Government is not a wealth transfer system.
[editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of six articles to be published that express my views on the nature of the Federal Government, and Congress in particular. The six principles are:
1) The Constitution is law, not a living document
2) The Constitution guarantees a government of fixed and limited powers
3) A democratically elected representative government is a right. Being a representative is not
4) Government is not a wealth transfer system
5) Government exists to promote the general welfare
6)Government does not exist to protect you from yourself
end editor's note]
Government is not a wealth transfer system.
Maxim: Welfare is anathema to a free, capitalist society.
In 1794, James Madison addressed Congress and stated he could not "undertake to lay [his] finger on that article of the Federal Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." For more than 70 years this principle held sway. Then the Socialist left found religion in the form of the 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment guarantees to every citizen equal protection under the law. This clause has been hijacked by the minions of political correctness and multi-culturalism to justify any manner of social program designed to provide a defined benefit to some “historically disadvantaged” group usually at the expense of society as a whole, but sometimes more nefariously at the expense of a some other perceived “advantaged” group.
Under the guise of 14th Amendment principles, Federal and State governments have found ways to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars in benefits and services to people based solely on race and gender as qualifiers. Government created Social Security and Medicare, burdening future taxpayers with the task of funding retirement for previous generations of people who failed to plan ahead. In short, the left has used the 14th Amendment to institute Socialism in America.
There is not a single example in history of a country where Socialism was successful. Quite to the contrary, the adoption of Socialist principles has invariably resulted in decreased production, depressed economies, and miserable populations constantly teetering on the brink of disaster. Western nations that have socialized medicine must support their systems through oppressive taxes that hurt both businesses and citizens. Government controls stifle innovation and competition, leading to long waiting times for sub-standard services. Regulation invariably leads to even more regulation as loopholes are found, requiring the transfer of even more wealth to ensure “proper” redistribution. That is the inescapable reality of Socialism.
America was founded by people who believed in the dignity of hard work and self sacrifice. This “rugged individualism” as Roosevelt called it was a virtually inexhaustible supply of raw talent. Capitalism was the catalyst that turned that talent into goods and services that did precisely what Socialism claimed: improving the human condition. Capitalism provides the incentive to work and study harder to invent something new and useful. Capitalism motivates professionals to become the best in their field. Capitalism induces people to attempt what others consider impossible. Thomas Paine said, “There is a natural aptness in man, and more so in society, because it embraces a greater variety of abilities and resources, to accommodate itself to whatever situation it is in. The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act.”
Capitalism is part of human nature. It is the only economic system that is not the product of human creation. The desire to improve one's condition is an innate characteristic of man. That is why all other economic systems require intensive governmental control of both the means and results of production, and why they are ultimately doomed to failure.
With all history supporting this premise, indeed with the 20th Century standing as a complete repudiation of the Marxist beliefs, it is hard to imagine how a culture of entitlement could gain root within the West. Every effort at welfare has been an abject failure. The proponents would argue that is because government did not do enough, which leads to more welfare, which leads to more failures in the system, ad infinitum.
From education to health care, government control just does not work. Prior to the existence of welfare, Americans donated far more money to private relief organizations than they do now. Prior to Social Security, families took care of each other. Prior to Medicare, doctors and hospitals would provide low or no-cost health care to those in need. It took the passage of the New Deal to transform America into the great welfare state.
With government guaranteeing retirement money, people learned not to plan. With government guaranteeing payments for medical expenses, doctors had no incentive to provide free care or improve treatment. The more the government gave, the more the socialist left demanded. Rather than pack up their tents and move on when their good intentions failed as all Socialist programs do, the left convinced everyone who was not a white male that they were a victim, and as victims were owed things by the government.
America was thus transformed from the great welfare state to the great entitlement state where the only qualification for special treatment was being a member of a defined victim group. People were either oppressors or the oppressed, and under the socialist agenda, the 14th Amendment could be used to obtain any manner of preferential treatment. This is as un-American as it is unconstitutional.
Equality of opportunity does not require equality of outcome. America is all about choice. We do not all drive the same car, live in the same house, wear the same clothes, or eat the same food. Choice alone demands that the outcome cannot be equal. Government must protect equal access. Socialist Welfare programs that provide benefits to one group at the exclusion of another by definition is not equal access.
Congress must seek to promote the capitalist system in the least intrusive manner possible. Economic redistribution systems such as welfare as it exists today must end. A very wise anonymous person once said, “the surest way to get anything done is to tell an American that it is impossible.” Congress must get out of the way of the natural talent existing in each one of us and let loose the free market system. The freedom to pursue one's own path within reason will succeed where no amount of regulation can.
1) The Constitution is law, not a living document
2) The Constitution guarantees a government of fixed and limited powers
3) A democratically elected representative government is a right. Being a representative is not
4) Government is not a wealth transfer system
5) Government exists to promote the general welfare
6)Government does not exist to protect you from yourself
end editor's note]
Government is not a wealth transfer system.
Maxim: Welfare is anathema to a free, capitalist society.
In 1794, James Madison addressed Congress and stated he could not "undertake to lay [his] finger on that article of the Federal Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." For more than 70 years this principle held sway. Then the Socialist left found religion in the form of the 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment guarantees to every citizen equal protection under the law. This clause has been hijacked by the minions of political correctness and multi-culturalism to justify any manner of social program designed to provide a defined benefit to some “historically disadvantaged” group usually at the expense of society as a whole, but sometimes more nefariously at the expense of a some other perceived “advantaged” group.
Under the guise of 14th Amendment principles, Federal and State governments have found ways to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars in benefits and services to people based solely on race and gender as qualifiers. Government created Social Security and Medicare, burdening future taxpayers with the task of funding retirement for previous generations of people who failed to plan ahead. In short, the left has used the 14th Amendment to institute Socialism in America.
There is not a single example in history of a country where Socialism was successful. Quite to the contrary, the adoption of Socialist principles has invariably resulted in decreased production, depressed economies, and miserable populations constantly teetering on the brink of disaster. Western nations that have socialized medicine must support their systems through oppressive taxes that hurt both businesses and citizens. Government controls stifle innovation and competition, leading to long waiting times for sub-standard services. Regulation invariably leads to even more regulation as loopholes are found, requiring the transfer of even more wealth to ensure “proper” redistribution. That is the inescapable reality of Socialism.
America was founded by people who believed in the dignity of hard work and self sacrifice. This “rugged individualism” as Roosevelt called it was a virtually inexhaustible supply of raw talent. Capitalism was the catalyst that turned that talent into goods and services that did precisely what Socialism claimed: improving the human condition. Capitalism provides the incentive to work and study harder to invent something new and useful. Capitalism motivates professionals to become the best in their field. Capitalism induces people to attempt what others consider impossible. Thomas Paine said, “There is a natural aptness in man, and more so in society, because it embraces a greater variety of abilities and resources, to accommodate itself to whatever situation it is in. The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act.”
Capitalism is part of human nature. It is the only economic system that is not the product of human creation. The desire to improve one's condition is an innate characteristic of man. That is why all other economic systems require intensive governmental control of both the means and results of production, and why they are ultimately doomed to failure.
With all history supporting this premise, indeed with the 20th Century standing as a complete repudiation of the Marxist beliefs, it is hard to imagine how a culture of entitlement could gain root within the West. Every effort at welfare has been an abject failure. The proponents would argue that is because government did not do enough, which leads to more welfare, which leads to more failures in the system, ad infinitum.
From education to health care, government control just does not work. Prior to the existence of welfare, Americans donated far more money to private relief organizations than they do now. Prior to Social Security, families took care of each other. Prior to Medicare, doctors and hospitals would provide low or no-cost health care to those in need. It took the passage of the New Deal to transform America into the great welfare state.
With government guaranteeing retirement money, people learned not to plan. With government guaranteeing payments for medical expenses, doctors had no incentive to provide free care or improve treatment. The more the government gave, the more the socialist left demanded. Rather than pack up their tents and move on when their good intentions failed as all Socialist programs do, the left convinced everyone who was not a white male that they were a victim, and as victims were owed things by the government.
America was thus transformed from the great welfare state to the great entitlement state where the only qualification for special treatment was being a member of a defined victim group. People were either oppressors or the oppressed, and under the socialist agenda, the 14th Amendment could be used to obtain any manner of preferential treatment. This is as un-American as it is unconstitutional.
Equality of opportunity does not require equality of outcome. America is all about choice. We do not all drive the same car, live in the same house, wear the same clothes, or eat the same food. Choice alone demands that the outcome cannot be equal. Government must protect equal access. Socialist Welfare programs that provide benefits to one group at the exclusion of another by definition is not equal access.
Congress must seek to promote the capitalist system in the least intrusive manner possible. Economic redistribution systems such as welfare as it exists today must end. A very wise anonymous person once said, “the surest way to get anything done is to tell an American that it is impossible.” Congress must get out of the way of the natural talent existing in each one of us and let loose the free market system. The freedom to pursue one's own path within reason will succeed where no amount of regulation can.
posted by exsubdriver at 4:40 PM
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