I thought this was just worth posting. Some people have scepticism of Chuck Missler and his views or things he has said over the years, but this rings true with me:
SOCIALISM IS STILL BAD NEWS
by Chuck Missler, K-house eNews, November 4, 2008
Most Americans might not really appreciate this, but the U.S. Constitution does not entitle anybody to health insurance.
It's true.
The Constitution does not require Congress to take money from those Americans who possess more and hand it over to those with less. It doesn’t even encourage Congress to subsidize farmers or pay for prescription medications. It just doesn't.
In Article I Section 8, the Constitution does say:
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…"
It goes on to talk about securing patents for scientists and establishing postal offices and roads and supporting armies and maintaining a navy. It says nothing about feeding all the downtrodden. There were plenty of poor people back in the days of the Founders, and they did not once mention using taxes to feed 'em. Apparently, providing for the general Welfare did include maintaining roads and hiring judges and keeping the peace, and did not include buying tuna fish for single moms.
Does that mean we should let the poor starve to death? Should we leave our grandparents without support or health care? Of course not. It just was never supposed to be the federal government's job to take care of these things. Here's why:
- Congress is not an industry. It does not produce anything that can be sold. It must take money from the people in order to pay for anything.
- Governments are by nature wasteful. It's easy to overspend money when the funds come from somebody else’s hard work.
- Governments are run by imperfect humans and are therefore subject to mismanagement. For this reason, it is best to keep them small and easily managed, with very specified responsibilities.
- Governments are run by imperfect humans and are therefore subject to corruption. For this reason, it is best to keep them out of trouble by limiting their power. (Lobbyists and special interest groups could just go home were Congress kept within its constitutional limits.)
- Bigger government means more bureaucracy, more government fingers in private lives, and less liberty.
Socialism is corrupt by nature. As soon as Congress started taking money from taxpayers to give it to somebody else, the whole idea of private property was compromised. My property is not really mine if the government officials can stick me in jail for not giving some of it to them.
As George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams wrote recently:
"Whatever Congress wishes to give, it has to first take other people's money. Thus, at the root of the welfare state is the immorality of intimidation, threats and coercion backed up with the threat of violence by the agents of the U.S. Congress. In order for Congress to do what some Americans deem as good, it must first do evil. It must do that which if done privately would mean a jail sentence; namely, take the property of one American to give to another."
But...if the federal government did not take care of poverty, of health care, of the elderly, then who would do it! Who would take care of all these things that need serious attention?
We would, of course. We the people.
We are caring for people every day in communities all across this great nation without any government involvement. Unfortunately, we Americans have gotten so spoiled, we're in danger of losing the ability to properly govern ourselves. We think that "freedom" means license to do whatever we want to do. We think that "general welfare" means adding on to that massive government feeding trough. As we have stopped obeying God's Word and controlling ourselves, as we have gone lax in caring for our own families, young and old, we have found ourselves in an increasingly deep hole, surrounded by a growing number of government officials, along with red tape and high taxes, and... the poor still with us.
Let's get back to taking responsibility for ourselves, to doing what is right ourselves, and maybe we will find the federal government shrinking as a natural result.
Related Links:
• The U.S. Constitution - National Archives• Destroying Liberty - Walter E Williams
• 'What's Wrong With Socialism?' - WorldNetDaily
3 comments:
Great article, Jeremiah, thanks for sharing!
What a crock of shit. Government is a place where people come together as a force for good and nobody gets left behind.
We made a decision more than a hundred years ago to have a progressive tax system. Meaning the more you make the higher % you pay in taxes. This is a question of morality. Are you for the flat tax? So someone making 40,000 pays the same % as someone making 20,000,000? Do you consider progressive taxes socialism? I probably pay a higher % than you and I am ok with that.
"...but the U.S. Constitution does not entitle anybody to health insurance."
It also does not entitle anybody to roads, bridges, national parks, clean air and water, fire and emergency services, police protection... AND the financial system and markets created by government that allows me to make money. Should we turn all of this over to private industry where profit and greed are the primary motivators? Is profit the very best force to protect the common good? The CEO of the largest health insurance company, United Healthcare, made 1 BILLION dollars last year. How many more procedures could have been approved by United if the CEO decided he was only going to make 500 MILLION? If you want to make golf clubs I don't care how much money you make, we can live without golf clubs. People are dying because health care in this country is driven by profit. Death by excel spreadsheet.
Anon - no a progressive tax is far from socialism. I think you are maybe missing the point of this post. Yes, profit and greed are very ugly parts of private enterprise, especially when those in power aren't accountable to the Higher Power. However when profit is a motivator there tends to be more efficiency and less waste. I've witnessed first hand the waste that can accompany government type jobs. As far as caring for the poor, this is certainly not something to be taken lightly. It is something we should all take responsibility for, the point of the post is that it costs a whole lot more money to expect the government to care for the poor rather than if we as individuals step up and take on the responsibility ourselves. As far as the healthcare system... yes it is a disaster, the solution is not an easy one. You obviously feel very passionate about this. I couldn't agree with you more when you talk about the disgustiness of the insurance industry. I'm just not sure nationalizing healthcare is the way to go. In Mexico, insurance companies are few and far between and for the most part people pay to go to the doctor. Without insurance companies and such rampant malpractice things are far more affordable. For example delivering a baby costs somewhere between $750 - $2000, where as in the U.S. your looking at close to $20,000. Once again though this goes back to taking responsibility for oneself, if the U.S. as a whole did that more often, malpractice wouldn't be the huge problem and expense that it is in the U.S. medical industry.
Even though Jeremiah posted this and he is definitely more conservative than I am on these matters, I am always one for a good debate. I think encouraging these kinds of conversations spurs ideas and solutions to these types of problems. I do find it interesting though that after such an abrupt intro you are not willing to claim your identity to really stand behind what you believe in.
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