Letter: Fair and unfair

I just started reading a book about America’s future called “Becoming Europe.” It’s easy to figure out why this imaginary utopia has never worked anywhere in history. This false illusionary cradle-to-grave security mentality is simply an illusion. It promises an unsustainable lie, free food stamps, lots of free medical care, lots of free education, a good home for all, lots of time off to enjoy the good things of life, and equal pay for what the government, in its wisdom, judges as equal work, and an early guaranteed retirement. This might appear to be good, except for one big flaw. Too many people have the strange idea that the fruits of one’s labor belong to them. Surely many more can pay at least some tax, not just that illusionary rich someone else. The makers of goods are entitled to decide how to spend their rewards. Isn’t that a strange idea? Nanny-lands won’t work until this old-fashioned idea is eliminated.

The answer! Big government – they’re fair and have a higher moral standard too, don’t they? With fairness they will redistribute the fruits of your labor as it seems fair to them, which really means the way that will garner them the most votes. Then they can play Robin Hood, being the good guys, popular with those who really don’t care for personal responsibility. Oh, and by the way, I also truly believe in an adequate safety net for the truly needy, but that number is not nearly as large as you might think. Believe it or not, some people will take advantage of free stuff, and doing so makes otherwise good people weak.

Call me what you want, but as for me, I’ll take an America of equal opportunity over an America of equal outcomes any day. Equal opportunity and equal outcomes are simply incompatible! I know from experience that everything will never be 100 percent equal from the start: what is really needed to succeed is “true grit,” and a chance to work hard for success in a country like America used to be, before liberal mania took over.