The Liberal Mind – Taxes to Mandated Spending

George Rebane

The recent national debate on socialized healthcare (aka Obamacare) has illuminated the way progressives, and presumably all collectivists, organize their thinking on how the government can determine the allocation of your funds and assets.  The main enlightenment here is that they see no difference in a government's taxing a citizen to obtain revenues that it putatively then spends for the public good (like building roads and buying stealth fighters), and applying its power of the bayonet to also mandate that a citizen uses the monies left him to purchase a government prescribed good or service.

To a progressive the extension of traditional taxing to include spending prescriptions are birds of a feather.  He sees no distinction between the two methods of mandating the disposition of your funds, and no procession from a creep to a gallop toward a comprehensive determination of how our earnings and assets should be disposed.  For detailed examples and expressions of this belief tenet, please see the comment thread to ‘Healthcare on a Leftwing and a Prayer' in these pages.

Since a progressive cannot conceive of any limits to taxation, there are also no limits to what the government can and should determine on how we pass cash through our hands, whether it is buying light bulbs, or healthcare insurance, or ultimately the styles of shoes we should wear.  It is all part and parcel of the plan to first nudge and then herd us all into a co-operative, complacent, and compliant society long envisaged by their social engineers and philosophers.

Being aware of this mindset removes another puzzlement when attempting to understand their weltanschauung or comprehensive view of the world and human life.

Comments

[Mikey McD]

George your post is 100% truth. Progressives have no respect for private property (the fruits of one's labors) and personal liberty which is why they must constantly pump out vile propaganda (like the Norway piece on excessive taxes being welcomed by entrepreneurs- ya right- and my neighbor's dog enjoys being beaten repeatedly for no damn reason).

As Obama has said repeatedly wages and earnings (especially of the evil rich) first belongs to the government(the collective) and what the evil rich get to keep the government mandates what they can spend it on.

I think an analysis of our tax system (including income tax, SS, Medicare, gas tax, CRV tax, permits, fishing licenses, etc) would show our tax rates to be similar to Norway. Ours is death by a thousand cuts, they get the one timer.

[Paul Emery]

So inc.com is part of the progressive "vile propaganda" machine. I guess anyone who gives any independent analysis to these topics that's not 100% in the libertarian, tea party or whatever group is part of the left wing progressive conspiracy. It's fine to have a clear ideology but to not even considering credible sources of ideas and analysis such as the Norway piece places you in a smaller and ever shrinking camp. Too bad. We live in a complex and ever changing world and if we need to consider all credible opinions even if they are different than our own. Did you read the piece? It would be more useful if you look at specific information that you have counter information on rather than brand it as "vile" just because you disagree with the premiss of the author.

[George Rebane]

My 'book report' on the Inc.com article will greet you with the sun tomorrow.

[Paul Emery]

Good. I can trust that you read it and gave it careful thought.

[Dixon Cruickshank]

Paul did your vehicle registration go recently? Our fishing licenses did here, but they added closed seasons to, so we can't fish - sweet.

BTW Mikey they are trying to close the southern half of your state to rec fishing too, its being challenged. If you want the link I'll post it, the fishing business both Comm and rec is the most blatent example of socialism in the country today, they don't even try and hide it. Jellyfish Jane and the EDF rule

[Dixon Cruickshank]

That was supposed to have an "up" in it but Mikey is right death by a thousand cuts is perfect

[Michael Anderson]

Dixon,

If you want to talk fish, I am going to beat you all about the head and shoulders. My grandfather was a fisheries liaison with the US State Dept. for almost 40 yrs., and has a fishing pier named after him near the Hood Canal floating bridge in the state of Washington.

My Grandpa Andy was an Eisenhower conservative, old school, and he deplored the large fishing operations that scraped the bottom and ruined the resource. His conservatism was all about conservation.

Michael A.

[Todd Juvinall]

You can always depend on a liberal to miss the humor and depress the discussion. Sheesh!

[Mikey McD]

I will concede every day of the week that socialism such as Norway's provides the feeling of great security to the citizenry (albeit at great expense). What I cannot accept is the thesis that entrepreneurs in any land welcome, embrace and praise higher taxes, fees, regulations (as the link propagandizes); a kin to pissing on my leg and telling me it's raining.