To the Editor:
I have always loved Christmas. As a small kid, I couldn’t wait for it to come. I loved the lights and all the Christmas goodies, but what I looked forward to the most was getting the Sears catalog to make my wish list — and then the BIG event, my annual visit to see Santa!
Regardless of the line, it was worth it; I could just climb into the big guy’s lap and get his ear for a few minutes and all my dreams would come true! From G.I. Joes to Hot Wheels, Nintendo to a 10-speed bike, making my request would get it done. The best part was this: other than being nice, and making my demands known, it would require no time, no requirement, and no investment for me! Essentially it was free!
As time went on, my world got rocked. I remember going into my dad’s little work area and seeing the box from where my new bike had obviously been put together. As I begin to recount this I realized several things. First, though Santa was a fun idea, it wasn’t reality. It also began to make sense why mom and dad were tight on money and worked so hard every year heading into the Christmas season. In that moment I realized all the things I wanted and had gladly taken for free weren’t free at all. There was somebody, whether I saw it or not, sacrificing and, more importantly, paying for my wish list.
In a day where the dreams of socialism seem to be running rampant through our country, I’m afraid there will come a day when those who champion this cause will come to the same realization that I did about Santa. Though it is a fun idea in fantasy, it is just not real or practical in the real world.
Those who believe in socialism continue to have an ever-growing list of free wants as well. From college to housing, health insurance to medicine, all of these things cost somebody something. Just because the government, for example, might make college tuition free, professors still need to get paid, light bills still have to be paid, insurance for the college is still due, and yes, taxes will still be due.
So who pays for all the “free” stuff? Just as I found two hard-working parents sacrificing and paying for my wish list, if socialism takes the reins of our great country, we’ll find that every taxpayer, every business and business owner, will be required to make sacrifices to pay for all the free stuff. Once we see the empty boxes of socialism, we realize somewhere in the shadows Americans, not the government, were footing the bill.
Josh Smith
Siler City