"Government cannot give to people
what it does not first take away from people.
That which one man receives without working for
another man must work for without receiving."
I do not know. However, Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged, when she relates the story of the Twentieth Century Motor Company, as told by one of the survivors, she begins with this:
"From each according to his ability, to each, according to his needs"
Then the story goes on saying that the most capable and smart workers, should work more so as to allow those with the greater needs, able to enjoy more time away from work, in order to tend to their "needs".
Soon, everyone realizes that you are far better off dreaming up that Aunt Mary needs one's help because of 'x' and therefore skip work. The smart ones also realize that they are better off keeping their ideas to themselves, otherwise they will be forced to work without due compensation for the extra effort.
The company goes bankrupt. As many of today's "benevolent" [or corrupt] governments will (or already have).
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In Francisco d'Anconia's speech "The Meaning of Money" there is something similar:
"Money is made-- before it can be looted or mooched-- made by the effort of every honest man, each to the extent of his ability"....
......If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose ---because it contains all of the others --- the fact that they were the people who created the phrase 'to make money'. No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity --- to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted, or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words 'to make money' hold the essence of human morality...."
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More Ayn Rand.
"The trader and the warrior have been fundamental antagonists throughout history. Trade does not flourish on battlefields, factories do not produce under bombardments, profits do not grow on rubble. Capitalism is a society of --traders-- for which it has been denounced by every would be gunman who regards trade as "selfish" and conquest as noble"
~ Ayn Rand.
The roots of war.
In Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. |
