Uncle Sam and Economic Choices

Released on: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 8:00 AM

By Bob McEwen

UNCLE SAM: OUR SILENT PARTNER

The typical family in the 1950's consisted of a husband who went off to work every day and supported the family, and a wife who filled the vital role of homemaker.

In the 2000's, the typical family consists of two working spouses who, combined, earn barely enough to make ends meet.  The woman tends to make less than the man.  She generally contributes 40% to the household, while he contributes 60%.

Coincidentally, the tax rate in the U.S. is roughly 40%.  As a result, a woman will work an entire year and at the end of the year, what will she have to show for her dedication and effort?  In effect, she will place every penny she earns into Uncle Sam’s coffers.  She will work an entire year to fund the many government programs which, in their inception sound wonderful, but in their implementation require more taxes to make them work. 

OUR FREEDOM OF CHOICE DETERMINES OUR STANDARD OF LIVING

Think of a menu in a restaurant.  Suppose that the most expensive item on the menu costs $50.00 and you have a $50.00 bill in your pocket.  You have complete freedom to choose anything on the menu.  Your choices are unlimited.

Now let us assume that either the criminal orthe government takes $10.00 away from you.  There will no be some items on the menu that you can no longer afford.  Assume $30.00 was taken from you, leaving you with only $20.00 - fewer choices still.

What has happened?  Your freedom has been restricted.  Though you would like to choose the $50.00 item on the menu, you cannot.  Try though might, you cannot increase the quality of the meal you will receive because your choices have been limited by the government.

While you may not be distraught over the loss of choices on a menu, the principle applies in all areas.  If money is taken away from you, your loss of choices results in a lower standard of living.  The size home in which you live, the kind of car you drive, the length of vacation you can take - all of these are directly related to your income and how much of it you are allowed to keep.

Thus, we see that your standard of living is directly impacted when either the government or the force of a criminal element takes your money from you.

It naturally follows that whenever a politician uses the police powers of the state to take money away from you, you are left with fewer choices and a lower standard of living.  Conversely, the more money that people are permitted to keep, the greater the amount of choices, the greater their freedom, and ultimately, the higher their standard of living.

One government tilts toward the right of the political yardstick, conferring on its citizens the freedom of choice to increase their standard of living.

THE SHIFTING STANDARD OF LIVING

In the 1950's, the typical American family rarely ate out - it was considered an activity in which only the rich regularly participated.  The typical family had one television and one telephone - it was black and sat in the middle of the home.  Rarely did the typical family purchase a new vehicle.  If someone did, it was a novelty item for all in the neighborhood to inspect.  Air conditioned homes were rare and air conditioned cars were virtually  non-existent.

The standard of living in America is ever-shifting.  Today, the average person in America who is on welfare nets $2000 per year more in equivalent dollars than did the average family in 1950.  No country in the world has a greater standard of living than do we Americans.  Western Europe is the closest, and the average resident of Western Europe lives on less square footage, is less likely to have a telephone or air conditioning, than the average American on welfare, who by our definition is considered poverty-stricken.

One government tilts towards the left of the political yardstick, restricting its citizens’ freedom to choose a greater standard of living and in fact foisting upon them a low standard of living.

As we discussed earlier, it is up to you and me to choose which system we prefer.  It is up to you and me to protect that system when we cast our vote.

© 2002  Politics As Easy As Pie. Bob McEwen. All rights reserved. This Bob McEwen column is for exclusive use of E-quad News. Do not copy or duplicate. 

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