The Bondage of Good Intentions

Editor’s note: I was copied on an e-mail exchange discussing spending and the national debt. I didn’t know many of the people on the cc’ list, so I didn’t want to push my opinion into their inboxes. However, I do think this is an important topic, so I thought I would post my thoughts here.

In defending recent policy decisions, one e-mailer called for civility, saying,

…There is no question that the debt is a problem but let’s reason together, not throw darts…

OK. Let’s reason. Here’s my idea to reduce the national debt. Every time we think of asking the government to establish or extend an entitlement program, we first ask ourselves one simple question…

“Is it worth enslaving my son in order to accomplish this goal?” (or daughter, grand-son, grand-daughter, etc…)

If the answer to that question is yes, then go ahead and spend the money. If not, don’t. As background, let’s replace two words in the following excerpt from wikipedia and see if this sounds familiar?

Debt bondage is often a form of disguised slavery in which the subject is not legally owned, but is instead bound by a contract to perform labor pay tax to work off a debt, under terms that make it impossible to completely retire the debt

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Tags: Power, Tyranny