John Stossel‘s latest column at Human Events hits the fundamental point in the debate over “fairness” in government policy.
Life will always be unfair. I want to play pro basketball. It’s unfair that LeBron James is bigger and more talented! It’s also unfair that George Clooney is better looking! It’s unfair that my brother is smarter than me.
[George Mason University economist Garett] Jones points out, “I was born with an advantage, too. Being born in the United States … totally unfair.” He also has two married parents — another huge advantage.
The question is not whether people start out life in homogeneous circumstances, he adds. “The question is whether government policies that try to fix this actually make things better or worse.”
Worse, in most cases. Government “help” encourages poor people to be dependent and passive. Dependent, people stay poor. Also, most government handouts don’t even go to the poor. They go to the middle class (college loans, big mortgage tax deductions, Medicare) and the rich (corporate welfare, bailouts to banks “too big to fail”).
Instead of making government more powerful, let’s get rid of those handouts. Left and right ought to agree on that.
America has prosperity and innovation because we have relatively free markets.
Progressives say, “Keep the innovation but have government make us more equal.” But that doesn’t work. It’s been tried. Government-enforced equality — socialism — leaves everybody poor.
Equality is less important than opportunity. Opportunity requires allowing people to spend their own money and take their own risks.
Instead of talking about “fairness,” it would be better to talk about justice: respecting other people, respecting their freedom and their property rights.
All this discussion of fairness reminds me of P.J. O’Rourke’s address to a John Locke Foundation audience in 2007.
