What happened to the independent American? Has he gone extinct? Instead of taking pride in our individuality and self-sufficiency, we have decided to gamble with our lives through dependency on a failed president.

Recently, in The Badger Herald, Hayes Cascia wrote an article entitled, “Vote for Obama, vote for yourself.” This article praised the idea of dependency, especially when it comes to education. Cascia started his article by painting the dull picture of a former college student living at home with his parents until long into his thirties because he had a staggering amount of debt. Cascia continued by giving his magical solution to all of the problems in our lives: President Barack Obama.

Cascia said President Obama would fix this problem by doubling the amount of offered scholarships and significantly increasing financial aid to students.
In response to this, I have one question: Is college not an investment? I believe the old adage goes, “With big risk, comes great reward.” The risk, in this way of speaking, is the debt, but the rewards are potentially huge. With education, one has the ability to get a higher paying job and enjoy life to the fullest. If students do not have to pay for their education, they would not value it as much. Therefore, education would be devalued, and it would no longer be an investment, but a handout.

If President Obama plans to help our poor college students by destroying the investment part of education, how long will it be until he provides guaranteed returns to those investing in the stock market?
Instead of letting students “take the bull by the horns,” Cascia suggests we should let the government take care of this investment. Not only would this devalue education, but it would also make the national debt skyrocket. With a budget deficit of $1.3 trillion, we cannot afford to increase spending any more.

However, President Obama does not care. In fact, by analyzing President Obama’s 2013 budget plan, many, like Business Insider, estimate we will accumulate $25.9 trillion of debt by 2022. If the country continues on this path, it will not matter what kind of education our youth has, their opportunities will be suffocated by the stumbling economy made worse by our overwhelming national debt. How long will it be until we turn back from dependency and frivolous spending to the original characteristics that made our nation great such as hard work and individuality?

Zachary Walters ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in management and human resources and business.

Sponsored, in part, by: Coinbase shares