President Obama continues to sell his omnibus anti-work, anti-jobs, and antigrowth program at colleges and universities across the country. This is a setting where “most folks” (to use a favorite presidential expression) cling to their own version of guns and religion—consisting of left-wing political causes and a devout sense of being the bearers of a new Enlightenment. With little knowledge and experience of the world outside the campus gates, they cheer the vilification of business and commerce.

At the outset of every speech, Obama laments the sorry state of the economy. He blames it on the “great mess” or the “deep hole” that he inherited upon coming to office. In his telling, government had no hand in creating this mess—other than the sins of omission of previous administrations which encouraged the recklessness and rapacity of private enterprise. Talking of the future as if it were a game of blackjack, the president says he is prepared to “double down” on education and an oil-free future.