Put Your Hope In Radical Decentralization

Mises Wire ^ | July 19, 2016 | Najwyższy Czas

[OddLane]

What is your assessment of contemporary Western Europe, and in particular the EU?

All major political parties in Western Europe, regardless of their different names and party programs, are nowadays committed to the same fundamental idea of democratic socialism. They use democratic elections to legitimize the taxing of productive people for the benefit of unproductive people. They tax people, who have earned their income and accumulated their wealth by producing goods or services purchased voluntarily by consumers (and of course especially the “rich” among those), and they then re-distribute the confiscated loot to themselves, i.e., the democratic State that they control or hope to control, and their various political friends, supporters, and potential voters.

They do not call this policy by its right name: punishing the productive and rewarding the unproductive, of course. That doesn’t sound particularly attractive. Instead, they tap into the always popular sentiment of envy and claim to tax the few “rich” to support the many “poor.” In truth, however, with their policy they make more and more productive people poor and a steadily increasing number of unproductive people rich.

[jsanders2001]

< They use democratic elections to legitimize the taxing of productive people for the benefit of unproductive people. They tax people, who have earned their income and accumulated their wealth by producing goods or services purchased voluntarily by consumers (and of course especially the “rich” among those), and they then re-distribute the confiscated loot to themselves, i.e., the democratic State that they control or hope to control, and their various political friends, supporters, and potential voters.

Right on the nail head. It doesn't matter where socialism is, this is always the end result. It is a scam perpetrated against the productive class by politicians and elites using the votes of the non-producers. They should administer IQ tests with a minimum IQ of 100 to vote and require that you are paying property taxes and employed at least 50 % of the time if you are able to work. Also Voter ID cards where they take a fingerprint that they can compare in a database to identify fake and dead Democrat voters.

[IronJack]

Agreed. The package it comes in may vary, but when you open it you’re still overwhelmed by the stench of corruption, inefficiency, and tyranny.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

He makes no argument in favor of radical decentralization. He just states it as a supposed fact.

Socialists would like it if every country was socialist. Free marketeers would like it if every country was a free market.

The liberals' argument is basically 'Science', i.e. scientists will eventually discover that the best form of government is a bureaucratically managed democracy with a quasi-capitalist economy that is heavily taxed and regulated.

Any country that tried anything else would just be stupid and unscientific.

Free marketeers are utopians. They believe that the majority of people can be encouraged, cajoled, or shamed into wanting to live in a world requiring them to be responsible for their actions and get rewarded accordingly.

Also Free Marketeers, libertarians, and conservatives are among the key hurdles to decentralization. Decentralization will only occur if regional and local governments are willing to cut themselves off from federal funding. This would require a long period that might require raising local taxes and fees which most of us on the right would oppose.

So we're stuck sucking from the federal teat and radical decentralization will only occur if and when the central governments collapse from debt that even they can't absorb or paper over.

[aquila48]

Excellent article - the guy is grounded in reality.

I like this passage.

“Especially the German political elite, whose guilt complex has meanwhile assumed the status of some sort of mental illness, stands out in this regard by its cowardice, submissiveness, and servility.”

The same can be said about the Republican eunuchs in America.

[aquila48]

Excellent article - the guy is grounded in reality.

I like this passage.

“Especially the German political elite, whose guilt complex has meanwhile assumed the status of some sort of mental illness, stands out in this regard by its cowardice, submissiveness, and servility.”

The same can be said about the Republican eunuchs in America.

[Zeneta]

Interesting.

I’d like to see a Flow Chart of how our Federal Tax Dollars move through the system.

From what I understand, The Federal Government is basically a “Pass Through” entity. Albeit one that comes with a cost and an increasing number of rules.

The Feds force rules on the states and then tell the states that they will withhold monies if they don’t comply.

Rarely do the Feds pay people directly.

Virtually all of these programs are administered by each State but under rules that are set by the Federal Bureaucracy.

Remember when some States objected to the Government imposing a National speed limit of 55 MPH? Those States were threatened with the withholding of “Highway Funds”.

Some talk about “UnFunded Mandates”, but it’s the FUNDED MANDATES that are killing our Country.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

"but it’s the FUNDED MANDATES that are killing our Country"

Sad but true.