Obama - Providing Strong Demotivators

One of the people that I blog-stalk posted recently about some of the stuff that's going on with the current administration - the raising of taxes, bail-outs, etc. - and mentioned this in her post:

Brent and I were talking about Obama's proposed taxes, and what will actually come to fruition. The result of which: I'll quit my job.

I did the math and I would rather spend 100% of my time at home than work 50% of the year for the government to support their reckless spending habits.

Then it dawned on me- that's the consequence of socialism, it no longer becomes beneficial for producers to produce. Smart producers figure out that they're supporting consumers- so they stop producing.

Over in The Corner on NRO, Jonah Goldberg had mentioned something similar in this post:

I Don't Want To Pay For It [Jonah Goldberg]

That is, by far, my driving attitude in all of this. I just don't want to pay for it. It's not that I don't want government to do nice things for deserving people in certain circumstances. It's not necessarily that I'm hostile to this group of beneficiaries or that (though I am in fact hostile to some). It's that I think most of Obama's ideas will not work, will be a waste of money and will hurt the economy. And, flatly, I don't want to pay for it. I don't want to break the law. I don't want pull a Geithner or a Daschle or anything like that. But I don't want to pay for it. I will look for every means within the boundaries of the law to minimize what I pay in taxes and I make no apologies for that whatsoever.

This post mentions some of the thoughtful reader response that he received which included this email:

You stupid F*** I always knew you conservatives loved money and hated your country. Oh, and don't think we can't tell you don't want your money spent on black people.

And this is Jonah's clarification:

Me: As for the saner folk who seemed to have misunderstood my point, let me just clarify. We are being deluged with talk about how this is an exciting new era, that this is hope and change and an exciting blah, blah, blah. During the campaign, Joe Biden told us that supporting higher taxes is both a patriotic duty and a religious-moral obligation (it's neither and Biden's argument was typically dim). Barack Obama says this is all about a new era of responsibility and all that jazz.

Well, I don't buy any of it. This is simply warmed over, recycled, big government liberalism being inflicted on us in a time of crisis. It's not exciting or innovative and supporting it doesn't make you morally superior or more responsible. It just means you're eager to spend other peoples' money on programs and schemes that are more likely than not going to result in making the country less prosperous. I will pay my taxes — unlike Barack Obama's treasury secretary — because that's the law and the social contract. But, I don't have to celebrate it and I don't have to enjoy it. Saying I don't want to pay higher taxes for bigger government doesn't make me less patriotic, it makes me conservative and, I would argue, more reasonable.

Anyway, what I thought was really interesting about all of this is how else this concern is being manifest:

Sales of "Atlas Shrugged" Soar in the Face of Economic Crisis

Washington D.C., February 23, 2009--Sales of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” have almost tripled over the first seven weeks of this year compared with sales for the same period in 2008. This continues a strong trend after bookstore sales reached an all-time annual high in 2008 of about 200,000 copies sold.

“Americans are flocking to buy and read ‘Atlas Shrugged’ because there are uncanny similarities between the plot-line of the book and the events of our day” said Yaron Brook, Executive Director at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. “Americans are rightfully concerned about the economic crisis and government’s increasing intervention and attempts to control the economy. Ayn Rand understood and identified the deeper causes of the crisis we’re facing, and she offered, in ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ a principled and practical solution consistent with American values."

Courtesy of the Ayn Rand Center.

If you haven't learned about it yet, then become acquainted with the Laffer Curve. It is a graphic representation of government revenue by rate of taxation. As the rate of taxation approaches 100% of income, the incentive to work is lost, thus, resulting in decreased government revenues. Basically it's just not worth it to keep on working so hard when the government is taking all your money away from you.

And the thing about it is that even if it results in some improved conditions like more available health care coverage, or better roads, or whatever it may be, in the end, people want control over their own lives and how they distribute their income, and not to have everything forced for them. Of course there is a balance in all of this, so don't take that line of thought to its extreme and assume that I think government has no role whatsoever.