On October 19th, Peter Nicholas of the Los Angeles Times reported on line that President Obama said the following at a meeting in North Chesterfield, Virginia. "A fair shot for everybody; a fair share from everybody. That's the principle that built America." http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-ends-bus-tour-20111019,0,1982231.story
Two sentences.
Let me address the first.
Karl Marx is credited with making popular the phrase or idea that it is right to take "from each according to his ability, [and give] to each according to his needs," in his Critique of the Gotha Program. He made that critique in 1875.
For the President of the United States of America to use a paraphrase of a statement made by someone so diametrically opposed to the American system, way of life and ideal is jarring. But President Obama delivered the line as if it were the climax of some high school football halftime speech.
The president here is stating his belief that confiscation of personal property and the fruits of one's own labors is not only the "right thing to do", but it is morally good. The pure immorality of the statement can be illustrated as follows.
You and I are walking down a street in Cleveland, Ohio. I don't have any cash in my pocket because I don't carry cash as a matter of practice. You, however, have $25 in cash in your pocket. You drove us into the city and have to pay for parking ($7) and you need to pick up some toothpaste at WalMart ($3) on the way home.
As we come to an intersection we see a homeless woman digging for food in a trash can. We watch her find the crust of an old hamburger. She brushes off some cigarette ashes and takes a bite. I can't stand her plight and I'm moved by compassion.
With a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, I reach into your pocket and take out the $25. I hand the woman a $10 bill and put the rest back into your pocket. You'll have plenty in your pocket at the end of the evening. She hurriedly rushes into the nearby diner and buys a nutritious meal.
And you look at me like I'm crazy.
What are you doing? you say. That's my money! You just stole it and gave it away!
What? I say. She's starving. And what are you complaining about? Count it; you still have more money than you need!
In truth, the ends cannot justify the means. Both means and ends must be just. The virtue of the act of feeding a hungry human being is destroyed by the act of robbery that yielded the means to do it.
If it is wrong for an individual to take another's property and give it to a third party without the consent of the first, then it is wrong for a government to do the same - regardless of good intentions.
Two sentences.
Let me address the first.
Karl Marx is credited with making popular the phrase or idea that it is right to take "from each according to his ability, [and give] to each according to his needs," in his Critique of the Gotha Program. He made that critique in 1875.
For the President of the United States of America to use a paraphrase of a statement made by someone so diametrically opposed to the American system, way of life and ideal is jarring. But President Obama delivered the line as if it were the climax of some high school football halftime speech.
The president here is stating his belief that confiscation of personal property and the fruits of one's own labors is not only the "right thing to do", but it is morally good. The pure immorality of the statement can be illustrated as follows.
You and I are walking down a street in Cleveland, Ohio. I don't have any cash in my pocket because I don't carry cash as a matter of practice. You, however, have $25 in cash in your pocket. You drove us into the city and have to pay for parking ($7) and you need to pick up some toothpaste at WalMart ($3) on the way home.
As we come to an intersection we see a homeless woman digging for food in a trash can. We watch her find the crust of an old hamburger. She brushes off some cigarette ashes and takes a bite. I can't stand her plight and I'm moved by compassion.
With a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, I reach into your pocket and take out the $25. I hand the woman a $10 bill and put the rest back into your pocket. You'll have plenty in your pocket at the end of the evening. She hurriedly rushes into the nearby diner and buys a nutritious meal.
And you look at me like I'm crazy.
What are you doing? you say. That's my money! You just stole it and gave it away!
What? I say. She's starving. And what are you complaining about? Count it; you still have more money than you need!
In truth, the ends cannot justify the means. Both means and ends must be just. The virtue of the act of feeding a hungry human being is destroyed by the act of robbery that yielded the means to do it.
If it is wrong for an individual to take another's property and give it to a third party without the consent of the first, then it is wrong for a government to do the same - regardless of good intentions.
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