Beware of "Fair"

What is fair?

Fair is undefinable. 

Fair is nothing but a product of our imaginations; an idea in the mind of the beholder.

Beware of the politician that uses the word "fair", because he clearly knows nothing about the law.

Years ago on my first day of College (wow, that makes me sound old), I stepped into a classroom that changed my life. 

My eyes were opened in Micro and Macroeconomics as I learned about modern issues, the beauty of a free economy, the eloquent words of Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. I struggled through the slow read that was Bastiat's The Law, but came out with a far greater understanding of Government's purpose than I could have ever learned elsewhere. 

Liberty, we were taught, was a privilege that our fathers and their forefathers fought and died for - a privilege that, if we do not remain ever-vigilant, will be lost to us before we even knew what has happened.

I didn't learn to bash Democrats or people with opposing views from me. Mr. Chambless taught us that there have been plenty of great men, Democrats and Republicans, some not either, who, while certainly not perfect, have changed the world for the better. 

Last night I watched as our President talked about how he wants to make the economy "fair".

For those reading, I think that this message is so pivotal because we all need to realize that a politician's definition of "fair" is never going to happen. 

Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. If we spend our lives continually focusing on our resentment of the rich, many of whom (Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, etc.) have earned their money, then we will get nowhere. Would taxing the rich raise Government tax income? Yes, in theory it would, but not as much as you might think. What if, instead, we stopped our resentment in the name of "fair" and put less tax stipulations on the rich? Might this encourage them to use less offshore accounts and bring the money back to America through positive incentive, allowing them to grow and expand business even more while benefiting the country through the jobs and market that their goods and wealth will create? You see, when the rich in America prosper, you may not realize it, but Americans do, too. You have been lied to - the rich aren't bad for our economy, they are good for it! Who do you think supplies you with goods and products every time you walk into the store? What would you do in College without the use of Microsoft word, or powerpoint, or excel? No one forces you to give up your money (okay, maybe professors, but all us student's know that we'd fail without spell check) - you give it up because there is an agreement between you and the seller that you have each reached a good deal. Who do you figure pours money into the economy in the means of jobs, labor, products, and advertising, for the sake of business? The rich do. Contrary as it seems, their self-love has benefited countless millions. When a computer is built, where does the plastic come from? The material for the screen? The cords? Who ships the computer? How many people work in stores selling the computer? Or when Oprah flies to get her donuts, who do you think pays for the gas to fly the plane? Who pilots the plane? Who sells the donuts, or works in the air traffic control tower? Who built the private plane that she flies in? I'm not idolizing the rich. The rich have their faults. The rich can be greedy, or unjust, but one cannot deny the fact that they do create jobs for the economy and pour money into America. And if they decide to, God forbid, keep some of that money because they earned it, then more power to them! (You pay $450,000 for a Rolls Royce and tell me you don't pay a lot of taxes.)

Article 1, section 8 of our constitution reads:

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"

The founders knew that Government could never give the people "fair". When you take from one hand to feed another, well, that's violating someone's liberty, isn't it? How is taking anyone's money without their consent "fair" in the first place? How is somebody benefiting from that money that they did not work for "fair"? You see, there can never be a true "fair".  The founders, knowing this, acknowledged that the less Government, the better. That's one of the reasons why when this country was founded, there was no income tax. (I encourage you to read the article in this link.) 

Government's purpose? To uphold the law, to protect the right to life, liberty, and, here's the clincher: 

The pursuit of happiness.

We are all endowed with a single right which, without the help of Government politicians, welfare, or taxation, grants us the single most fair thing that we could ever be given:

The opportunity to make of our lives all that we want them to be.