Ask not…
When John F. Kennedy challenged Americans in his inaugural address, the idea that the government should somehow provide for the individual citizen was in its infancy. In his speech that day, Kennedy also said, “… the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.”Unfortunately, the concept of “state as provider” is now a fully grown adult. Political candidates in both major parties spend most of their time telling various members of the electorate how the government is going to fix whatever problem is confronting them, usually by spending money.Of course, the government doesn’t actually HAVE any money. It creates no products or services to generate its own wealth. Government gets its money by taking it from the citizens who create the products and services that do generate wealth. It calls that action of taking money, taxation.
There are tasks that only a government can accomplish, such as national defense and infrastructure, which benefit every citizen, and for which every citizen is assessed through taxation. But those tasks are limited.
In the “State as provider” role, the government requires much larger amounts of money. The only way it can get the expanded funds is to take more from the citizens. So when a political candidate promises to create or expand a government program to solve the problems of person A, he is really saying that he is going to take more money from person B to make his promise become a reality.
The loss to person B is obvious – taxes get raised.
But the effect on person A, while less obvious, is just as detrimental. Government programs are not like private charities. They come with a myriad of eligibility requirements that always allow the government to invade every aspect of person A’s life, so person A trades privacy for assistance. They come with complicated and far-reaching rules and regulations that allow the government to dictate how person A must live, so person A trades control for help. And they come with arcane success measurements that allow the government to direct person A’s decisions about the future, so person A trades opportunity for aide.
What the state provides for, the state controls.
And, to add insult to injury, the state does not even provide well. Independent analyses of government run programs report that over 80 cents of every dollar spent by the government on programs to help people with their problems never leave the government – in other words, person A trades away his life to participate in a program that is only 20% effective.
Reputable private charities more than reverse those numbers – with about 90 cents of every dollar going to the service. But private charities don’t give the government control.
Government social programming does. All the person A’s out there are now dependent on the state for some aspect of their lives, so they will oppose any change in direction that cuts the program they rely upon. And, as the government continues to expand its reach, the increased taxation burden continues to move citizens from the person B category to the person A category, increasing the ranks of those whose lives government can direct.
Kennedy probably did not anticipate what would happen when an electorate began to ask its government what it could do for them, but his words were nonetheless prophetic. It’s time we listen to, and act upon, them.
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Peg Luksik is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Learn more at www.PegLuksik.com.
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3 Responses to “Ask not…The State as Provider Peg Luksik”
By Elizabeth A. Male on Oct 8, 2009 | Reply
Peg aludes to taxation as the source of funds for government largesse. Direct, transparent, quantifiable taxation would allow the electorate to presumably make rational decisions about the amount of government they wish to buy. Unfortunately, the Federal government controls the supply of our totally fiat currency. This gives them the ability to print unlimited numbers of dollars to “help” various victim groups at the expense of savers and investors. The tax that is inflicted on those groups is invisible, insidious, impossible to resist or quantify with precision. It is called INFLATION.
The root of all evil in this country are the multi-headed, twin sisters of the 16th Amendment/The income tax/The IRS and The Federal Reserve/unrestricted and undisciplined ability to print the fiat currency.
We will never get our government under control as long as they have the unfettered ability to reach into our paychecks and confiscate that portion they alone deem legal through the miracle of withholding; before we’ve tithed, taken care of our families or saved a penny for retirement. We will likewise never get control of our government as long as they have the ability to deficit spend and print money to cover themselves.
Those are the root of all evil. We must strike at the root if we truly wish to reclaim control of our government.
By BGuzzardi on Oct 8, 2009 | Reply
These institutions have been embedded in our psyches for almost 100 years and entrenched government bureaucracies have eternal life as Ronald Reagan pointed out. The rational analysis that you, Pat Barron and other Austrian and Free Market analysts provide is essential to understand the problem but not to solve it.
It may be that the Obama Administration and the Bernanke Federal Reserve have attempted a “bridge too far”.that may implode these institutions, “End the Fed” may come with a whimper.
As usual, you analysis is succinct and insightful, thanks, Betty
By Bitter American on Oct 8, 2009 | Reply
Well said, both of you. What many also fail to realize, vis-a-vis taxes, is the Ponzi scheme that we call Social Security. Until an individual’s contribution is reserved for the self and accountable only to the contributor and not the previous generation, the government will continue to rob Peter to pay Paul and create even less accountability to the taxpayer in general.