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May 24, 2003
Selective Observation
From Calpundit:
- Yes, rich people are often rich because of their innate talents and hard work. But as Buffett points out, they are also rich because the culture they live in helped them along. If Bill Gates had grown up in Pakistan, he might be worth a few million dollars, but growing up in Seattle he ended up worth $50 billion. So of that $50 billion, how much is due to his innate talent and hard work and how much is due to the fact that he grew up in America?
The answer is obvious. America was responsible for a big chunk of Bill Gates' fortune, which is why it makes sense that he should be asked to pay more to keep the country going.
Calpundit observes that "if Bill Gates had grown up in Pakistan, he might be worth a few million dollars." Thus, our attention is focused on the plight of those living in Pakistan, a nation without political and religious freedom, ruled by a dictator. The false conclusion is then drawn that since the government of the United States is what allowed Bill Gates to accumulate $50 billion, he should be expected to "pay more to keep the country going."
However, Sweden's government has religious and political freedom that is comparable to the United States. And while choosing between a life in Sweden versus a life in Pakistan is an easy choice, it is unlikely that the hypothetical Bill Gates would have earned any more money in Sweden than in Pakistan, because Sweden is a socialist state.
It is the Economic Freedom of America that allowed Bill Gates to become fabulously wealthy, and it is our economic freedom that is threatened when our leaders pursue the politics of greed and envy, as advanced by Calpundit in the form of confiscatory taxes and larger entitlement programs.
Short of highway robbery, higher taxes are never going to make Bill Gates poor, nor will they ever make the poor as rich as Bill Gates. Instead, they create another opening for the harmful and failed policies of socialism and communism to infiltrate and destroy our economy. Some folks just refuse to learn.
Posted by crandal at May 24, 2003 08:35 PM