Graduation prospects

All across this great land, high school graduates this week will mark the end of their primary education before heading out to the great unknown.

Some will take the next step toward higher education while others will either enter the work force or military service or some other form of advanced training.

Regardless of their path, the road ahead for this year's graduating class will surely be far different from prior years.

The challenges will be greater, the obstacles more abundant and the opportunities perhaps a bit more limited.

All of society is learning that the rules are changing each and every day.

Traditional paths to success are increasingly being subjected to government-imposed limitations.

And no one will bear this brunt of massive changes more than those bright faces on the graduation stage this week.

President Obama told Arizona State graduates last week they should abandon their personal goals for the goals of those in need.

He told those college grads that they should devote their lives to helping others and work toward the issues of lifting the poor and the needy toward a better chance at the American dream.

And as is so often the case, he's all wrong.

Through determination, sacrifice and self-initiative, today's graduates should work tirelessly toward their individual goals.

By reaching those goals they will more likely benefit others in need. Shared sacrifice is an underlying principle of our society. But to abandon personal initiative for the greater good is not.

Even here in our region we have fourth-generation families who rely on social programs for their every need. They lack the family foundation to recognize the only way out of their position is to sacrifice.

Sacrifice is hard. But to ask these new bright graduates to abandon their goals and sacrifice their futures to dedicate their lives toward others is idealism gone amok.

Without entrepreneurs we will never advance beyond our current boundaries.

Without self-made men and women we will never have future business leaders who can expand our economy and raise the standard of living for others.

To expect 30 percent of the population to work solely toward the improvement of the other 70 percent is not progress.

Society recognizes that education is the key to success. That much will remain abundantly clear. But history is equally important. And history shows us that it takes leaders to grow our society in terms of economics. Leaders come from those select few who are willing to take risks and make sacrifices to advance their goals.

The average American has no clue whatsoever about the countless "safety nets" currently available in our society. There is currently no lack of sacrifice made by us to help those in need. Yet, for some of those in power, we can never and will never do enough to help this population.

Today's graduates should above all dream big. Those dreams are individual goals. An important by-product of success is our ability to help others. But first comes success. The graduates need to understand this basic principle.