No Concept of Consequence

In the 60s, student riots came to an end when the National Guard fired into a crowd of students at Kent State, killing four.  The event shook to the nation and campus unrest, which was expressed in vandalism, ceased.  The realization of the severity of the consequences lead to a change in behavior of protestors.  Now, mind you, this is not to advocate the killing of students or protestors of any kind, this is simply an analysis that bad actions that are met with severe consequences can result in the future adjustment to those actions.

Today, there are relatively no consequences or responsibilities imposed on most behaviors.  Get pregnant?  Government is there for free, no-questions-asked or parental permission needed, day-after pill or abortion.  Realize you have too much debt from student loans…AFTER graduation?  Government will forgive the debt in time.  And now that you have that $7/hour minimum wage position at the McDonald’s drive thru window, why work at all?  Government assistance can get you $25/hour.  Simply put, too much is handled by someone, something or an invisible hand to make any consequence of an action not felt.

How do you deal with a society that has no sense of consequence or responsibility?  When there is no negative affect for a misjudgment or wrong-doing, why wouldn’t you do whatever you wanted? And if it assumed that someone or something else will always fix your problems, why avoid making problems?

As such, the threshold question to ask is: What does a society with no consequences look like?  We expect this answer will be an existential threat to liberty and prosperity.