By: Scott Cooper

All writers in Op Ed are here to inform and acknowledge issues of importance to our communities, however these writings represent the views  and opinions of the authors and not necessarily of The Advertiser

The last two weeks have been a series of editorials leading into our celebration of Independence Day 2019.

Two weeks ago, Fathers’ Day Week, my editorial addressed my view that fatherhood represents the lowest level of civil governance, and that strong loving families are required to build societies with strong civil governance. Stated differently, a society with weak families will lead to a loss of resilience and independence.   http://hscottcooper.com/fatherhood-represents-the-lowest-level-of-civil-governance/.

Last week addressed our collective lack of civic knowledge, specifically our republics Constitution.  This lack of knowledge increases our growing dependency. http://www.edgefieldadvertiser.com/2019/06/growing-dependency-part-1tt/.

I don’t know how else to begin this week, except to say this generation which you and I are a part of, and the preceding two generations have created circumstances which will make it difficult for our children and grandchildren to retain their independence.  Stated differently, we are spending their inheritance of independence.

When was the last time you reviewed the US Debt Clock? It’s available for your review 24/7 at https://usdebtclock.org/. Often, we hear about our republic’s current debt being of over $ 22 trillion dollars.  This week I am asking you to review the linked website and look at four numbers.

First, at the bottom center of the page is U.S. Unfunded Liabilities.  As of this writing, the total was $ 124.5 Trillion.

Second, to the right of the U.S. Unfunded Liabilities number is the total liability per taxpayer.  As of this writing the total was $ 1,013,569.

Third, above the U.S. Unfunded Liabilities number is the Total National Assets Number.  As of this writing that total was over $ 152.6 Trillion.

Fourth, to the right of the Total National Assets Number is the assets per citizen average.  As of this writing it is just over $ 463,000.

Last week I shared three free online courses from Hillsdale College:  An Introduction to The Constitution, The Constitution 101 and The Constitution 201.

This week I want to share one additional free college level course from Hillsdale, which in my opinion should be taken by every High School age and above citizen, and that is Hillsdale’s Economics 101 Course.  It is available here, http://lp.hillsdale.edu/economics-101-enroll/.

We live in the greatest time period of human history, when it comes to the ability to self-educate.

As we approach Independence Day 2019, it is my humble opinion that we all must recognize, regardless of our historical party affiliation, neither side of the political aisle in our nation’s capitol, or in most of our state capitals have the political will to take these issues on. Honestly, that is because it isn’t popular, and the solutions won’t be easy.

In my humble opinion, our elected representatives will only take these issues on when an educated citizenry, who are concerned about the independence of our heirs, will seriously self-study the issues, and then lead their elected representatives to do the correct things, based on the principles our republic was founded on.

Next week I will share one reason why I still have great hope for our future!

Here’s wishing you a productive week!