Every involvement of government in a human need becomes a way of redistributing wealth. Everyone thinks that the rich can be tapped to subsidize those less fortunate. It sounds so moral. It seems to be workable. The rich can afford it. The big problem is that the poor cannot afford it.
One of the problems with subsidizing health care, housing, food or anything else is that it takes away the motivation to improve yourself. It saps the will to strive and move to a higher level. Be honest. If you could get all the comforts of life without going to work, how long would you put up with your dead end job? If you could depend on the government mandating increases in wage without doing anything more to earn it (minimum wage), would you work harder? Again, be honest. I think the answer is no.
The land of opportunity was not the land of guaranteed comforts. It was a country where if you were willing to work hard, take chances and plan for the future, the sky was the limit. If there are no rewards for sitting on your couch you might get a second job, train for new skills, go to college or move to a location that has more opportunity. Your future was in your hands. You were a free citizen.
All the government subsidies make short term comfort but cause long term limitations. They tend to keep you on the dole and make you subjects instead of citizens. The Progressives love that because they know what is best for you. The conservatives hate it because it takes away the freedom of the hard working as well as the unmotivated.
homo unius libri
Healthcare is NOT a right, yet I'm not against all help to individuals. What burns me is that after stealing the Social Security funds under LBJ and EVER SINCE by BOTH parties, they talk of freezing or even cutting benefits. Meanwhile, they continue to have fifth generation+ welfare families, and give benefits to immigrants, legal and illegal that are often FAR more than double what retirees get.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a couple of points that keep Social Security from working well. I paid the same into my teacher retirement that I would have paid into Social Security plus an additional fee so I would be eligible for Medicare. I only put in about half the time I could so I am not getting a full pension, but if I were I would be getting at least four times what I would get from SS. The reason is that what I put in was invested and managed as an investment instead of being stolen by congress. And don't get me started on the people who did not pay in.
DeleteGrace and peace.