Three of many quotes by Thomas Jefferson:
1.) ” I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
2.) “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
3.) “I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence; we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.”
What I don't understand it this. The "left", for lack of a better term, wishes to move more toward a socialist state. Capitalism is evil. They want economic equality, a redistribution of wealth and they do not vehemently care to defend private property rights -- after all it is the right to produce and profit that is rooted in private property rights. In essence, Socialism hands the decision making and the "social design" to the government. Then we see the same group occupy Wall Street. They are (at least some of them) sick and tired of the current field of elected leaders. They feel the leaders are greedy, self-interested and corrupt to put it bluntly. They want their "fair share".
Well let's examine what is the likely cause of that corruption. In its most basic form, corruption is generally born from power or the desire for it. In this country and really every other country power equals money. As they say, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
So let's pretend that we could wipe the slate clean. Vote everyone out and elect all new leaders who have the same vision for a pursuit of a socialist utopia. They, as leaders, will design the system of who gets what, how it is distributed and make life better for everyone around them. They of course then become the enforcers of that societal design.
So if I get this right, under a capitalist society where the free market decides prices and distribution our leaders become corrupt. But under a design where the leaders, NOT the market, determine where the wealth goes, how it is distributed there will be NO corruption? That is a silly idea. When the leaders, no matter how wonderful and "good" they were when they were elected, are handed over the power to design society and distribute wealth you will see corruption of a magnitude you never imagined.
I hear people often point out (usually the Scandinavian countries) successes of socialism; they ignore the vast difference in our countries, our demographics and our immigration policies. If you look at say Norway, you see a relatively homogenous country. Historically, Norway has limited immigration to those who "add value". There has been an influx of asylum seekers in the last decade. But because of that, Norway is making changes to what constitutes "asylum". In short, the don' let "just anybody in". Their borders are heavily controlled, the folks who live there are educated the way the state needs them to be. You cannot simply decide you want to be a "philosophy major" if there is not a demand for that in the State's economy. Instead you might be directed to a trade school where your education, subsidized by the state, will add value to the state.
The resources in Norway are also much higher per capita than they are in the U.S. so there is more to "go around". You can do that when you control your borders. The country has significant resources (they are one of the world's largest exporters of oil, natural gas and seafood). I also learned that the government has majority or full ownership of the largest operators in the Norwegian oil fields, and that any "surplus wealth" from Norwegian petroleum income is invested straight into the government pension fund -- I doubt our "occupy" crowd would like that. Even Canada does not see a huge influx of uneducated, low income immigrants -- they have a fabulous buffer to the south…the United States of course!
Also, Norwegian men between the ages of 18 and 44 are obliged to serve 18 months in the military -- like it or not. There are some exemptions but to be sure, if too many folks opt for exemptions or deferrals, things will change! If you look at the basic tax rate in Norway at first glance they does not look to different but then you get to the VAT -- Value Added Tax. That is a tax on purchases -- VAT tax is 25% on most purchases, 14% on food and 8% on a handful of other things -- no one is exempt from these taxes, not even low income people. So in essence they pay very hefty (comparable to ours) income tax rates AND they pay a huge national sales tax. Olso is the third most expensive place to live in the world -- lead only by Paris and Milan.
So if you really want socialism take a moment to truly understand what it means. It is not an ala carte menu. To make it work you have to go "all in". I don't see the folks clamoring for "equality" and "economic fairness" being folks who are willing to:
1) Serve in the National military
2) To shut down the borders
3) To be told what they can and cannot study -- or whether they can at all. (Utopia needs worker bees too!)
Just a few thoughts on this Friday morning. I have to get to work now. Actually I rephrase that…I GET to go to work now!
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