dr. hfn
08-15-2009, 01:20 AM
It is a story that we learn from a very early age. The story of Robin Hood, the noble thief, who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. As children, this story is presented to us as a moral ideal. So as a natural consequence, children grow up to think that the idea of Robin Hood in today's society is, in fact, a moral ideal. There is a fatal flaw in this belief that could go a long way towards shattering "The Robin Hood Complex." The biggest issue in the story of Robin Hood that is never addressed is how the rich acquired their wealth in the days of Robin Hood. In those days wealth was acquired by force and fraud, and also by divine right. So the entire origin of the wealth that was being stolen by Robin Hood and redistributed to the poor was immoral. So the argument could be made that Robin Hood was actually acting on moral grounds. The problem is there is no distinction made in today's society between the origin of wealth in Feudal Europe and the origin of wealth in the modern day. In modern times, for the first time in history, men created wealth with ability, intelligence, and perseverance. These businessmen did not violate anyone's rights in order to become wealthy, and all of society benefitted from their achievements. But children are never taught this distinction and grow up thinking that wealth is a static entity that has always existed, and that modern day Robin Hoods are moral in their actions of "redistributing" wealth. We need to stand up and clearly denounce "The Robin Hood Complex", because it does not apply to a country of self-made men that earned their wealth by right, not force. In this context, Robin Hood is immoral, and we need to clearly make that distinction. Otherwise, our country will have leaders that consider it a moral imperative to "redistribute" wealth, because they never broke free from that childhood story that created "The Robin Hood Complex."