Bill Clinton trades freedom for goodness

Just when you think the Republicans are trying to give it away, the Democrats won't take it.

Thirty times. That's how often former President Bill Clinton mentioned "the common good" in his speech at Georgetown University on Wednesday.

Americans who value their freedom should find those words chilling. They probably won't. Instead they'll just feel a little guilty that they aren't going to vote for the people Bill Clinton called "us 'common good' folks," because everybody knows by now that "common good" means the government is going to take money out of some people's paychecks and give it to other people.

There's no reason to feel guilty for resisting this idea.

If you accept the Clinton argument that government should be in the business of striving for "the common good," then you are accepting the idea that it is an appropriate role for government in a free society to evaluate each person's need for income and then use the tax code to shift it around accordingly.

Former President Clinton told the crowd at Georgetown he thinks it's illegitimate for the government to give him, a millionaire, five tax cuts while the cost of a college education climbs out of sight.

But look closely at that statement. Is it Bill Clinton's obligation to pay for the college education of other people's children? Is it the proper role of the government to decide how much money he really needs and then take the rest in taxes for the benefit of other people?

Is it any of the government's business how much of your money you need?

You have the right to enjoy the fruits of your own efforts. That's the difference between freedom and slavery.

If need is a license to take money from other people, then you are enslaved to the needs of people you don't know and can't control. Whether they make careful and responsible decisions or reckless and stupid decisions, their needs have a claim on your efforts.

And it is the first claim on your efforts. "The common good" isn't mentioned by name on your pay stub; look for the line that shows all the money that goes to other people before you ever see it.

Sure, they stop before they take it all. But the only thing that stops them is the fact that at some point you say, "That's it, no more." The guiltier they can make you feel, the longer you'll wait before you say it. That's why everything has to be your fault: your car is causing global warming, your selfishness is causing hunger in Africa, your greediness is causing U.S. corporations to seek profits instead of "helping people" (and gradually going out of business). Induce guilt, collect money. If John Dillinger had thought of this he might be on Mount Rushmore today.

In any case, it's a myth that there is such a thing as "the common good." The United States is a big country filled with big interests and big disagreements. We rely on our carefully-constructed representative government to hammer out the compromises that keep the nation from fracturing.

Of course it's hard to find common ground in Washington. That's the place we send our arguments. Only dictatorships have quiet, cooperative, unanimous governments.

We should all be happy that we're not there yet.


Copyright 2006

Editor's Note: You might be interested to read "The Tyranny of the Children" at www.SusanShelley.com.

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