I was watching a rerun of the medical drama "House" the other night and I was struck by the following exchange that took place between Dr. House (a white Hugh Laurie) as the excentric but brilliant diagnostician and his subordinate Forman (a black Omar Epps)who wears the chip on his shoulder like a medal of honor.

If you have never seen the show, allow me to begin by explaining that everyone has a contentious relationship with House, he's completely disfunctional on a human interaction level and treats everyone with equal distain - he's the penultimate equal opportunity insulter. In his typically arrogant, yet effective manner, House has given a black patient the correct medicine for the patient's illness (specifically for black people) but represented it as being something else (medicine prescribed for white people with the same condition) in order to gain the skeptical*** patients acceptance of the treatment.

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Follow up:

Foreman [shaking his head]: He was right. You did exactly what white people do. You figure we don’t need to know the truth or can’t understand it. So you just lie to us.
House: It’s just a white lie.
Foreman: Good one, Master.
House: Right, I’m a racist. Too bad that idiot will never know for the rest of his long, long life.
Foreman: Every slave master thought they were doing the black man a favor. Negro can’t take care of himself, so we’ll put him to work. Give him four walls, a bed. We’ll civilize the heathen. I’ll tell you what. Stop, don’t us favors. If you’re right and we end up back in the jungle with lousy blood pressure medicine, it won’t be on your head.

After listening to this exchange, it seemed more profound then simply well written dialogue. For every person in this country that believes slavery was abolished back in Lincoln's day, I suggest you look at Foremans last line again substituting "Government" for slave master and your choice of special interest group (eg. single mothers, senior citizens ,union pensioneers, illegal immigrants)for the word "negro" or "black man". The only difference today, and it's a HUGE distinction, is that no one is working for their four walls and a bed - they're just getting a handout.

Ok, so the word substitution doesnt flow perfectly but my point is this. Haven't attempts at social engineering, implemented with the best of intentions by an ever intrusive and larger government, only served to enslave additional subsets of our citizenry? Even if the euphemisms of "Aid to Families with Dependant Children", "Social Security", "Union Benefits", "Medicare" give you a warm fuzzy feeling that somehow non productive citizens should be supported by the hard working taxpayer, the truth is these programs are not financially sustainable and oh, what a surprize, working taxpayers RESENT THEM.

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While Karl Marx is often misquoted as having said "Religion is the opiate of the people" (++ see footnote) in the United States, it is rather the increasing benevolence of the government and not religion that has unwittingly compounded many of the ills our society already suffers from. We now have generations of citizens (and illegal non citizens) addicted to these programs with more joining their ranks everyday!

Generations of fatherless black youth have fallen victim to the examples set by their single parent upbringings by learning only how to repeat the cycle of dependence learned in their households. We have a huge voting block of senior citizens who actually believe they have the right to retire in a single family home or apartment, with full medical benefits, upon reaching a certain age. Why is it that living with family member, in communal settings, with a roomate etc. don't ever seem to be a discussed when social security/pensions fall short of retiree expenses? The "because I worked for 20 years, I've earned it" arguement is frankly nothing but empty words. If you haven't "saved" enough money to support a retirement, then you have no right to retire! [the truly disabled not included]. Not to mention that the new "citizens" born on US soil to illegal immigrants effectively tie the hands of immigration officials in the deportation process. These are just three examples.

Our founding fathers (particularly Mr. Lincoln)are rolling in their graves at this utter lack of self reliance and voluntary slavery! At Least Lincoln's slaves worked for the food and shelter they received.

What about a war on these "entitlement drugs" that sap initiative and spur cottage industries instructing freeloaders on how to "game" the system. The massive redistribution of wealth our President desires is already here. It's time we said no more to entitlements but if we are smart enough to couch it as "no more slavery" then even the liberals (and seniors) will have to join the cause!

Are you with me?

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Footnotes:
++ The real statement Marx uttered is "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.")

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From the episode titled HUMPTY DUMPTY Original Airdate (FOX): 27-SEP-2005
Patient: I’m not buying into no racist drug, okay?
House: It’s racist because it helps black people more than white people? Well, on behalf of my peeps, let me say, thanks for dying on principle for us.