Can you just imagine how loudly the Obama campaign and supporters would scream if what is depicted in this cartoon had actually happened?Yet somehow there is no philosophical problem with taking other people's money and "redistributing" it.
In a capitalistic system, "wealth" is redistributed every day by the manufacturing, buying, selling, trading of goods and services. Wealth is redistributed by employers to those whom they employ. When we start redistributing wealth not based on productivity and "value added" relationships, but on who has more and less, then we are no longer in a capitalist system. We become socialist or even communist.
Karl Marx wrote about this in his manifesto. It doesn't matter if you restrict your governmental plunder to just the "very rich", or keep the jackbooted-collectors away from the "truly poor" or even "middle class". You are still moving into the realm of socialism/communism... it is then only a matter of degrees.
Taxes are a necessary evil. They are needed to pay for the legitimate functions of government. Our federal government has very limited functions as delineated (enumerated) in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We've gone very far away from those limited functions already. Redistribution of wealth to "even it out amongst our population" is not a legitimate function of our government (as far as our Constitution and Bill of Rights is concerned). It is armed robbery, using the power of coercion of the state.
Is that what we really want to perpetuate on our citizens? Is that really what is in the best interest of our nation?
Be careful, America. Be very careful.
CP
