Class envy, laziness, taking what others have produced...these are the things that have replaced the rugged individualism, the haul yourself up by your bootstrap mentality that was, in times long past, at the core of the American character. At this dawn of the 21st century, politicians of the Teddy Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and, to a - slightly - lesser extent, George Bush (father and son) ilk hold out the promise of big government transfer payments, and the ruinous plundering of one major industry after another. A far cry from those rapidly vanishing rugged individuals, Americans by the droves line up with their hands out. I expect this from the political class, parasitical cretins who never earned an honest day's pay in their lives, but, I entertained a flickering hope that individual Americans were better than this.

First the tobacco industry was vilified, then the gun manufacturers. The pharmaceutical firms seem to be the next industry in big government's sights, following by the HMOs that the government thrust into a controlling role in healthcare. The Internet is destined to be taxed into oblivion and the once invincible Microsoft is doomed to be torn apart by these soulless plunderers. The wolves are ready to feast on the carcass of other industries, any industry, all in the name of the public good.

Congressional Legicrats refuse to give meaningful tax relief to the top wage earners and the rabble cheers. More for them, you see, and to hell with the hard working individuals who spent their lives building something from nothing. Perhaps it's time for someone to sound a cautionary note. Perhaps it's time for a modern day Paul Revere to sound the warning.

Attention rabble! While you're standing in line for that next government payout...While you're eagerly awaiting the next carcass on which to glut yourself, consider this...What happens to you and the rest of your ilk when the producers stop producing? What happens to you when the next Bill Gates, the next Thomas Edison, the next Henry Ford says 'screw it, I'm not going to kill myself building something up so the government can tear it all down and give to the rabble'.

A fundamental law in nature dictates that the parasite can't survive without the host, but, the host can do just fine without the parasite. The producers are not obligated to be your slave. They are not required to keep producing, keep building, so you can tear it all down. The producers, as Ayn Rand pointed out half a century ago, can shrug off this burden...can shrug off...you. What will you do then, when you are required to fend for yourself? I'm guessing you'll turn on each other. It can't happen too soon.

From its inception, America, by its very nature, promoted certain traits that came to be known as 'the American Character'. Three essential traits formed the solid foundation on which America was erected:

RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM:
A self-reliant courage of one's convictions. It produced individuals willing to defy conventional wisdom - the prevailing notion of the majority - and confidently state: "That's wrong, and here's why."

SELF-SUFFICIENCY:
A vital element in the 'can do' Yankee spirit from a bygone era. It encouraged individuals to set personal goals, acquire the necessary knowledge, then work hard to achieve those goals.

PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY:
The courage to accept the blame for one's mistakes and the corresponding pride required to take full, unapologetic, credit for one's accomplishments.

In 21st century Amerika, these relics from a more rational era in our nation's history are subjected to egregious vilification and relentless assault. Each been replaced, as follows:

RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM:
It's long gone, and it's never coming back. In its place, we find a group identity, one that comes with its own, ready-made, opinion-poll-sanctioned set of notions.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY:
It's equally passe. The modern, Amerikan nanny state breeds a nation populated by greedy parasites, parasites who are indoctrinated with the knowledge that all their needs can be provided by the state. Why earn what you need, when it's much easier to let a government minion steal it from some hardworking fool?

PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY:
This has been annihilated by a psycho babble tidal wave and shyster-perpetrated bovine excrement. In 21st century Amerika, everyone is trained, at birth, to whine for the coveted mantle of victimhood. A veritable psycho-babble-spewing, shrink plague defines a parasite's victimhood, then the shyster infestation finds someone else to blame.

The depths to which the legendary American character has sunk shouldn't shock anyone. Even a congenital moron knows that 21st century Amerika is tailor-made for parasites. Nanny government hacks have, successfully, criminalized achievement, excellence and sovereign individualism. Why? Because, the Statists who dominate the two reigning political clans know that appeasing parasites with class-envy politics is the best way to keep themselves in power. The more crumbs the political class showers on Amerika's greedy, obnoxious, lazy dolts, the more powerful the hacks become.

Amerika's out-of-control nanny state embodies one utterly predictable consequence: the inevitable collapse of this parasite-based house of cards. The geometric growth of Amerika's parasite population, coupled with the precipitous decline in Amerikan achievers, dooms Amerika's parasite society to a well-deserved extinction. Eventually, Amerika won't produce enough 'hardworking fools' to fund this politically-perpetrated parasite enrichment. When this parasite-coddling society implodes, the resulting political, economic and cultural carnage will be devastating. That's when a final bitter reality will come down on Amerika's parasite horde: without their host to sustain them, these chonically-needy cretins are doomed to a well-deserved, long-overdue extinction.