It’s a normal work day. You wake yourself up at 5:30AM, having luxuriated in an additional half hour of sleep (you normally wake up at 5:00AM if not a tad earlier).
You make your first morning cup of coffee, and drag yourself through shaving, brushing your teeth and showering.
You gather together all things needed for the day, and put them into your vehicle.
You get your still-sleeping-child into clothes and out of bed, brushing his or her hair along the way.
The two of you make your way out of the house, grabbing a “treat” for your child on the way out the door.
You lock the door, and walk toward your vehicle.
Suddenly, someone you’ve never seen before jumps out from behind your car and informs you that you need to give them food, or money to buy food. They inform you that, “Food is a right and as such, you must provide it to me if I can’t do so for myself.”
Up to the last paragraph, the descriptive might roughly match that of the average father or mother and child, getting out, on their way to a “normal day.” That last bit though, seems just a little far-fetched.
In reality though, it’s not as distant from reality as one might assume. You see, every day I work, a portion of my income is taken from me on much the same premise, as if a person did exactly as I have here presented.
In fact, what actually happens is just a little bit stranger than what I’ve written.
In the one case, at least the individual for whom the supposed “right” exists is telling me I need to support him or her. In the “true to life case” though, it’s government telling me about the person’s “right” as they pick my pocket to supposedly pay for that person to eat.
What actually happens to the money collected? Your guess is likely as good as mine. So much money is collected and so very much of it is used for administration, and things other than feeding the person whose “right” I’m supposedly supporting, as to make it anybody’s guess.
The one thing I can say for sure is this. The same folks who are supposedly “looking after the rights of” these supposedly underprivileged folks, are assuredly not looking after my rights, or those of my family.
How can I say this? Simple. Those people are willing to require taxes are taken from my earnings regardless what’s happening in my life. They have zero idea what I’m going through, nor do they care. In fact, based on how they do things, they cannot care.
The best for which I can hope, is that they will give back some of the money they’ve taken due to perceived “extenuating circumstances” come the day of reckoning (aka, “tax day”). That means, if me and mine starve between now and then due to some situation or circumstances beyond our control, it’s no business or concern to those “helping the needy through taxation.”
And this is not just a matter of sustenance. I know people who are supposedly indigent who get far better health care than I could ever afford (even though I pay for health insurance).
The same sort of thing sort of applies to education. Though I wasn’t nearly as “far-seeing” in my youth as I am today, and I didn’t fail to go to college strictly because I knew I couldn’t afford it, I knew well, that I could not afford the crushing cost of a “higher education.” Further, I have amassed a sufficiency of debt in my lifetime, without taking out loans to “get knowledge.”
I work as a “professional” nonetheless, making relatively good money in the process.
That being said though, the result is that I supposedly “pay for” a lot of folks eat, to have a place to stay, to support their children with food, and school, and for a variety of other things.
Lest you be tempted to say something like, “So do I, and it doesn’t bother me to do so.” Allow me to make a couple of observations.
- You may believe you’re supporting others “with your taxes,” but considering the average person pays income taxes and gets most or all of them–if not more than what they paid in–back at the end of the year, you might want to check how that has worked for you before making such a statement.
- There are things I like, or in which I believe, that I have zero expectations you will support. Put simply, “Just because I’m okay with something, doesn’t mean I should expect you will be likewise.”
Again though, the reality is that the government spends a small percentage of what it takes in on such people and circumstances.
It’s actually worse than this though. You see, every day a plethora of stories pepper our news media (however negligent they may be) with abuses of systems designed to help those in need. Simply stated, billions of dollars per year are wasted on people who are not in the least, needy.
That’s just considering the obvious cases, by the way. There are a good many people who perpetually make bad life choices, then expect society at large to “lend them a hand” when they cannot or will not support themselves.
It should be well understood, that I’m not saying there’s nobody out there in legitimate need. On the other hand, it should also be clear, that many such people will never qualify for, much less get such aid as would help them to overcome that need.
More importantly, stating that such need is not a need but a “right,” is in my view, most definitely errant. Rights cannot be taken away, they are not bestowed, they exist.
I have no right to food, nor to housing, nor medical coverage, nor education. Your saying I do notwithstanding. If I have no such “rights,” how is it others assume they do? This is a fine question with no good answer.
Thanks, as usual, for your time and attention. May your time be good.