Length: 469 Words Reading Time: 2 Minutes 50
What a great acronym TANSTAAFL is! It looks and sounds like a wonderful German word with a robust and manly pronunciation. However, what it is, is an immutable law of the universe, up there with “Nature abhors a vacuum.”
Many years ago, when I was in my early 30s, I used to wear a grey tee shirt with TANSTAAFL emblazoned in red on the front. Sometimes, a curious person would stop me and ask what TANSTAAFL meant. I would smile and reply, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” And, there really isn’t, contrary to the conventional wisdom so prevalent today. Nothing is free in our society today—not healthcare, not welfare, not food stamps, not anything, not even charity.
What is not seen is that the Federal Government uses the income taxes collected to fund these programs. Many citizens in our country do not understand that the Federal Government has no money of its own. Its money comes from the taxes that citizens are required to pay. Moreover, when income taxes are collected each year, the funds are never spent with cost-effectiveness in mind. Waste, fraud, and abuse are ever-present in all Federal and state programs, and there is no accountability of any consequence.
I do not understand why so many Americans believe that the Federal Government can take care of all their wants and needs. Perhaps, deep down, they want it to be so because they value security over freedom. Freedom can be scary, but to my mind, freedom is the quintessential right of all citizens, and they should embrace it.
The reality is that the much better way to live a life of purpose, integrity, and substance is to be self-reliant and to reject all help from any level of government. Standing on one’s own feet and being self-sufficient is a sure way to enhance one’s self-esteem and self-worth.
When I was young, in my early 20s, I could not wait to strike out on my own and travel the world. I was fortunate in my circumstances because after graduating from the university, I went directly into the Navy as a commissioned officer and was able to travel overseas and see other countries.
That willingness to be self-reliant seems to have changed. Young adults today are remaining at home with their parents or returning home after a brief interval in the world of work living on their own.
I would hope that the mindset of the younger generations will change as they mature and see the world in terms of opportunity, growth, and challenge. Maybe those grey tee shirts will come back in style. Certainly, TANSTAAFL has not gone the way of the dodo bird. It waits in the minds of all, waiting to be rediscovered.