Ability, Needs, and Pass Me the Wet Wipes!

cross posted at Right Michigan

Karl Marx was only paraphrasing Barack Obama when he said "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." I might have that turned around a bit, but you get my point.

If it were possible to overlook Marx's obvious misogyny, (you'd think a progressive could at least recognize a woman's contribution to society,) it would be easy to discern the innocent intent of a benevolent government. The caring government simply seeks to spread the wealth benefits of a successful economy on to all of the people equally. That some would shoulder an undue share of the burden is merely a consequence of privilege and incidental to a wholesome process overall. So, suck it up, bucko!

If this election is shaping up to be anything close to what the polls are currently telling us, the American public is pining for a new vision of America; that perfect situation where each individual is working diligently to better the lives of all Americans or, absent that, at least willing to cash in on the concept. Too bad for all of us that those founding fathers were such ignoramuses back when they had a chance to get it right the first time. Where was Chomsky when we needed him back in the late 1700s?

If the talking points are correct, for too long the ravages of capitalism and the free market have been guiltlessly tossed onto the backs of middle class workers and the underprivileged by greedy corporations, bankers, conservatives, oil men, drug companies, the wealthy, and Dick Cheney (who, after an even glancing review, is definitely guilty of the grand greed-trifecta and a woefully bad wielder of shotguns.) Of course, Dick Cheney is only one icon of greed. Sometimes greed, as we discovered this past weekend, is just as well personified by the local plumber.

Wealth is not being distributed evenly and only a small percentage of Americans control a vast majority of it. Tax cuts are being passed on to these same wealthy barons by entrenched bureaucrats who are on the take while the poor struggle.

Greed and deregulation have caused our current problems and it is time for the change of hope (or maybe it is the hope of change,) to steer our country back onto a course of new economic sanity. People motivated by selfishness should not be in charge. The reins of the economy need to be turned over to a better jockey, a benevolent and all-knowing government that, from its lofty saddle and bestowed with the necessary authority to make the changes we all hope for, can, by God, initiate in a new age of fairness, happiness, and financial equality.

Or so the argument goes, though often it is made with concise sentences and fewer commas.

As The Obama said himself this weekend, he isn't trying to punish anyone, he just thinks it is a good idea to spread the wealth around. And with taxation being patriotic and all, who are we to argue?

It is unfortunate, really, that this sort of intervention into the private sector by governments has already been tried countless times and has dismally failed on every occasion where it has been attempted. Every. Single. Time. In fact, it has been argued quite successfully that the problems we are experiencing today economically are the direct result of government already having its big fat nose right in the middle of the private sector trying to manipulate outcomes through taxing and spending policy. It would be easy to try and blame this robbery through taxation solely on the Democrats, but in truth the Republicans have to be held partially responsible for the huge increases in government spending and interventions of this decade, during much of which they controlled not only the White House but both houses of Congress. Odd that with such power comes such scrutiny.

Socialism has not failed everywhere it has been tried because a particular brand of intervention was mistakenly adopted or that slight mistakes were made in presentation or execution, but because these forays into private enterprise have to ignore human nature to succeed, and precisely because they ignore human nature, they are destined to fail.

When Obama is elected he will demand from Congress the legislation that allows him to enact the changes he has promised. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, also avowed socialists, will comply posthaste. The redistribution of wealth will become a means to an end. Trade barriers will be enacted to protect inefficient businesses while profitable businesses will be punished for their success. Individuals that generate wealth through hard work will be discouraged through punitive taxation while those occupying unskilled labor positions will be rewarded with a "living wage." Productivity will fall as will overall wealth. What is left of the wealth that remains will be spread about indiscriminately like cheap oleo. Just add a little generic ketchup and it won't taste all that bad.

What is completely lost on socialist planners is that if you want more of one kind of behavior you need to reward the behavior. If you want less of a certain type of behavior you need to discourage the behavior. Don't believe me? Start giving your dog a treat every time he has an accident on the carpet and observe how long it takes for the carpet to lose that fresh, factory smell.

Do you need a human example? Ask the local plumber if he is more likely to hire additional staff when profits shrink and the cost of each employee rises.

Socialism champions the most ridiculous of all solutions to predictable economic problems and Barack Obama is socialism's true champion. He wishes to encourage wealth by punishing it while he discourages poverty and dysfunction by rubbing it on the belly and handing it a delightful bacon flavored Snausage.

What could possibly go wrong with such a wonderfully planned strategy?

Apparently millions upon millions of voters either don't have a clue as to how these things work, are so enamored with change that they don't even care if they are embracing blatant socialism, or are already counting on something substantial in that government surplus Christmas stocking.

Me? Just to be safe, I'm going to stock up on wet wipes and put a carpet cleaner on layaway.