Freedom vs. Equality

Freedom and equality are the two ideals upon which this Country was founded, as made explicit in the Declaration of Independence. The problem is that there is an existential tension between the two that gives rise to an irreconcilable conflict in our politics.

If freedom and equality are viewed as the extremes at opposite ends of a continuum, then absolute freedom would be chaos and total equality would be communist-style socialism (except for the party higher-ups who were always “more equal”). Most countries and all but a few nuts in America are somewhere in between.

Of course there is lots of room for major differences in that middle ground. Mother Nature is part of the problem. Obviously, we are not all born equal. Some are smarter, healthier, more motivated or born to more advantageous circumstances.

But it’s not all about nature. History is replete with stories of well-born ne’er-do-wells as well as those with no special gifts who, through hard work, determination and thrift, have achieved extraordinary success.

So the enduring struggle is about how much government should infringe on some citizens’ freedoms in order to achieve greater equality amongst all. One’s answer to that question determines where he stands on the political spectrum.

Today 10% of taxpayers pay 70% of all income taxes and the Federal Governments biggest function is redistribution of income through dozens of programs, the largest of which are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

We already have more net tax-beneficiaries then net taxpayers, a dangerous situation in a democracy where the majority can vote themselves an ever increasing share of the minority’s earnings.

Economics is a science of human behavior. We know from Psychology 101 that what you reward you get more of and what you punish you get less of.

Which brings us to the question, “How far can we continue in this direction before the producers decide to stop producing?” Obama's blatantly redistributionist tax plan makes it clear that he values equality over freedom and that he believes the producers are gluttons for punishment. We may soon find out.