By John Fedele

Now that you are 20-years-old, I hope this will help you understand why your life is such a mess. It happened long before you were born, in the spring of 2011 to be exact.

The country had a president and congress that, in spite of their good intentions, put the country in jeopardy financially, because they did not understand that taking money from the rich to give to the poor makes a good fairy tale but it does not play well in real life. They did not realize making everyone equal and providing for their every need, although very benevolent, does not work.

The government does not earn money, they can only get it from taxes, and if the majority of the country doesn’t work, then there is no income to the government and soon the “free money and benefits” to the less fortunate, is larger than the income from taxes.

In 2011 the government figured it out and took steps to reduce such debt. So, they devised a plan to fix the problem. However, it would take 20 years or more. During those years a lot of people would have to live on less and receive less. It would mean a lot of sacrifice for a lot of people for long period of time.

Our government has always fixed things without thinking. In the 1950’s and 60’s we went through a civil rights era with the accent of desegregating our schools. Allowing blacks and whites to attend the same neighborhood school was the result and it was a good decision. However, people do not change their behavior or attitudes overnight, and to say every school in the country will abide by the law today was a poor decision. The rage that followed was predictable.

How much better it would have been to start enforcing the law in the first grade. It would have taken 12 years to fully implement the program, but it may have eliminated a lot of tension.

The budget/debt solutions of 2011 should have been implemented immediately, instead of prolonging it for 20 years. Having a generation go through the pain and suffering is better than having two or three generations go through the pain and suffering.

I hope, by now, all is well. I left it all behind when I left this earth. I just wanted to let you know, my generation fought to end the crisis immediately and to spare you the life you inherited.

God Bless and good luck.