You're In Bad Hands With Nanny State
By J.J. Jackson (09/08/07)
Thomas Jefferson wrote in his autobiography that, "Were we directed from
Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread."
And boy was he ever right on that. Because since the time he wrote
those words we have seen what happens when governments dictate to the
people how to "sow" and when to "reap". What’s that? You want a list?
Ok, how about any number of the currently floundering European style
socialist states, Cuba, North Korea, Iran and the former Soviet Union
for starters.
But despite all these examples, today talk of expanding government here
in American into realms reserved by the people as their own to control
dominates society. Whether it is whispers of socialized healthcare
where citizens will be required to regiment their doctors visits based
on what a lonely bureaucrat in Washington decides or questions about
what the government will do to bail out people with poor credit, shoddy
finances and living beyond their means after they take out loans they
could not afford to pay back, there is a continuing push to expand the
umbrella of the Nanny State over each and everyone of us. Yes, that
push is to encompass even those of us that are able to function in a
civilized society and interact with other people independent of this
control. Because without us in that latter category being onboard,
those that would benefit from such policies would not be able to have them.
We’re the producers. We’re the ones from which the money to fund such
failed ideas flows. We are the new slave class.
Shocked that I would say that? Don’t be. A slave is defined as “a
person held in servitude as the chattel of another” (source:
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary). In other words, a slave is someone who
is bound to, and has the fruits of their labor, taken by another for
their own betterment. And through the years since the founding of this
country, I dare say that we have come full circle on the issue of slavery.
In the early days, plantation owners imported slaves from Africa and
other places around the globe to work for them. Justifications for this
were of course given. They ranged from the theory of the inferiority of
particular races to appeals that because they were housed, fed, clothed
and protected they were not really “slaves” at all but instead were
being properly compensated for their work despite being held against
their will. All were bogus and asinine. And all were concocted by men
to serve their own interests.
Today we have new justifications for the enslavement of productive
citizens which range from claims that the poor and downtrodden cannot
better themselves without help (assuming they are ignoramuses) to the
rich stole the money they have earned anyway on the backs of others
which they have cheated. Regardless, all are still bogus and asinine.
Allowing one to reap the benefits of another’s work is an abomination no
matter the scale of other atrocities that come with such acts. You may
obtain what others have through the grace of charity or the free
exchange of goods and services but you cannot demand anything from
others at the point of a gun. Those that are productive should never be
enslaved to those that discover a way to exploit that productivity be
they the rich or the poor.
One need only look at the federal budget to see this new form of slavery
in effect with the amount of money that is spent on programs such as
Welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, Social Security and on and on. All take
wealth and income from those that are producing and give it to someone
that either is not producing any wealth or income at all or not
producing it at a rate they or a bureaucrat believes that they should be.
Each of these programs, and so many more, are funded by productive
Americans under penalty of punishment should they not acquiesce. Try
telling the government that you are going to refuse to allow your money
to go for the enrichment of others and see what happens. The government
does have the power to do nasty things to you and deprive you of your
own liberty should you refuse them.
Color me a little confused because I was under the impression that after
the 13th Amendment was ratified, slavery and involuntary servitude were
outlawed in the United States except as a punishment for a crime. So
what crime have I and millions of other Americans committed? Simply the
crime of being productive and working harder than others?
How absolutely Stalin-esque. Heaven forbid that both myself and my wife
work, that I hold down a second job running my own business and that
such a work ethic should be seen as so unsavory as to merit the
punishment of having my work, my wages and my productivity confiscated
by government force to serve others.
Health insurance is not a right. If you get sick and require treatment
but have no insurance and cannot find someone willing to treat you for
free through charity you have to do what the rest of us do. You have to
work hard to pay off that debt. Some of us pay it off in advance by
purchasing insurance while others do not and chose to pay after the
fact. If you are part of the later group, you should not receive any
sort of special treatment under the laws of this nation and be able to
coerce others to pay your way.
Being able to retire when you hit 65 years of age is not a right. If you
are 70 years old and have not a penny to your name and have to work
until you are 80 you are no different than those of us that get up every
day and put on clothes and head off to work except perhaps that you may
have lived longer. The fact that you have not put aside enough or been
able produce enough wealth in your life to retire is not someone else’s
problem.
If you borrow more money than you are able to manage and payback who are
you to demand that others compensate and forgive you for your bad
choices and bail you out? You may ask. But you may not demand.
If you rebuild or buy a home in a flood plain or that is 12 feet below
sea level after it has already been flooded once, twice or even three
times please explain to me why your failure to understand the laws of
nature is anyone else’s problem but yours? It is not your right to
demand the taxpayers buy you out or cover your cost to rebuild.
I know, it’s cruel to say such things right? That’s an easy canard to
avoid the issue however.
When I lived in Philadelphia I did not buy a house that I could not
afford. I lived in an apartment which also was not cheap. I did not
purchase a car that I could not make payments on. My wife and I drove
used cars that were from the previous decade. I did not go and get a
big screen television in lieu of a hearty meal and I certainly did not
demand that others pay for my health insurance because I believed it was
too much for me to pay my for my own despite the huge chunk that it was
taking from my paycheck.
Demanding the Nanny State provide us with insurances and the often
touted “safety net” for every aspect of our lives only makes those that
pay for it subservient to the whims of unkind masters in Washington
telling us when to “reap” and “sow”. We’ve seen how well the government
spends money to know that such is probably not a good task to demand of
them.
In Britain they are talking about denying health services under their
socialized system to stem costs. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina we
see the waste and corruption of portions of New Orleans which are still
wrecks; a monument to the Great Society. We’ve seen the massive pork
barrel spending of millions on bridges to nowhere.
How much more of money do we really want the government to spend? Of
course if you are on the receiving end of that money you probably are
shouting “MORE! MORE!” without a care for where it comes from or the
burden it places upon others.
I personally would rather live my own life thank you. Perhaps you enjoy
others dictating to you how to live. I do not. So is there a form I
can sign to opt out of the Nanny State? Or are you going to hold a gun
to my head and force me to join because you know without me and millions
of others like me you won’t have your precious benefits?
Can you at least send me a thank you card after you take hold of my
productivity? How about flowers? Anything to show your appreciation
would do. But most favorable of all would be to leave me out of your
grand plans.
===
J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author who has been writing
and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of
the Free Studios, Inc. He is the lead editor of Conservative News &
Opinion – The Land of the Free and also the owner of The Right Things –
Conservative T-shirts & Gifts. His weekly commentary along with
exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at
http://www.libertyreborn.com/
(Printer friendly version) 
