P@triot
Diamond Member
To claim “economic equality is unjust” is a horrible understatement. Economic equality is flat out evil. Most people are taught as toddlers that it is not acceptable to take what doesn’t belong to you. And most people learn by elementary school that it is in poor taste to accept that which you didn’t earn.
*Quotes are taken from marketing material for upcoming economic lecture by David Burton - Senior Fellow, Economic Policy, Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation
Anyone who demands equal outcomes without first demanding equal effort, talent, abilities, hours, and most of all - results - is a monster. Person B shouldn’t work half as hard and half as long as Person A and still get the same compensation or lifestyle.Conservatives, classical liberals and libertarians celebrate the fact that people have unequal (or diverse) talents, preferences, risk averseness, attachments and cultures because these are the central element to the rich tapestry of an enlightened, humane and prosperous society. These differences will inevitably lead to economic differences. And those differences are not objectionable. Any political system that mandated economic equality would be unjust. It is unjust to treat unequal situations equally.
The bottom line - government has no authority to take from one and give to another. None. And no, the right to tax does not even remotely qualify. Taxes are to run the government. If you’re not a government employee, then taxes do not justify your income from a tax payer.Government should not enforce a pre-determined distribution of income or wealth. Individual effort, merit, preferences and values matter morally. An unplanned distribution is just if the distribution is the result of individuals acting freely in accordance with just rules.
*Quotes are taken from marketing material for upcoming economic lecture by David Burton - Senior Fellow, Economic Policy, Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation