The reason we have no bipartisanship in Washington, is because no one can figure out a way to get the economy to grow aggressively, while still keeping ‘the rich’ from participating in that growth. That’s the actual goal of people in congress. That’s the only thing that will make everyone happy. The Republicans want growth for everyone, and the Democrats want to punish the rich to help the poor. Those two views are not only diametrically opposed, but mutually exclusive. And they are defining why there is nothing being done about our fiscal crisis.
It’s like that old joke about Bull$hit and Chocolate Ice cream. If you’re deciding what to have for dessert, how much of a compromise can you take between those two? How about 50 – 50? Maybe just 10% of one and 90% of another? There is no recipe which makes it palatable. That’s why we’re having no compromise in Washington.
What we really need to do is decide which world view represents the American character. Are we defined by our envy and willing to drag down anyone who rises above the pack simply because they’ve done so? Are we willing to define their achievement purely as ‘exploitation of others’ and punish them with high taxes simply for ‘having more’? Will we no longer allow America to be the place where individual achievement defines a person’s success level? If that’s so – if we’re willing to commit to that whole hog, then we should adopt the Democrat plan in total, rapidly escalate taxes and let the ‘rich fall where they may’.
They’ll all leave of course. That’s what the rich do. You can no more punish the rich for their success than you can expect the mob to remain reasonable. But the Democrat plan is like that old joke I’ve told about Ivan and Igor:
They were the same in every way. The same house, the same land, the same boots - they were even married to one of two twins for wives. The only difference in their lives was that Ivan had a goat and Igor didn’t so Igor thought of Ivan as being much ‘richer’ than he was. One day Igor found a lamp in the road and when he rubbed it a genie came out. The genie said, “Things aren’t what they used to be before the revolution comrade, but I can still grant you one wish. You can have anything you like – simply ask.” Igor thought carefully a minute and said “I wish Ivan’s goat would die.”
That’s the Democrat plan. They are looking at ‘the rich’ and praying for their goat to die. But since the genie hasn’t been forthcoming, they’re going to tax the goat away and slice it up to feed to the poor.
The key to a successful future in America is Economic liberty. We must be free to fail, and allowed to reap the benefits if we succeed. That’s the only thing that will even come close to keeping us from bankruptcy. Everything else is rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic – and eating goat as our last meal.
5 comments:
This post is right on, but for one particular Democrat at least—the president—I think you underestimate the sheer spitefulness of the envy.
One of the most revealing moments in the 2008 presidential campaign was in a Democrat primary debate when Charlie Gibson asked Obama about raising the capital gains tax rate, "...and in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?"
Obama didn't challenge the premise. He said he wanted to raise the rate "for purposes of fairness". So it's not even about getting more revenue to help the poor. If helping the poor and hurting the rich are in direct conflict, he would choose hurting the rich. Ivan's goat can rot as far as he's concerned, the important thing is for it to die.
I don't think I understated it Matt - I think most powerful liberal Democrats (the ones that are approved of by the KOS crowd) would say the same thing. And that's precisely the point.
It's not a matter of simply failing to enact his proposed policies. We need to reject not only the candidates, but the candidates very worldview. If we don't then to be frank, it's just a matter of waiting for fiscal death spiral to catch up with us.
There is no such thing as top down freedom, or specifically targeted liberty. We simply must reject the entire idea that our society should be organized around the concept of specific political groups getting a government benefit and giving someone else the bill. Anything else - even a small compromise with that idea - and it's really just a matter of letting the sand run out.
The part that set me off was where you said the Democrats would slice up the goat and feed it to the poor. Upon closer rereading I notice that you had that as their second choice.
So I guess all I've really done is reinforce your point.
Tom-
Another great post. I would quibble, however, with your argument that "Republicans" want growth for everyone--while this may have been true in the past, their behavior during the Bush years pretty much put the lie to their supposed free-market ideals. Certainly the tea-party candidates talk a better game, but even among many of these there is an aversion to touching Social Security and Medicare. So my personal opinion is we will (much, alas, like Atlas Shrugged) end up needing to kill the patient in order to save it.
The problem, as you allude to, is that any compromise with this redistributionist ethic ends up ultimately undermining the system. This has always been the great lie of the "mixed economy"--the notion that we should have some limited gov't involvement in the economy, but not "too much." Of course, everywhere the gov't gets involved they gum up the works and lower living standards, and also, most importantly, lead to periodic crises...which lead to calls for more gov't involvement. Thus, while the growth rate of gov't may fluctuate, it is always on an upward path (and potential economic growth, by definition, on a downward trajectory). The only "solution," as I see it, is essentially Greece on a global scale.
It really is stunning that as a result of the gov't and Federal Reserve creating the credit/housing bubble (something Austrian economists were warning of the whole time), we have ceded even more power to them. Reminds me of that old definition of insanity...
A fair point about the Republicans Rick - as a rule I know I tend to give them too much credit.
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