Economics for Dummies - Left vs Right

There is a growing misconception in America concerning economics. On one side you have people like Bernie Sanders and others on the left who believe the economy is a sum total thing that needs to support all people equally, and on the other side you have people like Donald Trump and others on the right who believe the economy is not sum total - that it can be expanded to "raise all boats". The simple, glaring fact that the American economy has expanded exponentially since the Declaration of Independence only proves that capitalism is the economic engine that works. During that same time period, countless socialist and communist economies - in fact, every one -  have failed miserably.


Think of the economy as if it were a pie, and everyone grabs a piece. Some people only get a small piece while others get larger pieces,  determined primarily upon ones education and personal effort. The left sees this as unfair to those with a small piece, so they want to take from those with bigger pieces and redistribute it among the less fortunate, in an effort to create "equality". The left equates equality with fairness, though one has nothing to do with the other. It simply is not "fair" to take from someone who spent years in higher education, worked hard for 25 years and risked everything he or she had, and give it to someone who did little or nothing to earn it, having spent their life doing none of that. It may make things more "equal", but it is anything but "fair".


The economic theory of the left also does not consider unintended consequences - when you take productive wealth that is typically used by the wealthy to create jobs, develop new products etc. and turn it into unproductive wealth that is not used to make society better and richer, you effectively REDUCE the amount of pie available by stifling an expansion of the amount of pie available. You simply cannot make more pie without adding more of the ingredients - investing in growth, production, jobs.


Capitalists like Trump understand that the best way to insure everyone has enough pie is to make the pie bigger, or to bake more pies. Certainly, the less fortunate will always have less than others, but they will still have MORE PIE! If you doubt that, just take a look at Americas poor compared to the poor in socialist "single pie" nations. Where once even our own poor were truly living in poverty, dying in sweat shops and starving, most of our poor today have cell phones, iPads, microwave ovens, internet access and widescreen TV. Americas poor are wealthier than many "middle class" families in other countries. They have been raised up through capitalism, where those who earn great wealth are permitted to reinvest it into baking more pies, rather than have their wealth confiscated and tossed onto barren ground.


In America, Republicans believe a person is entitled only to that which he or she earns as long as they are physically and/or mentally capable of supporting themselves. Those who are handicapped to a point where they are unable to do so should be provided for by those of us who are able. This excludes those who are capable, but unwilling. The unwilling should be allowed to wallow in the misery of their own making. "All men are created equal", but they must work and do their part to maintain their equality. As my dad used to tell us kids, "Yes, the world DOES owe you a living. But you have to work like Hell to collect!"


Democrats on the other hand believe not in fairness, but equality.  The mistake they make is in believing that the two are one in the same. They also mistakenly believe that "equal" means "same" - that to be equal, we must all have the same amount of everything. Again, the two are not synonymous - a pound of feathers is equal in weight to s pound of gold, but they certainly are not the same.


If a person fails to get educated, and fails to put in the effort required to succeed, they will assuredly have less than others, but what they have will be equal to the effort put into it. And THAT is fair.


Now, Democrats and Socialists will, perhaps rightfully claim that many people do not have the same access to education and opportunity as some others may have. That is true - but it does not change anything. Such persons must try harder than others. Abe Lincoln never went to school - he educated himself and became President. Henry Ford only had a 4th grade education but went on to build one of the biggest companies in America, and in doing so, transformed America. In an era where blacks had little access to opportunity, people like Sidney Poitier worked harder and created his own opportunity. Certainly, some of us face greater obstacles than other, but that just means you have to try harder, and it makes a person stronger, which is one ingredient for greatness. Adversity is a positive, not the negative that the left assumes with their "victim" mentality. It does not give you a right to take from others. Stealing is stealing, whether you do it yourself or let the government do it for you. [As a side note, it is the Democrats who always vote against school choice, which would help level the road to a good education for the less fortunate]


Here is the short take - fair does not mean equal, and equal does not mean same. A person can complain about the size of their piece of the pie, and attempt to steal from another, or that person can get to work and bake his own damned pie. He is the only one standing in his way. Like one of my earlier bosses said, "I don't want excuses and I don't want reasons. I want RESULTS!"


"When you spend as many years getting educated as I have; spend as many years busting your butt 100+ hours a week to build a business; and risk every cent you have, or ever will have to make it all work, then and only then will you be entitled to have what I have". - Bill Vaughn



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