Thoughts on our American Inheritance

When I was growing up, my grandma always displayed a refrigerator magnet that read “I’m spending my children’s inheritance.”

I’m a big fan of inheriting things.  In fact, my husband and I kept our last names when we married specifically to pass down to future children the inheritance of our respective family legacies.  One can inherit jewelry, possessions or money- but one can also inherit bad habits, problems or pain.

It turns out that I have good company: our founding fathers and mothers happened to believe in passing on a strong inheritance as well.  In Joseph Story’s Commentaries on the Constitution, he wrote, “Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence.”

But today, our government is spending our inheritance.  My home state of Kansas recently joined the ranks of states whose unemployment insurance funds have run dry.  Our state legislature currently faces millions of dollars in deficits as members try to hammer out a balanced budget- and they’re looking to raise taxes every chance they get.  From increasing taxes on gasoline to alcohol to soft drinks, everything appears to be on the table this year.  Meanwhile, how will KS fund unemployment claims when the insurance well has run dry?  By borrowing from the federal government of course.  A national government which is so mired in debt that I honestly can’t even calculate what our total is.  Go here; you’ll see what I mean.  The government I support with my tax dollars is spending my inheritance- at an increasingly alarming rate.  Legislators are gambling on the productivity of future generations, and saddling the backs of my parents’ great-grandchildren with a burden that will become too heavy to pay.

Despite these issues, I feel hopeful about the future, both for our state and our nation, after last Saturday’s training session in Salina, KS.  The training specifically focused on the structures, duties and electoral calendars of local, state and federal government.  Of the 40 people who attended the training, 11 were under the age of 18.  I won’t lie- several of them were there to earn extra credit for a Government 101 class.  But as I talked with them and read their evaluations, I grew more and more impressed.  Not only did they pay attention during the training, but several of the individuals who weren’t there for the extra credit were actually taking notes.  They nodded as I explained the importance of monitoring your county commissioners and local school board members; the day after the training, I had new twitter followers as they went home and signed up to tweet.

I feel more hopeful because of those 11 students- and I feel more compelled than ever to fight, not just for my inheritance, but for theirs too.  Because this nation that we live in is great because it is good, and that’s an inheritance worth passing on.  Remember that- and follow Josh, one of the 11 students who’s brand new to twitter.