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"Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
As the presidential election creeps slowly towards us like a wolf slinking out of the wilderness, each candidate is hard at it seeking to convince the voters that he and he alone can save us. Two of the biggest campaign issues vying for prominence in the electorate's minds are (1) reducing the level of federal income taxes and (2) increasing the amount spent on such social welfare programs as Social Security, Medicare, and education.
As I have noted in other essays (such as "Principles: Public and Private"), the American people are bafflingly schizophrenic in their behavior and attitudes. While they usually champion personal responsibility, freedom of choice, and toleration in their private lives and in raising their children, they sadly and too frequently abandon such laudable stances when the issues shift (appropriately or not) into the public realm.
The manner in which many individuals approach money does nothing to alter this odd concatenation of behaviors and beliefs.
On the plus side, more people are sympathetic this election cycle to the radical notion that -- maybe, just maybe -- not all the money the State extorts from us each year should remain with the politicians. Perhaps it would be a good idea if our representatives and president returned some minuscule portion of those "excess" funds to the taxpayers who "voluntarily" sent their money to Washington.
On the down side, however, there has been no discernible drop in the incessant clamor for more goodies from dear ol' Uncle Sam. Too many citizens are either ignorant or uncaring of the fact that those "perks" of living in the United States they enjoy are had at the expense of themselves and their neighbors.
Perhaps if all those who lust after such unearned benefits focused on what money truly represents, they would be less eager to accede to the larcenous largesse that comprises the bulk of current political activities.
Voters do demonstrate a general grasp of money's desirability when they interact with various businesses. Indeed, they often become incensed over relatively small amounts of that "filthy lucre" they simultaneously praise and condemn.
In California, some city officials prohibited financial institutions from collecting ATM fees of a dollar or two from non-customers after the put-upon users of those electronic cash dispensers registered their loud complaints. Even though a court has ruled such a ban illegal, the offending regulations have yet to be repealed.
This past summer, howling outrage thundered across the landscape when gas prices in the Midwest shot up past two-dollars per gallon. "Conspiracy! Collusion! Gouging!" The evil petroleum industry came under heavy fire from consumers and publicity-hungry politicos clamoring for attention.
Hard on the heels of that heartless fiasco, homeowners sweltering in sunny California were urged by their caring officials to burn the bills they received from the merciless and mercenary utilities. Unleashed by the forces of "privatization," those cruel and cold-blooded purveyors of electricity deserved to be stiffed by those who enjoyed the cooling breezes from their air-conditioners.
Already, prognosticators are warning us that the prices for natural gas and heating oil may skyrocket this winter. One can only imagine the crocodile tears that will flow if and when that prediction becomes a reality.
The full-court press for federal prescription drug coverage preys upon the fears of the elderly. The charges of corruption resound across the airwaves. The dastardly pharmaceutical companies force our impoverished seniors to choose between food and medicine, our compassionate leaders declare.
And even after numerous foreign examples of the benefits of limiting the State's role in providing retirement benefits, calls for a tiny shift in FICA taxes to private accounts conjure up images of starving retirees evicted from modest homes and rooting through garbage cans for that night's dinner.
The grievances are endless. Phone charges are too high. Breakfast cereals cost too much. Greedy HMO's create hardships for ailing patients. Accusations are hurled willy-nilly with no respect for facts or common sense.
While the money citizens give to business owners can provoke the most intense displeasure when it is seen as "too much," the trillions of dollars that filters through the fingers of the bureaucrats has yet to elicit the same degree of widespread opposition. With nearly fifty-percent of income devoured by city, county, state, and federal taxes, and by unnecessary regulations, restrictions, and constraints on economic activity, the mildness of the protests raised by those who have endured a 90+% diminishment in the value of their money's purchasing power in the past century is truly astounding.
One would think that the legal theft of trillions of dollars in wealth by those who are supposed to protect our rights would stir a hurricane of indignation in the victims.
Unfortunately, people have yet to internalize the proper view of money's meaning. Calls for modest reductions in tax rates are met with condemnation of the rich. Playing on class envy is rewarded far too frequently with applause rather than appalled laughter. Yet, ironically, while no one turns down a salary increase, a depressing number of those same individuals rail against excessive profits...the same profits that make it possible for companies to pay out stock dividends to those same accusers.
As Ayn Rand said in Atlas Shrugged, "Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort." Money exemplifies the work you have done applying your intellect to the problems of existence. It stands as a surrogate for the time you have expended in sustaining yourself and your loved ones.
Money is a symbol for the value of your life. To say, "It's only money," is akin to saying, "It's only my life."
When you purchase goods you know you should not; when the dollars in your paycheck are diminished by a third before you ever see them; when you divorce the role of money from what it means to be a proper human being; when you fail thoroughly to integrate the needs of your mind and your body, you are, in essence, degrading and disrespecting yourself.
If your life is important to you; if you would not knowingly and willingly toss away your life for strangers; if you would never betray the core of who you are because another person failed to acknowledge your worth, then resist any and all efforts by those who seek to sunder that critical connection between your money and who you are.
To surrender your wealth to undeserving others is to sacrifice a portion of your life. Do not yield to the temptation to succumb to that relentless societal pressure bearing down on you. Do not submit to the demands of those who would have you forfeit your identity for their own narrow ends.
Do not renounce the proud title of "Producer" for the shameful label of "parasite" or "predator" or "prey."
