Musings to Young People from a New Mexican Kid

As I said before, I grew up in New Mexico, which is a vastly different state from New Jersey. As a person matures, his surroundings make an indelible mark on him, and two things from those formative years are now part of my DNA. One is my love of freedom. There were so few people in New Mexico and the openness so extremely vast it almost made one feel like a bird in free flight when he was out of doors.
And out of doors we were, because there was seldom a cloud in the sky. Add to that, we were not permitted in the house unless we had a reason: “What are you doing indoors? It is a nice day outside,” was the common refrain. So I spent my time visiting with friends, working on my coin collection, riding my bike or walking in the dessert.
But from the third grade on, mostly I worked, which was my second love, doing anything I could to make money. I delivered newspapers, mowed lawns, and worked at the grocery store. I saved my money, and when I got a little older I bought some candy vending machines and put them into local businesses. My father, plus a friend of mine and I bought land and sold off lots.
In New Mexico you could work a lot but still not earn a lot. Because the local newspaper, where I worked, was owned by a company which purchased the Wildwood Leader, I was transferred to New Jersey in the 1970s. What an eye-opening experience for a country boy. Whereas in New Mexico there was little money in the economy, New Jersey was the complete opposite. In New Mexico we were in the middle of nowhere, but New Jersey was surrounded by highly populated metropolises with residents who loved to visit and spend money.
Had I not grown up as I did, I might not have appreciated a good thing when I saw it. It is that New Mexico mindset which created my view of what America is, and when I now see a competing socialist mentality of relying on government for many of our needs, it grates against every fiber of my being. I wanted to work hand and to receive the reward for it.
If I had been deprived of the opportunity to work hard and be rewarded, it would have sapped my spirit – like an animal in a zoo, who has everything he needs but won’t reproduce because “life” is missing.
Fortunately, I think socialism is now gasping for air; after decades of the world experimenting with it, it has come up deficient, depriving the rich and the poor alike of their sense of accomplishment. Further, mankind is learning that there simply is not enough money to support that type of government. As a result governments are resorting to printing vast quantities of paper money, depriving us currently of interest on our savings, and in the future driving down the value of our principle itself. Printing money has never work in the past, and it won’t work now.
Young people, I wish that I could walk you through the joys of my life’s experiences in our wonderful country so you could see first hand the folly of our current course of following after the European socialist model. But don’t take it from me: last month the head of the European Central Bank said that Europe’s social model is “already gone,” and they must change in order to return to long-term prosperity.
Take it from one who has traveled much of the globe, America is a rare jewel. It is in your keeping. Please don’t follow your feelings; know the facts.
Art Hall, publisher