Good argument against Obama's spreading / redistribution of wealth

[qh4dotcom]

Saw this comment on Youtube and thought it was worth mentioning


An experiment to try: Go to a restaurant. After dinner, tell the waiter you are giving his tip to someone who is needier than him. Now, go outside and give $10 to the homeless guy (afterall, he needs it more, right?) See how angry the waiter gets. The homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money that he did earn. I guess this Redistribution of Wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

[angelatc]

The beauty of that example is that the waiter even gets taxed even though he didn't get a tip.

[Truth Warrior]

That redistribution battle was LOST starting in 1913.

[Ack]

Here's another of my favorite examples:



Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.” Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men — the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his “fair share”? They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”

“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

[Brian4Liberty]

Here's another of my favorite examples:

They "might start drinking overseas"? It's guaranteed. Especially if you just scammed a billion bucks... ;)

[Jeremy]

im sure theres much better examples than that

[2_Thumbs_Up]

Wealth is created, not distributed.

[gilliganscorner]

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth.

She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, which she expressed openly. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs.

Based on the lectures that she had participated in and the occasional chat with a professor she felt that for years her father had obviously harbored an evil, even selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He stopped her and asked her point blank, how she was doing in school. She answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain. That she studied all the time and never had time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your good friend Mary doing?"

She replied, "Mary is barely getting by." She continued, "She barely has a 2.0 GPA," adding, "and all she takes are easy classes and she never studies." "But Mary is so very popular on campus, college for her is a blast, she goes to all the parties all the time and very often doesn't even show up for classes because she is too hung over."

Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's Office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0." He continued, "That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter visibly shocked by her father's suggestion angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I worked really hard for mine, I did without And Mary has done little or nothing, she played while I worked real hard!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Well...the true Republican party anyway. Not the farce we have today...McCain and his running mate, Bible Spice (the other Spice Girl).

[wizardwatson]

That redistribution battle was LOST starting in 1913.

That's what gets me. People don't seem to get that once they've got your currency, and they can tax your wages without anyone blinking, you're already beyond screwed. It's comical actually to watch Obama/McCain debate the minutia of socialism and whether or not their minor changes in which side gets taxed more or less will actually change anything. And with all the tax laws, and community subsidies, and government intervention, I don't even know how you would know, in any simple way, which man or woman in this country is being helped more than the next person.

[Krugerrand]

I like this one:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=142192

[QueenB4Liberty]

yeah, when I told some liberals I know about the beer example it went right over their head's. :(

[ItsTime]

http://zapfu.com/files/wrhki6yi9m0az7q3y62s.jpg (http://zapfu.com/)

Read or watch some Walter Williams lectures he has some really good examples.


One being an old lady told me she could not afford food or health care so I went to her neighbors held a gun to his head and asked him for his savings. He gave me the savings. I went back and gave the money to the old lady. (paraphrasing)

[TruthAtLast]

yeah, when I told some liberals I know about the beer example it went right over their head's. :(

That says it all right there. If they can't understand that basic example or choose not to, there is no hope of convincing them.

People whose mind is so closed that they aren't willing to even listen or TRY to comprehend any alternative aren't really making a choice at all. An uninformed decision is really no decision. Their choice is being handed to them and they are accepting it. They are drones; robots; puppets.

But those people are in all parties. Die-hard Republican loyalists are just as bad and we've seen them screw us over at conventions. We've seen them dismiss Ron Paul even when he preaches the true platform of the Republican party.

In fact people in this very Liberty Movement can be just as bad. The moment we stop thinking for ourselves and lose the ability to seek truth, we are no better than the people we are trying to convince.

[Mini-Me]

Wealth is created, not distributed.

It's both, really...it's created by the economy, and it's redistributed by the government. :-/

[ClayTrainor]

That says it all right there. If they can't understand that basic example or choose not to, there is no hope of convincing them.

People whose mind is so closed that they aren't willing to even listen or TRY to comprehend any alternative aren't really making a choice at all. An uninformed decision is really no decision. Their choice is being handed to them and they are accepting it. They are drones; robots; puppets.

But those people are in all parties. Die-hard Republican loyalists are just as bad and we've seen them screw us over at conventions. We've seen them dismiss Ron Paul even when he preaches the true platform of the Republican party.

In fact people in this very Liberty Movement can be just as bad. The moment we stop thinking for ourselves and lose the ability to seek truth, we are no better than the people we are trying to convince.

Well said!

[Minuteman2008]

What is sad is that McCain has so little credibility at being responsible with our tax dollars that his arguments against Obama probably fall on deaf ears for most of the general population. I still maintain that McCain could have won this election if he had opposed the bailout package instead of voting for a massive pork filled bill that was even worse than the one rejected by the House. McCain and the RNC are so corrupt and so far away from being true conservatives that people don't believe they offer an alternative to Obama, even if they don't believe in socialism.

With McCain the bailout bill was just the tip of the iceburg. Consider also the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill which would have been the biggest increase in the welfare state in US history according to the Heritage Foundation. McCain won't hesitate for a second before driving a knife right in the heart of this nation if it advances his political career. Socialism here we come.

[2_Thumbs_Up]

It's both, really...it's created by the economy, and it's redistributed by the government. :-/

Yeah that's obviously true. But from my experience most of those who favour wealth redistribution seem to think that the economy is a zero sum game and that wealth is finite. It's a fallacy and it's important to point that out.