The liberal issues of inequality, the ‘war on women’, LBJ’s Great Society, increased entitlements and ‘tax the rich’ are all progressive strides on the treadmill to limited freedoms. On the other hand that same progression brings increasing power to the sheltered elites* in government. Completing the cycle of cultural and economic evolution, regulation and redistribution are ingredients in the recipe that assures a half-baked result. And the elite political class of bureaucrats can’t survive on the same healthcare and other subsidized benefits that the middle class (workers and entrepreneurs) receives.
In Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, we are reminded that the United States is dedicated to “the proposition that all men are created equal.” What we must not forget is that while we are all created equal, equal outcomes are not guaranteed. Socialist forms of government are based on redistribution of earnings, wealth and incomes. This synthetic manipulation of all levels of the economy removes incentives for entrepreneurs and inhibits the productivity of workers. In order to regulate the exchange of assets throughout government and the population, the bureaucracy must be expanded to handle the artificial mix of taxes, fees, tariffs, fines, assessments, tolls, duties, grants, loans and earned income tax credits along with an endless list of handouts and entitlements.
Heed the words of Nobel economist Milton and Rose Friedman from their book, ‘Free to Choose’. “A society that puts equality-in the sense of equality of outcome-ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom.” In a column written by Thomas Sowell, he mentions the fallacy of confiscatory policies (tax the rich) in Russia and Cuba. Russian farmers quit producing and Cubans drive around in 50 and 60-year-old cars made in the USA.
The ‘War on Poverty’ of 1964 when LBJ was President was quickly followed by ‘The Great Society’ that then President Lyndon B. Johnson headlined in a speech on May 22 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. One of his goals was to ‘rebuild all urban areas’ in 40 years (by 2004). The folks in nearby Detroit must not have heard his message. These programs were also designed to wipe out poverty and all forms of racial divides. Future presidents including Mr. Obama must not have read those immortal words of sagacity. But while these uplifting words were astute, the lack of action brought abject failure to his programs.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan served as an assistant in the Labor Department under LBJ. He issued a report that highlighted ‘troubling problems’ of inner-city Blacks. The focus was on the increasing number of fatherless family homes. New programs developed were subsidizing single parent homes and penalizing marriage. Essentially, families were being paid to keep fathers out of the home. The tragic tale is that over all these years, thousands of politicians have kept handing out the money and watching the dual results of urban decay and the decline of the traditional family. As you read this column, politicians are still too greedy for votes to allow the propriety of correcting their bad judgment and wasteful decisions.
Jason Riley, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of the Wall Street Journal has written a book entitled, ‘Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make it Harder for Blacks to Succeed.’ In his book, Riley, himself a Black Man, points out the flaws in liberal political ideology how well-intentioned welfare programs are holding back Black people and families. Examples include minimum-wage laws that keep a disproportionate share of Blacks out of the workforce and affirmative action in higher education that reduces the number of Black college graduates.
Poverty is still with us through social programs that have cost trillions of dollars over the past 50 years. It is probably true that there is a limit to intelligence but no limit to stupidity. Politicians turned government officials are not stupid; they cleverly divert our attention by saying they are helping people by giving them ‘free’ benefits. ‘Free’ benefits are grievously expensive; what is needed is inspiration, training and opportunity.
– Dick Baynton
*Sheltered elites include liberal members of academia, regulation zealots and sycophants like Reverend Al Sharpton who is a self-appointed living tax shelter.