I'm Not One of Those

FutbolGuru — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:17:00 GMT

It has become unfashionable in some circles to speak out against the rich. Of course it is a hobby on the left, and it is not at all uncommon for a wealthy congressman or actor to rail against excess, such as former South Carolina Senator Ernest Hollings’, famous statement that, “There’s too much consumin’ goin’ on.” Whether he’s right or wrong, his statement smacks of pandering, and for the most part middle-class Americans have been conditioned against openly criticizing the rich. We are free in this country and part of being free is the freedom to make tons of money and live the way we want. Who’s business is it to question how much money another person makes, even if it rises into the billions betting against our own economy and helping raise oil prices? In fact, speaking out against the rich is generally considered a sign of envy or jealousy and the speaker is often cast as less ambitious/intelligent/or otherwise lucky as the one he’s attacking. Across a large segment of society it has become un-American to speak out against wealth. It is even labeled as communist or socialist.

But it is exactly what I’ve been doing on Not-a-Lemming. Especially in my previous post. And I’m no communist or socialist. Most people who know me would call me a conservative. So how can I claim to be a conservative while at the same time bashing the rich in the land of rugged individualism? Can a conservative do that? And please don’t confuse the term ‘Conservative’ with the party ‘Republican’ or the orientation, ‘Right’. They are not now, nor have they ever been congruent even if their intersection is not the empty set. I can do it because I’m not bashing the rich. I am a staunch capitalist and am strongly in favor of innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit.

I got an iPod shuffle for Christmas. Actually I bought it for myself when I was shopping for my kids. It is one of the most amazing little devices I’ve ever seen. I’m no technophobe and have been aware of, and owned, iPods since their inception. But I remember a world before iPods. A world of transistor radios that rarely worked and clunky cassette and CD Walkmans that chewed through batteries like a teenage druggy burning through an inheritance. I now have a tiny device just a little larger than a postage stamp that can deliver hours of crystal clear music. That is innovation! That is legitimate wealth. Kudos to you Mr. Jobs. Live however you like. You’ve earned it, sir. And you’ve given back.

On the other hand, I live in a town supported primarily by government money. If our spigot ever dries up, this place with shrivel like lettuce in Palm Springs. A lot of people in this town start businesses, grow them, sell them, and get rich. Then they walk around with their heads in the air, literally, and puff about their innovation, sacrifice, and entrepreneurial skill. Except they built their businesses entirely on government money. Sure there were some long days writing proposals for government contracts, but for the most part their was no real personal investment, and the seed product of the business was almost always taken (some say stolen) from a competing company when the new business owner quit and took it with him. And these business owners invariably feel they earned it entirely through their own hard work and rarely give any of it back. Choosing rather to spend their windfall of fancy cars, second homes, and glitzy vacations.

Now Mr. Jobs has a pretty nice home, and I’ll wager that he’s got some nice cars too. And maybe even vacations from time to time, but there is a fundamental difference between what he does, and what these tax-suckers do. And now we’ve taken it to an entirely different level. A level which makes government contractors look like Mother Teresa. I’ll say it again as I’ve said it before, $750,000,000,000. And who acted like we were obligated to give it to them? Banks! Banks that took trillions (that’s $1e12 for you geeks out there) of investor money and evaporated it on bad loans in get-rich-quick schemes. They literally held the international monetary system hostage when they adopted an attitude that said, “Okay, don’t give it to us and see what happens.” How dare those bastards! And after losing our money!

This isn’t capitalism. It’s bad socialism. Perhaps even closer to Hitler’s fascism where the government propped up major industries to keep the war going. Yes, it is banks getting the money, but what about the executives that got them into that position? The failed executives. Did they give back their six-figure+ bonuses? Did they lose their mansions and second homes and personal bank accounts? Did their children have to drop out of the Ivy League schools they are attending? Will they be going on vacation this summer? Are their garages still filled with Mercedes and BMWs? Are their pension plans empty?

These people remained rich, and that is wrong. It is wrong because I’m NOT a communist. It is wrong because I’m NOT a socialist. In Soviet Russia party members became fabulously wealthy by diverting public rubles to their own accounts. All it required was a law. In socialist nations, the upper-class administrates public concerns which pay their salary out of the till. The same people who happen to run the government. And now that is America, too. I'm not saying they aren't entitled to it if they have worked for it. I'm just saying they aren't entitled to 14% of the GNP if they haven't worked for it. Especially after it was their poor management and lack of fiscal responsibility that got us into this mess in the first place.

Furthermore, I can think of no greater depressing effect on innovation and entrepreneurship than the bank bailout and the likely auto bailout. It has gazed straight into the eyes of the middle class and said, “fuck you.” I don’t apologize for the expletive. Expletives have their place, and this is it. This isn’t railing against the rich. This is railing against thievery. This is railing against communism and socialism at its worst. What incentive do I have to continue working night after night on actual products I hope to one day sell to actual people, when those who have figured out how to put their hand in the public till and pull out a dollar seem to have such a higher success rate? America was the land of innovation because innovation was rewarded. But how much longer will that be true in this climate? Especially when it is noted that those who actually earned money are far more willing to capitalize others than those who stole it. As the ratio of earners to thieves tips ever more in favor of the thieves, who for some reason feel they deserve their privileged lifestyle, actual seed money will become less, and less available. Innovators will leave for other places with fewer regulation and more favorable populations, and America’s monopoly on innovation will wither.

It is already happening. Europe, as it emerges from the effects of two world wars is gaining momentum. China, momentarily set back by the economic downturn, will regain her feet. And America, with capitol tied up in the hands of thieves, will seem increasingly less attractive to the talented and ambitious. It’s happened before.

So I reject any and all assertions that I am un-American, or communist, or socialist, or even jealous. I am a capitalist American who believes in fair play, equality of opportunity, and reward for innovation. You want to find a communist, go to an investment bank. He’ll be hiding in the closet under a pile of taxpayer money.

Next: Partners in Crime

-Futbol Guru, http://mises.org/Community/blogs/not-a-lemming

Not-a-Lemming : fascism

I'm Not One of Those