[We] should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when a corruption in this [country], as in the country from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of government and be spread by them through the body of the people; when they will purchase the voices of the people and make them pay the price. Human nature is the same on every side of the Atlantic , and will be alike influenced by the same causes. – Thomas Jefferson, 1782
If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy. – Thomas Jefferson, 1802
We have briefly discussed legal plunder in general terms, but perhaps now is the time to provide some specific examples of state sponsored theft. Many of you may not realize this, but our federal government encourages plunder! A state sponsored website here, boldly proclaiming ‘Your path to government benefits’, provides the citizen a series of browser links to the various federal agencies that provide ‘benefits’ of one kind or another. There are 407 general ‘benefits’ specified on the website, which are managed by 28 (!) federal agencies. Below is a list of benefits from a single federal organization, the Health and Human Services Agency:
AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program
Adoption Assistance Adoption Assistance
Advanced Education Nursing Traineeships
Alcohol National Research Service Awards
Alcohol Research Career Development
Assets for Independence
Assistance for Victims of Trafficking
Assistance in Puerto Rico , U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam
Assistance to Torture Victims
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Research and Research Training
Biological Response to Environmental Health Hazards
Cell Biology and Biophysics Research and Research Training
Chafee Foster Care Independent Living
Child Care Resource and Referral
Child Care and Development Fund
Child Support Enforcement
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs
Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center
Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program
Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
Community Based Child Abuse Prevention Grants
Community Food and Nutrition Program
Community Mental Health Services Block Grant
Community Services Block Grant
Consolidated Health Centers
Contraception and Infertility Research Loan Repayment Program
Disaster Assistance for Older Americans
Drug Abuse National Research Service Awards
Drug Abuse Research Career Development Awards
Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
Family Planning Services
Family Violence Prevention Services
Foster Care
General Research Loan Repayment
Genetics and Developmental Biology Research and Research Training
Head Start and Early Head Start
Health Disparities Research Loan Repayment Program
Health Professions Pregraduate Scholarship Program for Indians
Health Professions Preparatory Scholarship Program for Indians
Health Professions Recruitment Program for Indians
Health Professions Scholarship Program
Immunization Grants
Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program
Intramural Research Training Award
Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Matching Grants to Tribes for Scholarship Program
Medicaid Program
Medicare Prescription Drug Plans
Medicare Program
Mental Health National Research Service Award
Minority Access to Research Careers
Minority Biomedical Research Support
NIMH Mentored Career Development Program
National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program
National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program
National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program
National Research Service Awards
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
Native Employment Works Program
Native Hawaiian Health Systems
Nurse Anesthetist Traineeship
Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program
Nursing Workforce Diversity
Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program
Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry Research and Research Training
Prescription Drug and Other Assistance Programs
Prevention of Complication in Patients with Thalassemia
Prevention of Hemophilia Complications
Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)
Promoting Safe and Stable Families
Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness
Refugee and Entrant Assistance - State Administered Programs
Refugee and Entrant Assistance - Targeted Assistance
Refugee and Entrant Assistance - Voluntary Agency Programs
Refugee and Entrant Assistance - Wilson/Fish Programs
Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students
Services for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program)
Social Services Block Grant
Special Diabetes Program for Indians
Special Improvement Project
Special Minority Initiatives
State Children's Health Insurance Program
Street Outreach Program
Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Disaster Relief Information
Support Services for Runaway and Homeless Youth - Basic Centers
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Transitional Living Program for Homeless Youth
Tribal Family Assistance Grants
Tribal Recruitment and Retention Program
Undergraduate Scholarship Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds
Urban Indian Health Program
Without a doubt some of these ‘benefits’ are meeting legitimate needs, but many of these programs are nothing more than the pet projects of one advocacy group or another. Regardless, the real needs of an individual or a group of people can only be legitimately met by charitable organizations, where the threat of violence (taxation at gunpoint) is not used to provide funding for their services. Furthermore, one can readily see how hopeless it is for the average citizen to keep tabs on a government that can provide so many benefits through so many agencies – due to the shear size of the federal behemoth we have been effectively disenfranchised – we are no longer masters over the State. It is no small wonder then that the State is no longer responsive to the cries for lower taxes by the productive members of society – the federal government has grown beyond our reach.
But it gets worse. I will concede that some of these government benefits are financed by payroll taxes (social security, medicare, etc.), but most are financed through the general fund of the U.S. Treasury – which means general tax revenue pays for these ‘benefits’. Given that 45% or so of American wage earners contribute nothing to the general fund, (i.e., pay no federal income tax1), none of these so-called ‘benefits’ can be considered benefits at all – benefits imply a thing earned. Citizenship does not legitimately entitle one to unearned benefits, irregardless of the legal status afforded such ‘benefits’ – how much more so for that citizen who has not contributed a dime to the general fund.
It is bad enough that our children and grandchildren are currently subject to taxation without representation (via borrowing to pay for current federal spending), the political insanity of voters not being required to pay for their share of government services is a flagrant conflict of interest. If you have no skin in the game, you are far more likely to vote for candidates who promise largess from the federal treasury than you would support a candidate who promotes austerity and common sense fiscal policies. The inevitable consequences of this political dynamic are self-evident:
‘The road to serfdom is paved with rights and benefits. People want more of whatever someone else will pay for. The casualty in this assessment is personal responsibility and liberty.’ 2
This is the fatal flaw of nations past – the opening up of the national treasury to the ‘needy’ who are not required to finance the spending. This approach to governance has an inherent positive feedback loop – as more and more people opt for government assistance, their percentage of the electorate increases until a tipping point is reached whereby the parasites outnumber the producers, thereby bankrupting the nation. Furthermore, how is it just for the rest of us to pay for the burden of national defense and other legitimate federal functions when nearly half of all wage earners contribute nothing at all? I couldn’t agree more with conservative talk show host Michael Savage when he calls modern liberalism a ‘mental disorder’.
This sort of political nonsense makes one want to quit pulling the wagon and jump in with the moochers and parasite class. If you are an able bodied citizen and are feeding at the public trough, you are a parasite – a leech. My accusation does not apply to those in genuine need (the lame, widows, orphaned children, etc.), but to those who game the system and pick the pockets of their fellow citizens via the coercive power of the state. Ever wonder why your taxes are so high? The blame lies at the feet of the political process that ‘wastes the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them’.
2 Herbert London
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