OPINION: Government programs are holding New Mexicans back

What is wrong with New Mexico and how to do we make it right?

For starters, recognize that government programs are not the answer — they are the problem.

Governments don’t make opportunities. Hard-working individuals create them. Governments don’t raise children, parents do.

But too many New Mexicans have been seduced by progressives and their socialist agenda: i.e., the government’s job is to satisfy every daily need. In New Mexico, we have generations where it is normal to think that government is that all-giving patrón. Progressives talk about breaking the cycle of poverty while doing everything to increase dependency. Instead, it is time to break the cycle of government dependency.

Don’t believe that anyone’s standard of living will be permanently improved through social programs like universal basic income (free money for doing nothing), subsidized housing, free meals, racial preferences and one failed education plan after another. Too many New Mexicans have subsisted on government programs but have spiraled downward economically, socially and mentally as a result.

How have these programs improved New Mexico’s standing as a state compared to other states? They haven’t because government dependency is demoralizing, self-defeating and results in lost human potential.

Today, single-parent households are the norm. Illiteracy in reading and math are highest in the country. Ditto for crime and violence. Blind belief that government is our savior is instead condemning us.

We need to realize entitlements are just that: stuff we are entitled to (money) and benefits we don’t have to lift a finger to receive. It is time for all New Mexicans to start believing in our own abilities. It is time for a bootstrap challenge: In three years, you will be on your own, so get training, get off drugs and alcohol, figure out how you are going to support yourself and family without the government handouts.

In three years, state laws would kick in to require people who can work to go to work. The goal is to empower and liberate people, giving them the ability to compete in a rapidly changing economy.

There are those who would call this an outrage and label the idea heartless, cruel and even racist. Let them. They may not mean to, but they are trapping people in poverty. The result is a growing, permanent underclass. That is why I am challenging New Mexicans to break the cycle of government dependence and to make something of themselves — sink or swim.

There are plenty of state and federal programs to facilitate this transition. Take advantage of them, but pledge that you will break free of this dangerous dependence. This bootstrap challenge is a path of upward mobility. Marry, stay married, then have children so that they experience early childhood stability. Read to your children. Make sure they go to school.

When someone takes responsibility, it creates opportunity. Harness the strength that makes a person a somebody, instead of a nobody. It will lead to a new culture of thriving, not just surviving. And watch New Mexico rise in the socio-economic rankings. The naysayers warn that some will sink. That is true. But it will be a smaller number than the status quo where too many are sinking — sitting idle, addicted and neglecting their children.

New Mexico may not have a choice and may not have three years.

Oil and gas funds state welfare programs, but booms are always followed by busts.

New Mexico is the third highest per capita recipient of federal funds, and that spigot of money will slow down because deficit spending and the national debt are unsustainably out of control. The interest on the national debt is crowding out investment in everything else — a guarantee of slower economic growth and lower standards of living.

The current federal administration is doing what the Democratic Party has been unable to do: cut federal funding paid for by hard working taxpayers.

First up, federal Medicaid payments to the state may be reduced. The program will once again require the able to work. The work requirements go hand in glove with the bootstrap challenge.

The time is now to prepare for reality. At the state level, it is an opportunity to reinvent the work ethic and the dignity of the American Dream.