Many people view Barack Obama as a role model. The young black demographic, especially. Despite my being harsh of Barack Obama’s policies, there are certain aspects of his rhetoric with which I heartily agree. One such speech came during the campaign while speaking to a largely black audience. He said, speaking about black men, ”They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.”

This statement is the absolute truth, but not just black men. Not just blacks. Not just men. This statement is absolutely true of America. Consider the alteration, “American citizens have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like dependents [relying on the government for assistance] instead of independents [autonomous and accepting responsibility; capable of self-governance and taking care of others]. This is a conservative statement. Citizens should not just “sit in the house watching SportsCenter,” as Obama so eloquently put (although, again, speaking about black men). In other words, Americans should not be waiting for the government to provide their every need; they should be out raising money and contributing to society, or, if they choose not to as is their right, not feel entitled to money or benefits from people whom they have never met.

Another nugget of Obama truth: “We need fathers to realize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception. That doesn’t just make you a father. What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”

Again, consider the alteration, “We need citizens to realize that responsibility doesn’t just end at citizenship. That doesn’t make you entitled. What makes you independent is not the title of American Citizen. Any person can become an American Citizen. That doesn’t make you entitled. It’s the courage to nurture that citizenship into the advancement of your society through hard work that makes you entitled.” While that quote is a little more of a stretch, the principle still applies. Just because you live in America does not mean you are entitled to anything. You are especially not entitled to others’ reaping. Just as conceiving a child does not make you his parent. It requires hard work, sacrifice, and a willingness to put someone else before yourself in order to be a productive, effective parent.

Americans have truly abandoned their responsibilities. What is even more disheartening—and dangerous—is that Americans have failed to accept responsibility, as many fathers throughout the nation have regarding their children. Millions of lawsuits are filed every year, many of them with plaints of “entitlement.” Billions are spent in social services each year, some of which have created a dependence on government intervention in what should be personal autonomy. Americans need to end their reliance on government and remember that they live in what the Declaration of Independence calls FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES [emphasis not added].

The Declaration’s author, Thomas Jefferson, to whom Joe Biden compared Barack Obama, said, “Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” This is the type of role model we need, and if President-elect Obama was correct in his assessment of black fathers, he was correct in his assessment of American Citizens. His words ring true to one demographic; let us all take heed of their implications. Let us also hope that he will not promote policies that contradict his rhetoric…