Dan McLaughlin

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To Home Page Latest Newsletter Column Archives Click to get these columns for your local paperd	Post Comments Below © 2007 Daniel J. McLaughlin Charitable Production Charity is benevolent goodwill towards humanity, and is highly regarded by people in modern societies. The objective of charity is to make peoples’ lives better. In order to maximize this, it is necessary to promote the conditions where it is easiest for the most people to gain wealth in some form. Wealth is not necessarily lots of assets or millions of dollars, but rather an accumulation of property, however small or great. Most people who are not absolutely destitute have some level of wealth. It is by their wealth accumulation that they are able to become more productive and take care of themselves and their families There is only one way to build wealth in any society. That is through production. If someone is poor, it is because either that person has consumed more than he or she has produced or that his or her wealth was taken by a thief, given up in voluntary exchange or lost to nature. There are no other possibilities. The conditions that will engender wealth and well being for the most people are those that give the incentive to produce more than consumed and also to prevent confiscation by others, including government. Low tax jurisdictions that protect property rights tend to have a higher level of well being for more of the citizens. The story of Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves is a great lesson in many ways. The overt moral of the story is that greed will consume the greedy, but there is much more to it if you look closely. The conditions described are typical of many societies throughout the ages. Most people did not accumulate much, if any wealth, and even if they did, it was not publicly displayed. They hid it in the ground or in a cave because others would take it. Ali Babba didn’t have to worry about getting arrested for stealing the money he took from the cave. He only had to worry about the envy of his neighbors and being found out by the forty thieves. He hid the money in the ground where he hoped it would be safe from pilfering. Thus, his wealth, and that of the rest of society was locked up and prevented from being productive. A system of strong property rights is the necessary condition for the productive use of property. Hundreds of years ago when pilfering and government confiscation was the prevalent way of life in many countries, the hoarding and hiding mentality minimized productive uses of property. At the same time, however, the Dutch invested their wealth in herring boats and other productive assets. They were a prosperous society at a time when poverty and feudalism was typical, not only in Europe, but also the rest of the world. The lesson for us from early Dutch society and from Ali Babba is that the way to make the people better off is to prevent confiscation of their property. In the United States, property rights were a basic foundation, which allowed the country to thrive and grow at a rapid rate and become one of the wealthiest in the world. Those property rights are being steadily eroded with the people in governments, federal, state and local, taxing wealth away, devaluing the currency and stealing property outright through eminent domain, giving it to their supporters for development. Excessive business regulations and taxes trample our economic freedom and sap the life from the economy. Stealing from one individual or group or class to give to another destroys the incentive to be productive and promotes the hiding and hoarding mentality. When taxes are lowered and regulations relaxed, more prosperity comes out of hiding to be productive in the open economy. That phenomenon is presently has been demonstrated in Ireland. Once a poor stepchild of Europe, they reduced taxes and regulation to the lowest levels in Europe, and freed the economy to produce. They rapidly became the Celtic Tiger, spurring significant investment, growth and prosperity. The lessons are not that difficult to understand, yet few people take the time and effort to see through the politics and rhetoric of the day. Politicians promise progress and prosperity, but institute programs that destroy the very conditions required for that prosperity. It’s time to look beyond the failures of big government to the promise of the freedom this country was founded on. That freedom will make our people productive, and that productivity is the source of all prosperity and charity.
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Daniel Mclaughlin Copyright © 2007 [Daniel McLaughlin]. All rights reserved. Revised: 02/15/08

Voices For Freedom

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Daniel McLaughlin

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Click to get these columns for your local paperd

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Charitable Production

Charity is benevolent goodwill towards humanity, and is highly regarded by people in modern societies. The objective of charity is to make peoples’ lives better. In order to maximize this, it is necessary to promote the conditions where it is easiest for the most people to gain wealth in some form. Wealth is not necessarily lots of assets or millions of dollars, but rather an accumulation of property, however small or great. Most people who are not absolutely destitute have some level of wealth. It is by their wealth accumulation that they are able to become more productive and take care of themselves and their families

There is only one way to build wealth in any society. That is through production. If someone is poor, it is because either that person has consumed more than he or she has produced or that his or her wealth was taken by a thief, given up in voluntary exchange or lost to nature. There are no other possibilities.

The conditions that will engender wealth and well being for the most people are those that give the incentive to produce more than consumed and also to prevent confiscation by others, including government. Low tax jurisdictions that protect property rights tend to have a higher level of well being for more of the citizens.

The story of Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves is a great lesson in many ways. The overt moral of the story is that greed will consume the greedy, but there is much more to it if you look closely. The conditions described are typical of many societies throughout the ages. Most people did not accumulate much, if any wealth, and even if they did, it was not publicly displayed. They hid it in the ground or in a cave because others would take it. Ali Babba didn’t have to worry about getting arrested for stealing the money he took from the cave. He only had to worry about the envy of his neighbors and being found out by the forty thieves. He hid the money in the ground where he hoped it would be safe from pilfering. Thus, his wealth, and that of the rest of society was locked up and prevented from being productive.

A system of strong property rights is the necessary condition for the productive use of property. Hundreds of years ago when pilfering and government confiscation was the prevalent way of life in many countries, the hoarding and hiding mentality minimized productive uses of property. At the same time, however, the Dutch invested their wealth in herring boats and other productive assets. They were a prosperous society at a time when poverty and feudalism was typical, not only in Europe, but also the rest of the world.

The lesson for us from early Dutch society and from Ali Babba is that the way to make the people better off is to prevent confiscation of their property. In the United States, property rights were a basic foundation, which allowed the country to thrive and grow at a rapid rate and become one of the wealthiest in the world. Those property rights are being steadily eroded with the people in governments, federal, state and local, taxing wealth away, devaluing the currency and stealing property outright through eminent domain, giving it to their supporters for development.

Excessive business regulations and taxes trample our economic freedom and sap the life from the economy. Stealing from one individual or group or class to give to another destroys the incentive to be productive and promotes the hiding and hoarding mentality. When taxes are lowered and regulations relaxed, more prosperity comes out of hiding to be productive in the open economy. That phenomenon is presently has been demonstrated in Ireland. Once a poor stepchild of Europe, they reduced taxes and regulation to the lowest levels in Europe, and freed the economy to produce. They rapidly became the Celtic Tiger, spurring significant investment, growth and prosperity.

The lessons are not that difficult to understand, yet few people take the time and effort to see through the politics and rhetoric of the day. Politicians promise progress and prosperity, but institute programs that destroy the very conditions required for that prosperity. It’s time to look beyond the failures of big government to the promise of the freedom this country was founded on. That freedom will make our people productive, and that productivity is the source of all prosperity and charity.

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