16 Too Young to Drive?

Per Rasmussen Reports, 56% think 16 is too young to drive.  I'd be interested to see know what the urban/suburban/rural breakout is on the group, but wow.... Don't get me wrong, idiot kids texting while swerving down I-235 in Des Moines make want to agree with the majority of poll respondents.  But, at the same time I remember driving tractors, cars, and trucks starting around 12 or 13.  A handful of kids in my grade started driving well before I did.

Just my ignorant opinion, but if kids are becoming less responsible with important things, might a solution be to...

...give them MORE responsibility earlier in life so they can become - I don't know - RESPONSIBLE?

I've always believed that kids will meet expectations.  Expect nothing from them because they're just kids and you'll get lazy, careless, irresponsible kids.  Expect great things like responsibility and good decision making, they'll rise to the occasion.

Why do I feel this way?  That's how I was growing up: loved being lazy, but hated to fail and disappoint people.  At some point we mature enough to make our own decisions about what success means and what work ethic is appropriate, but very few people have the organic drive inside of themselves to become excellent when no one has ever encouraged them to try or offered a benchmark.

I love reading stories and letters about my ancestors as they moved from Europe to New York, to Illinois, to Iowa... they struck out and took risks at young ages.  They bought land they'd never seen and when they arrived, found a way to make a living from it.

Now, we're not even sure a 16 year old should be allowed to drive a car - government mandated safety features to boot.  You can forget all about taming the West.

As evidenced by the last two presidential elections, our country now believes that a "wealthy few" have disproportionally "more."  In that environment, it takes an extravagant and audacious person to chase a dream when no one expects you to succeed or even wants you to try.  Expect nothing from and disincentivize our youngest generations from trying and the proletariat will only grow larger and louder.  

Demographically speaking, this country is on the tipping point with major decisions to be made.  Federal entitlement programs, and the folks who implemented them, never considered that the country's population would stop growing, or worse, contract.  Like any Ponzi scheme when growth slows or stops, the math quickly deteriorates leaving those who put money in with nothing to show for it.

Unless we become, once again, a society and a country that rewards risk taking and encourages success, this Union of these 50 (or is it 57) states will simply fade into history as another great example of what not to do.

We, as individuals, need to adopt (return to) a mindset that success can and does breed success.  Each of us has a remarkable opportunity to make something from nothing, to start from scratch and create value.  It's not a zero sum game, it's not an EITHER me OR you, and it's not some have not because others have.

Many prefer not to, but please form your own opinions the next time you hear about new legislation or existing legislation.  Maybe ask yourself, "does that incentivize a business to start/grow or does it make it more complicated for a business to start/grow?  Or does it just reward existing business by making it harder for a new, would be, competitor to provide a cheaper/better product/service?"

I'm starting to think that this is about three posts mashed potato'ed into one (bad drivers + parenting advice from a non-parent + Hauswirth family history + Social Security + Dr Hakes' Macroeconomics my frosh yr of college), that's just sort of how my brain works these days (shout out to prescription medication), but write a comment below or get at me on Facebook/Twitter about any of it.

An overwhelming majority of Americans, per all the polls, say America is headed in the wrong direction.  Do you agree with that sentiment?  What is one small first step that would begin to change that feeling?  I'd love to read and hear your ideas and maybe I'd even write future posts about how much I agree with, and how we could implement, those ideas.  And if you think I'm the biggest idiot blogger you've ever read, please post that too... just be descriptive.