Friends, this isn't from some third world country plagued with poverty for decades. This is from Greece. A member of the EU. A developed country with a republican form of government. One of the incubators of Western civilization.
We Americans sometimes think we are immune from such hardship. Yet the Great Depression ravaged our country less than one hundred years ago. While I am not predicting we will face such hardship, it is a clear reminder we need to get our nation's financial house back in order. A national debt that now exceeds our GDP, unfunded liabilities to the tune of 60 trillion dollars, a dysfunctional tax code, and a country where a large number of citizens feel they are entitled to things will not lead us into prosperity. I fear it will lead us closer to where Greece is now.
Prepare yourselves. Minimize your debt. Stock up on necessaries. Watch less mindless TV and instead start paying attention to quality news outlets. Get involved in local politics, whether as a candidate or as an engaged citizen.
We Americans sometimes think we are immune from such hardship. Yet the Great Depression ravaged our country less than one hundred years ago. While I am not predicting we will face such hardship, it is a clear reminder we need to get our nation's financial house back in order. A national debt that now exceeds our GDP, unfunded liabilities to the tune of 60 trillion dollars, a dysfunctional tax code, and a country where a large number of citizens feel they are entitled to things will not lead us into prosperity. I fear it will lead us closer to where Greece is now.
Prepare yourselves. Minimize your debt. Stock up on necessaries. Watch less mindless TV and instead start paying attention to quality news outlets. Get involved in local politics, whether as a candidate or as an engaged citizen.
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