Saturday, March 28, 2009

The Fruits of American Education

I see it in my students: the unquestioning acceptance of this concept of economic equality. They postulate a cosmic justice in which a wise and benevolent patriarch dictates what level of reward one can have. In the process the fruits of that individual's labor and risk are dispersed to the less fortunate thereby insuring that nebulous "equality."

Maybe it hasn't reached epidemic proportion yet, but take a peek here:

30% of Americans are Airheads

A reasonable man might make a strong case that if the means of production are owned or subsidized by taxpayer funds doled out somewhat unequally by the government, then the government in exactly the manner of a majority shareholder can fix the limits of compensation.

The flaw in the argument there is that the government's "share" was seized in most instances not voluntarily sold to them. And, the government's motivation is not maximization of profits but rather satisfying the clamoring electorate.

So, 59% of the people get a marginal grade on their belief in government imposed caps on industries receiving bailout dollars. But, what of the 30% who see not a damn thing wrong with capping free enterprise talent, whether in athletics, the entertainment industry or actual business? Where do they think they got a vote in this confiscatory issue?

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