It’s Easy To “Invest” Other People’s Money

Crony CapitalismOne of the themes of the various speakers at the Democratic National Convention is that we need to invest in the country. Yes, of course we need investment in infrastructure, education, scientific and technological research, etc., etc. But why is that the job of government, much less the federal government? Is it not better for free people to make their own decisions on when and how to invest their own money? Is it not right for free people to freely choose to invest in the things they think will create the most benefit? Certainly this is better than allowing a select few politicians to forcibly take the money of others and dole it out to their political favorites. This is still the land of the free, right?

For all the talk about rigged games, leveling of playing fields, fairness, and not playing by a special set of rules, isn’t what they are proposing completely contrary to those ideals? Talk about playing by your own set of rules. Isn’t what they are proposing crony capitalism at its worst? After all, the money they claim they will use to “invest in our future” is simply money they forcibly took from us. It’s money that we can no longer invest ourselves. It’s money out of our pockets that we can no longer put towards our children’s education. It’s vital capital that can no longer grow our small businesses. They aren’t growing the economy. They are simply shifting money from those that earned it to those that have the most political influence.

By claiming that only government can make the needed investments in America’s future, aren’t they basically saying that we free people aren’t smart enough to take care of ourselves? That we aren’t wise enough with our own hard-earned wealth to know what to invest in? That the few of them are smarter than the rest of us? Aren’t they basically saying we can’t be trusted with our own wealth? Because if so, they are ultimately saying that we can’t be trusted with our own freedom.