It's a basic fact of life that there is "no free lunch," meaning, nothing is free.

This applies to basics like food and shelter, as well as higher-order concepts like education and healthcare. 

The reason I brought this up is that it troubles me to note that America's current generation of young people appear to have no concept of what this idea means. I constantly see people saying things like, "I like Obama because he gives me healthcare." No, Obama doesn't "give" anyone healthcare. Someone has to pay for it. It's just a matter of who you believe should pay.

In a perfect world, resources wouldn't be scarce, and everyone would have exactly what they need. We don't live in a perfect world. 

"No free lunch" is a basic fact of life, and there are two basic politically-related positions in response to it.

1. People should pay for their own things, using the resources they have and acquire. (As a result, some people will have less than other people.) This position leaves room for those who have more to choose to give to those who have less.

2. The government should take from those who have acquired more and give it to those who have less, so that the inequality will be lessened or eradicated. (whether this works in the real world is a whole other issue)

These are the only two basic positions that are open. The government cannot just "give" people things. It has to get the resources from somewhere.

I'm not taking potshots at a certain party with this. I used the above healthcare example because someone actually said that to me. I'm not telling you which position you should take (though mine is clear if you read my blog). What I'm saying is that we live in a sad society if we don't teach our children the way the most basic economics works. Nothing is free, and the government can't just give out resources out of thin air. No matter what party or ideology you support, this is an extremely important issue.