If you are serious about wanting to prevent tragedies like Ferguson and Staten Island over the long term, think about this …

Young people today, particularly at major universities, are being sold a one-way ticket down the road to serfdom. Few educators dare tell them the truth — that the key to a robust society, where virtually everyone is better off, is individualism and self responsibility.

The knee-jerk response to the latter is the age-old question, “But what about the poor? Don’t they need government to redistribute the property of others to them?” No. What they need is self-respect and self-esteem, neither of which government force can provide them.

So what’s the best way for a young person to help others? Sadly, for those who allow their emotions to overrule their intellect, the truth is almost impossible to comprehend, but Thoreau summed it up accurately when he said, “Living one’s own life to the full is the best means of helping one’s fellow man.”

In other words, by minding your own business — by being independent and individualistic — you make a great contribution to liberty by eliminating yourself as part of the problem.

Good luck in trying to convince your statist friends of this.