“When the government robs Peter to pay Paul, it has the full
support of Paul.” — George Bernard Shaw

Thomas Jefferson warned us that our democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. In all the most recent Presidential campaigns there were plenty of candidates who promised to do just that, because that is what is happening to this great country as our representative republic becomes a democracy of mobs demanding money. We have become a needs-based society, where instead of asking ourselves how much more we can produce, we ask our government how much more they can give us.

President Biden keeps adding fuel to the fire today, as he justifies raising taxes on the most productive citizens to “Pay their fair share”. Just what really is “fair” to him – a higher rate of income taxation, rather than one fixed rate for all? No, that is not fair. It is cherry picking.

The philosophy of the needy is: you got it, I need it; I’m taking it, or I’m getting my President and my Congress to take it from you and give it to me. The philosophy of the folks we want to call greedy (for wanting to keep their accumulated wealth) is quite similar: you got it, I want it; I’m taking it, or I’m getting my President to take it from you and give it to me. What is the difference? In result, not much. It is just that the greedy see how we bestow our largess on the needy, and they want to keep as much of “their own fair share” as they can.

Just who are the truly needy? The most obvious perceived class of the needy are our children. We have child labor laws that actually prevent them from working or (to be precise) actually keep us from hiring them. All around the world, however, there are little fingers picking fruit in the field, tending animals, cleaning houses, putting parts in a box, sewing clothing, etc. But not here, not legally, because we have chosen to protect the little darlings, no matter how able or willing they may be. But if a woman enters this country illegally and gives birth to a child here, that child is an American citizen and therefore eligible for lifetime care and feeding and a free public education. And, while we are at it, we take care of the mother, too. And why not help the dad also, if we can find him? This under our current scheme is their “entitlement”.

The next class of needy citizens would be the so-called senior citizens, which generally means those around 65 years of age or older. When I reached that point of entitlement you became obligated to take care of me for the rest of my life, if I choose to discontinue working. But why should I choose to stop being a productive citizen just because of some arbitrary age factor. Seniors have a lot to contribute, if they should want to, such as wisdom and experience, and time. Why not let them? Just pay our Social Security check when due, and we will keep on working.

The great tragedy of hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans was that it revealed an underclass of folk who are completely dependent upon their government for their care and feeding. It was their duty to do that themselves, and they did not carry out that duty. They could rightly blame their corrupt city government, which had misused funds that would have prepared for this event. They could blame the state for not responding to their calls. Instead, the residents and their city and their state all blamed the federal government in general, and President George Bush in particular, for failing to save these poor souls. Think of it: the job of the American President is to take care of every single one of us. What a heavy burden!

But seriously, folks; who are the truly needy? Well, maybe the guy with no arms and legs, who cannot think his way to success. Maybe we should have a program for him. And for the mentally retarded chap, or the mentally ill. Or for those who are otherwise disabled (or “differently able”,
as the PC crowd now requires). Is there anyone else out there who is truly needy? Well, let’s just go out there and find them and put them in a program and pay for it until we finally run our of “other people’s money”.

One example would be Reparations, which are giveaways of public funds, not allowed by Constitution and not needed by black citizens here, as they are citizens here. The needy ones will get what the needy ones need, and the well off are – having made the best of their opportunities – very well off. Case closed.

The un-American preoccupation with distribution between the needy and the greedy is pretty well ruining everything that was once good about America. We used to be a nation of builders and producers. The very successful could afford to be charitable and kind to those with perceived
needs for assistance. We no longer conduct our government based on supporting the producer, but on filling the needs of the citizens – without regard to the source of the filling, nor the cost. We have thereby come to resent a government that does not focus on its primary duty to us all – to
protect our property.

We also choose to resent theft by our government. French economist Bastiat was correct when he asserted that taxation was theft, just as when a man puts a gun in your face and demands you turn over your cash to him; he is a robber, and we look to the government (police force) to apprehend and punish him. Better still, they should prevent the crime altogether. Why? Because, under our Constitution, it is the government’s province to protect us in our property rights. So, whom do we turn to now, as citizens of this great country of ours, when our government is the one that does the robbing? We become tax cheats, or political organizers, or just roll over and play dead.

Another well known economic truth is that when you subsidize something you get more of it, and when you tax something you get less. Today we subsidize sloth, and women having children (the needy) and create more “needies”. And we tax industry and hard work, and get less of it. Thus the
real problem with creating programs for the needy is that they are so attractive that they entice the needy, and induce the populace to rely on them instead of looking for means of creating more production. To see how absurd these programs are, no matter how well-intentioned, consider
what must inevitably happen if everyone in America signed up for welfare: there would be no one left to create the wealth from which welfare payments could be paid. On the way to this impoverished state, the working class has been compelled to carry heavier and heavier burdens,
which is not only unjust, and unfair – it is not sustainable. The system will grow so large that it will fully collapse under its own weight.

By their own demands for support, some of those classified as needy have become the truly greedy. And those being taxed at higher rates to support them are called greedy for simply wanting to keep what they have duly earned. Balance all that with Robin Hood’s “rob from the rich and give to
the poor” taxation and you get a picture of how the system works here
now.

JEFF BOSSHARD, Freedom monitor

“Community Matters”
P O Box 606, Freedom, CA 95019
Phone: (831) 818-9806

Join me Fridays from 1:00 to 3:00 PM
on Internet Radio SantaCruzVoice.com