As you may have detected from one of my earlier posts I am something of an Ayn Rand fan. That is not to say that I agree with her philosophy 100% and I am certainly on a different plain theologically but that does not mean that there are not some points of contact in her thoughts and my own. As of right now I am a few hundred pages into her epic novel Atlas Shrugged. I first became intrigued by this work after I watched the first installment of the movie. I quickly came to realize that in the political realm Ms. Rand and I were nearly next door neighbors. Her ability to accurately predict our current state of affairs in the United States from several decades in the past is hauntingly prophetic. As I read some of the statements made by political officials and the railroad alliance in the book I am shocked at how much they sound like statements being made today.
Admittedly, I have only just begun to scratch the surface of this lengthy work of literature but one thing that stands out to me so far is the question of what we encourage in our society. The clear message of Atlas Shrugged, as far as I am, is that society has ceased to encourage what I think Rand would call "greatness." This is replaced with mediocrity and what the characters in the book would inaccurately define as "fairness." For the powers-that-be in Rand's world it is "unfair" that Henry Rearden is capitalizing on his own ingenuity and business prowess. He is made to feel guilty because he is in business to make money, and as much of it as he possibly can. What of all the other, less than stellar steel companies that he is putting out of business because he excels at it? It is also seen as unfair that Rearden is pushing the technological envelope with his new "Rearden Metal." All of this, of course, is coming at a time of worldwide economic downturn.
The parallels with out current condition in America are frighteningly clear. Almost every night on the news, and certainly throughout the Presidential election we just experienced, the ingenious and productive in our society are being demonized. There seems to be some mysterious, and yet undefined, limit on how much money one person or corporation is allowed to make. Beyond that figure it is seen as unfair, unethical, and immoral to reap the benefits of one's effort. Added to this is the clear message from our government that it will provide handouts to anyone who wants them. I will never forget the almost incoherent rant of a staunch Obama supporter who was raving about her "Obama phone" and how no one was going to take it away from her if she had anything to do with it. My dear wife had a similar experience at a local clothing store just the other day. While perusing the racks of clothing she overheard one of the employees explaining to her co-worker that one of her friends had just been fired from her job. She went on to explain that it was not nearly as tragic as one might assume because at least her friend could now draw unemployment. Where does that money come from? You and I.
As more and more people get on the government "dole" and as that provision becomes more and more lucrative what message do you think is being sent to the people? "Why work for my income when I can just get it from the government?" My fellow Americans, that it the only message that is sends, the only one.
As a result of far reaching promises by the government more income must be conjured up to meet the budget. As I am sure everyone has heard, it is up to the wealthy to pay their "fair share" to fund the check the government has already written. In what reality is it right for the producers to pay for those who refuse to produce? I am in no way suggesting that there should not be some kind of provision for those who are unable to provide for themselves. I do believe that the Church and other charitable organizations should bear the greatest portion of that responsibility but I really have no problem with short-term unemployment benefits. However, we are way beyond that today. I have heard far too many stories of people who are genuinely disabled and cannot get the benefits due them while the lazy and unproductive are sent to the front of the line.
The problem with constantly upping the definition of what someone's "fair share" is, is that it completely discourages people from striving for greatness. If someone knows that once they reach a certain threshold of profit they are going to be taxed at 60-70%, then what motivation is there for them to produce a product or service that will lead to them exceeding that amount? I can see a few things happening. First, that person could stop striving for greatness. If there is no motivation for doing better or creating a better product than the next company, why try? Secondly, that person will seek ways in which to get around the system. These are the loopholes we kept hearing about during the election. If the government is going to tax the daylights out of my income, why not put it in an account somewhere else? What is that doing? Moving the dollars somewhere else where they are not helping our economy. The third thing is like the second. A productive business may just decide to take their business elsewhere. Again, this does nothing for our economy or general greatness.
What people fail to see is that when companies are doing well, making money and producing products that people want to buy, everyone benefits. Once one person begins to increase technologically then it motivates others to do the same in order to keep up competition. This drives prices either up or down which can increase wages and thereby increasing consumption. Steve Jobs and the iPod/iPhone/iPad is a perfect example of this. Here was a guy who revolutionized portable electronics. He had a vision for a really groundbreaking platform and created a product that is still at the top of the list. What was the result? Every other electronics company tried to make their own version. In a sense, Jobs' ingenuity single-handedly propelled the consumer electronics market to where it is today. In the process he also saved a computer company that was on the way out. Here's the crazy thing, if you look at the average salaries of Apple employees they are far above minimum wage. Jobs, though passed on, made an inordinate amount of money as a result of his ideas but it was also passed along to the people who helped make the company great.
Now, for every Steve Jobs and Bill Gates on the planet there are also plenty of CEOs who pad their bank accounts at the expense of those who work for them. This is inexcusable but it is not a problem for the legislators or national executives. It is a problem for the ethicist, theologian and evangelist. A wicked CEO is going to find a way around the law no matter how many you pass to address their wickedness. The solution is to turn the wicked CEO into a good CEO. Despite what the Social Gospel crowd would have you believe, changing the system is not going to change the people in the system.
In the interest of not exposing a problem and then offering no solution I will offer my solution.
1) Stop encouraging laziness in society. Show the people that hard work pays off. This means strict limits and requirements for unemployment, disability and welfare. Let it be what it was meant to be, a stop gap. There is a massive difference between giving someone a hand up and a handout.
2) Encourage giving to charitable organizations and free those organizations to do their work in the most effective manner possible. A private organization can almost always do something more efficiently than the government. This will free the government from their self-proclaimed responsibility to care for everyone.
3) Encourage people to strive for greatness. Ease harmful regulations that are only designed to provide bureaucratic jobs that offer nothing to society. Let people keep the money they have earned through their own effort. Certain taxes are just (national defense, provision for elected officials, etc.) but most that we have today are not and they go to pay unjust and ultimately harmful programs.
Sadly, the truth of the matter is that as long as people understand that they can vote themselves a handout it is almost impossible to make these changes. I hope that we are not beyond the point of no return in our nation and I pray that we can elect statesmen who will courageously attack the problems we face in our time. If we are to be a great nation once again we must strive for that greatness and stop encouraging mediocrity. History has proven that once mediocrity takes hold, tyranny is just around the corner.
Semper libertas,
RV
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