The Evil Cycle of Thought that Argues "The System is Broken"

Contrary to popular belief, "The System" that is, our free market capitalist republic, is not broken.  The system has been grotesquely abused by the people in its employ and intensly maligned by its enemies.  As a result, the public is led to believe that the system is the problem and therefore the solution is to destroy the system and replace it with a new one.  No group is more susceptible to this mode of thinking than voters in the prized 18-30 year old age group. 

Raised in the Clinton era, we were taught that even impeachable offenses weren't worthy of full prosecution.  Instead of forcing Clinton to pay for his crimes by removing him from his position, Congress gave the President a metaphorical slap on the hand and allowed him to continue serving in the highest office in the land.  The media's response to Clinton's crimes sealed the deal.  Carefully turning public attention away from the fact that the President lied while under oath, the MSM turned Clinton's Oval Office escapades into comedic fodder.  Clinton the man became the dirty joke of the week and the Office of the President suffered the battered reputation.  It was the system that had failed; Clinton was just caught with his pants down.

The same can be said for the gross abuses of corporate bosses, practitioners of crony capitalism that work the free market system to serve their own self-interests.  The socialists who point out the crimes of corrupt corporate bosses are no better; they, too, abuse the system to serve their own nefarious purposes.  Instead of recognizing bad behavior for what it is, the choices of individuals are re-defined to be the failures of an entire economic system.  Therefore, the system must be destroyed.

To blame "the system" is as idiotic as it would be to blame the hot stove for the fact that the child who touched it now has a burned hand.  The stove didn't burn the child any more than the system decided to fail those who put it in place.  The success or failure of any system is dependent upon the choices made by those who are in charge.  To put it in layman's terms: Garbage in, garbage out.  But, recognizing this fact requires the acquisition of personal responsibility.  Personal responsibility carries with it the obligation to participate and the concept of accountability.

And when a President doesn't have to be held accountable for his actions, why should you?