It Buys Votes, It Buys Votes, It Buys Votes

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” — Alexis de Tocqueville

“When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” — Benjamin Franklin

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.” — Historian Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler

Thieves redistribute income. They take money from someone who has earned it and give it to somebody else — usually themselves. It is possible that the thief actually needs the money more than the person he stole it from; most thieves are poor for the simple reason that they’d rather steal than work for a living. But yes, the “poorer” person might truly obtain something he needs (“wants”) more than the “richer” person he robs. That’s common in human history.

But what the thief did is still wrong. Human societies, even before the Ten Commandments' “Thou shalt not steal,” knew that a person’s property was sacred and inviolable; it belongs to him, and that taking something not legally earned by hard work or inheritance is “stealing,” i.e., unlawful behavior. You don’t have a “right” to what is not yours. This is virtually universal in human history, and indeed, it is difficult to see how any civilized society could exist without strict rules in this regard.

Now, anyone with sufficient personal resources can individually and willingly distribute his goods to needy people, as his charitable, generous nature dictates. And indeed, he should do that. If he is thinking correctly, he will be thankful for the bounty God has given him and will want to share that bounty with those less fortunate than he.

But his property remains his to do with as he wishes, even if his name is Scrooge. No one has the right to forcefully take his rightfully earned property from him, not even government, unless he is using his property to harm the life, liberty, or property of others.

Government, of course, does forcefully take money from its citizens, and occasionally for good causes. But proper government taxation should help all citizens equally, not benefit favored groups over unfavored groups. When it does the latter, it steals — forcibly takes money from those who would not willingly support that cause as a thief does.

Now, the poor do exist; they always have, and civilized nations don’t let them starve in the streets. That’s inhumane, not to mention contrary to virtue and goodness and just about every religion in the world. The question is not, nor ever has been, should the needy poor be helped? The solution would be the most efficient, least wasteful and fraudulent, most virtuous way to accomplish it. It is horribly unfair (immoral) to forcefully take money from people who’ve worked very hard to obtain it and waste it on fraudulent causes, or give it to people who don’t deserve it, like left-wing causes and bums. When government does that, they steal from people who oppose those causes! There is no other word for it.

There used to be no debate on this in America. James Madison plainly said that “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” He further wrote, “I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” Especially when given to rich left-wing — or even right-wing — causes. That was never our Founders’ intentions for taxpayers’ money. You fund your own cause, and if you can’t get the money for it, it might mean the people don’t want it.

Madison, of course, was right. The Constitution does not authorize one thin dime of money for our current, waste- and fraud-saturated welfare state. Such a system is wholly unconstitutional, but our Congress, on matters of money, pays absolutely no attention to what the Constitution says.

The Founders’ reasoning was obvious: if the government starts giving out free money, then not only will every wretch, hobo, and thief stand in line to get some of it, but it will encourage those with weaker character not to become productive members of society: “Why should I work when I can get a government handout?” And then, the horror we’ve seen under the Democrats: millions of people from all over the world arriving to get what they can, too. This is utterly reprehensible, and violates every decent norm of what human nature should be.

But it buys votes. It buys votes. It buys votes. De Tocqueville, Franklin, and Tytler (and others) said it would.

Charity, to be virtuous, must be voluntary. Yes, you can rob Peter and pay Paul, and Paul might be helped — at least financially — for a season. And Peter might not even miss the money. But forcefully taking money from one person — even, and especially, by government action — teaches us everything we don’t want to know about charity. It teaches Paul that he can get something for nothing and will be rewarded for not working; it discourages the hard-working Peter, who has his money forcefully taken from him at government whim and given to someone who hasn’t earned it. It encourages, and discourages, the very kind of behavior no society should want.

But it buys votes.

And no, “healthcare” is not a right, as every Democrat screams. No one has a right to the property someone else has earned.

The requirement to help the needy poor is undeniable. The best way to do it is through voluntary, compassionate charity. But the government has largely destroyed such by having inflated the American currency to where only government can afford to do much of the “charity” needed. Waste, fraud, and abuse have become the inevitable result. Government loves it.

And voluntary, virtuous charity doesn’t buy votes, does it?

Check out my Substacks: “Mark It Down! (mklewis929.substack.com) and “Mark It Down! Bible Substack” (mklbibless.substack.com). Both free. Read my great tales of the Old American West, available on Amazon and Kindle: "Whitewater," "River Bend," "Return to River Bend," "Allie’s Dilemma," and "Kendrick and other stories." Follow me on X: @thailandmkl

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