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Wealth and Socialism |
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Gregory Morris, 10/23/08 8:41:34 am |
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When Obama told Joe the Plumber that he wanted to "spread the wealth around", the McCain campaign immediately jumped on it, eventually hinting that Obama is a Socialist.
Obama's only response to that charge thus far has been "McCain voted for all that stuff too!" Of course, he's right, and McCain isn't exactly a model capitalist, or even a model Republican. He is definitely a fan of big government, but McCain has never vocally supported the use of taxation as a means of making life "more fair". He has never suggested that I should be forced to give a bigger piece of my pie to give to subsidize people who don't pay taxes. He has never suggested that the "wealthy" should be penalized for being successful. He has supported putting some power back into the hands of Americans by letting us keep more of the fruits of our labor.
Through his recent comments and his record, Obama has shown us the basis for his economic philosophy. "Spreading" the wealth insinuates a belief that the amount of wealth in the nation is fixed and that wealth cannot be created. Or worse, he sees a nation's wealth as somehow proceeding from government instead of business and labor. These views are extremely troubling, and not only because history has shown them to be untrue.
A belief in the fixed wealth of a nation boils down to the devaluation of labor. If my labor does not result in new value, and by extension new wealth, then what exactly is it doing? Therein lies the biggest problem I have with socialism: there is an inherent belief that my labor is (and should be) of value only to the society as a whole and not to myself individually.
Socialism eliminates incentive to do any more than "just enough to get by". If I can work a little bit harder, and make a little more money, but by making that much more money I'll be taxed at a higher rate and therefore end up working harder for the same pay, I'm not going to work that little bit harder. I'll be producing less because there is no benefit for me to produce more. This, of course, has an easily envisioned cascading effect across all aspects of our industry and economy.
I'm not just saying this because I'm some Bush-loving capitalist who hates poor people and supports evil mega-corps who are raping the planet and abusing their helpless employees. Ask anyone who knows me, that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm saying it because I believe that everyone has the right to create a better life for themselves. That is the American Dream, no? However, nobody has the "right" to a better life, paid for by my labor. You heard it here first: Barack Obama wants to destroy the American Dream.
The Declaration of Independence states that the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights held by all men. Socialism by its very essence denies the latter two, in favor of a naive "right" to happiness, without regard to liberty. Consider that before pulling the lever on November 4th. |
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