Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation
For Immediate Release
Monday, June 11, 2012
202-285-0244
www.freedomandprosperity.org
New CF&P “Economics 101” Video Highlights Dangers of Dependence on Government
(Washington, D.C., Monday, June 11, 2012) The latest “Economics 101” video released today by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation (CF&P), narrated by Emily O’Neill, contrasts differing views of the relationship between government and citizens and highlights the economic and cultural dangers of relying too heavily on government programs. Entitled, “The Dangers of Government Dependency,” the video explains why self-reliance is the path to a successful and meaningful life.
The video looks at the culture of dependence, exemplified in the Obama campaign’s recent “Life of Julia” web ad, and contrasts that dependency model with an alternative based on individual empowerment. The former holds that citizens would be lost and helpless without a large and paternalistic government to look after them, while the latter holds that hard work and prudent choices lead to a more fulfilling life.
The ineffectiveness of large government programs is also demonstrated in the video. Such programs not only fail to achieve their objectives, but also introduce new problems along the way.
Links to the video: YouTube | Dailymotion | Blip.TV
“Americans are justly frustrated with the inability of politicians to solve problems,” noted CF&P Foundation President Andrew Quinlan. “But that’s hardly a surprise since most problems are created by government.” He concluded by noting that, “we can all contribute to a better society by making responsible choices and not expecting so much from government in the first place.”
“The narrator compares the self-reliant life she would like to live with the dependency mindset of Obama’s fictional Julia,” noted Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute. Unfortunately, Mitchell added, “there are too many real-world examples of people who have chosen the Julia model of dependency and that’s why America is at risk of becoming another Greece.”
Executive Summary
This video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation contrasts the dependency mentality in the President’s “Life of Julia” campaign with the traditional American approach of self reliance and individual achievement.
This new video is part of CF&P’s Economics 101 video series, which is designed to explain free market concepts, with particular emphasis on reaching students and young people. This is the seventeenth video in the series.
The other Econ 101 videos: The New Deal Was A Failure: Hoover and FDR Prolonged the Great Depression with Big Government,The European Fiscal Crisis and Lessons for America,Free Markets, Not Redistribution, Is Best Way to Reduce Poverty,Seven Reasons Why Tax Increases Are the Wrong Approach;Tax Competition: A Powerful Force to Restrain Big Government; Four Reasons Why Big Government Is Bad Government;Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Economic Growth Causes Consumer Spending, Not the Other Way Around; Indexing the Capital Gains Tax to Protect Taxpayers from Inflation; Repealing Obamacare and Restoring a Free Market in Healthcare;The Job-Killing Impact of Minimum Wage Laws; Deficits, Debts and Unfunded Liabilities; Cost of the Internal Revenue Code; Lessons Learned From Sweden; Government Monopolies; Moral Hazard; and Don’t Copy Europe’s Mistakes.
Web Page for Economics 101 Videos: http://freedomandprosperity.org/videos/economics-101-series/
CF&P Foundation has also released more than four-dozen mini-documentaries since 2007. These videos include Tax Competition Primer, VAT-Hidden Tax, Global Flat Tax Revolution, Cutting the U.S. Corporate Income Tax, Promoting Prosperity, Obama’s So-Called Stimulus, Obama’s Deferral Proposal, Case Against Class-Warfare Tax Policy, President Obama’s Dishonest Demagoguery on Tax Havens, Six Reasons Why the Capital Gains Tax Should Be Abolished, a three part series on the Benefits of Tax Havens and another three-part series on the Laffer Curve.
Link: http://freedomandprosperity.org/videos/economic-lessons-series/
Web Links:
Youtube
http://youtu.be/RW67kqPnWkU
Dailymotion
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrgelx_the-dangers-of-government-dependency_news
Blip.TV
http://blip.tv/economics/the-dangers-of-government-dependency-6196719
For additional information:
Andrew Quinlan can be reached at 202-285-0244, andy@freedomandprosperity.org
Dan Mitchell can be reached at 202-218-4615, dmitchell@cato.org
Emily O’Neill can be reached at elouiseoneill@gmail.com
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