John raises an important question in his column today, which you can read here. He asks if stealing is wrong, and gives the classical liberal answer (yes), and the modern liberal answer (it depends….).
Modern liberals see situations that they regard as “unfair,” such as people living in poverty and then say that it is morally justified for them, acting through the agency of government, to take money from everyone in order to alleviate the supposed unfairness. Is that justified? Of course, the modern liberals could, if they desired, get voluntary contributions of money from the likes of John Kerry and George Soros and use the funds to assist those in need. But they prefer to go the political route, contending that it’s a “societal obligation.”
I disagree that there can be such a thing as a “societal obligation,” but set that aside. The liberals are utterly blind to the precedent they establish by saying that it is all right to employ the political system to get what you want, whether it’s a good feeling from having done something to reduce poverty (however ineffective it may be) or the confiscation of money or property from others for yourself. It’s all selfish behavior and it’s a very bad habit for people to use the power of the government to deprive others of what is rightfully theirs. Frederic Bastiat called it legal plunder. When a society puts its stamp of approval on legal plunder, decay sets in.
