Nearly everyone has heard the old adage, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Unfortunately it seems today that few people in high political places seem to understand it anymore. It seems that every day we see the leadership of the Democratic party in Washington standing up advocating or promising another “free lunch” for somebody in one of their favorite constituencies. Things such as: tax “rebates” to those that paid no taxes. Social benefits to persons in the country illegally. Free medical benefits to everyone. Financial bailouts to reward those who used poor judgment their business dealings. Equal pay for those who put in unequal work. Where do you think the money for all of these “free lunches” comes from? Margaret Thatcher said, “The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”
Dr Adrian Rogers, a former pastors of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis summed it up so well:
“. . . . You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the industrious out of it. You don’t multiply wealth by dividing it. Government cannot give anything to anybody that it doesn’t first take from somebody else.“
“Whenever somebody receives something without working for it, somebody else has to work for it without receiving. The worst thing that can happen to a nation is for half of the people to get the idea they don’t have to work because somebody else will work for them, and the other half to get the idea that it does no good to work because they don’t get to enjoy the fruit of their labor.” (Adrian Rogers, Ten Secrets for a Successful Family: A Perfect 10 for Homes that Win. Crossway Books, 1998)
Dr Rogers hit the nail on the head. Our economy works by allowing people the freedom to work to improve their lot in life and then to enjoy the rewards of their effort. That formula has produced the greatest economic system the world has ever known, but it can not survive continued socialist experiments. When you punish people with high levels of taxation you remove the incentive for them to work.
If a physician can not receive more than a Wal-Mart greeter, where is the incentive for him to study twelve long years to prepare for his profession? If a business owner can not receive more than their hourly workers, why should he take the financial risk and work 70 hours a week to build a business? And if businesses are not allowed to fail, why should business owners work hard to succeed?
When the people have no incentive to work the nation suffers. The lifestyles of everyone falls and eventually everything falls into disarray. They steal from the people the right to benefit from their own labor to give to those who won’t work. This is why every socialist government ultimately fails.
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