Youniversity

Hundreds of thousands of high school and college students are celebrating their commencements this June.  These academic achievements are sources of pride for parents, students, grandparents, and teachers.  Hats off to those who have made it through!  Now, you get to sit through a 90 minute speech telling you how to enter the real world.

In the minds of the grads, they’re probably thinking “I’m finally done!”, yet, ironically, the ceremony noting their accomplishment is called a “commencement”.  It’s derived from an Old French word, comencier, meaning “to start.”  It’s a cruel joke.  “What do you mean I’m starting? No! No! No!  I just finished.  I’m not starting!”

We older and wiser sages know that they really are just beginning.  They may get some direction from the education that they received, but life will deal them some zigs and zags that will send them to places they never planned on going.

Our national elections should be commencements.  They should be new beginnings.  We should have a chance to wipe the slate clean of the mistakes of the past, while being guided by what we’ve learned from making them.  It doesn’t seem to work that way though.  We make the same mistakes over and over.  We spend and borrow and hack away at our Constitution after every new election.

Those of us who have been advocating for the rebirth of liberty are repeatedly dismayed by each election.  We shouldn’t think of these as failures though.  Have faith in individuals, in millions of citizens who struggle to overcome the barriers set up by broken systems, broken institutions, and a broken government.  Most of these individuals attend “youniversity”.  They have everything that they need to graduate.  No one is going to hand them a certificate of completion, yet they go to “class” every day, supporting their families and their communities.

The next few months are going to be tumultuous.  Many will be dismayed by the choices that we are being offered.  In the end, it’s up to each of us as individuals to spit in the face of the broken systems that impede millions of Americans from achieving economic success and real freedom.  We do this by thriving.  Use the benefit of “youniversity.”  Learn, write, speak up, act up, and volunteer.  “You got everything you need to graduate with first class accomplishments put in you! YOU can do it!”

 

[paypal_donation_button align=”right”]