Re-inventing Robin Hood

I try to keep things simple here in Bens-blog land. I try to keep to the core of the conservative-progressive divide as much as possible and not chase after every news story du jour. To that end I'd like to address the ostensible heart of progressiveism; the idea of saving the world by helping the "little guy."

Now I think helping the little guy is a great thing. It is at the core of the social requirements of most religions and world views. Virtually every society holds up those that forego their own safety, welfare, or economic well being to help or protect the downtrodden as heroes; as well they should. If you are a charitable person, either with your vast wealth or even with a pittance that is all that you can realistically afford, you are a hero. If you have no money to give, but instead give of your time you likewise are a hero. There can be no argument that in this respect you are a person whose morals and soul are intact. You are truly a person worthy of admiration.


On the other hand there is an amazing fundamental misunderstanding amongst an every growing number of people today. This understanding is in the difference between giving and taking. The problem with progressives is that for some amazing and inexplicable reason evidently known only to them, they really seem to have no comprehension that their is a difference between the two. The problem with progressives is not that they want to save the world, but that they want do do it with other peoples money as if it were there own. So, tempted as I am to blather on ad naseum here on the subject I will attempt some self editing discipline here and keep this very simple:

If you want to save the world using your money, the minutes and hours of your life, and your life energy, you are a good and moral person, even a heroic one. Conversely, if you are trying to save the world with other peoples money, utilizing the hammer of government to acquire the necessary funds for your grand schemes you are nothing more than a common thug.

It matters not whether you are saving the whales, The recovering addicts, cute puppies or kittens, or starving children. Taking money that you have not earned is still theft, no matter what wonderful thing you wish to do with it. It doesn't matter how "commendable" or "honorable" your intentions. If you did not earn the money and you take it from those that did, you are a thief. You cannot rationalize that away. If you use the tired old refrain that "they are greedy bastards," or they have: "So much more than the little people...So much more than they'll ever really need..." this changes the fact not one wit. This is the refrain of virtually every scumbag thief that every purloined anything: "Well They have this, and I don't, and I want it!"

So before spraining your arm patting yourself on the back, congratulating yourself on how much more you care for the little guy than those evil conservatives get one thing straight: You are no more good, or honorable or charitable than they are. You are just mislableing your theft as charity or the most ridiculously convenient turn of phrase ever created: "Redistribution of Wealth." There really is no such thing as "Redistribution of Wealth" as it was never "distributed" in the first place. It was earned - and then it was taken by those that did not earn it. And in your endeavors to force charity you are little different than the husband who attempts to beat his wife into loving him. You are forcing no one to give, and you are forcing no one to be "Charitable." Society is not made kinder, more charitable or more loving through high taxes. No one is ever going to tell God that they deserve heaven because someone else took their money and did charitable things with it. And none of you are ever going to tell God that you are a good and honorable person because you spent others peoples money on good causes. At the end of the day what you will really need to do is justify how you are different than the common burgler just because he used his burglar tools and you used the government to take what was not yours to take. And in this realm, frankly, I have more respect for the burglar who at least has the guts to go out and steal the money for themselves.  And... when caught with their hand in your pocket or waddling out the back door with your TV they don't take a superior attitude, scold you for wanting your stuff back, or tell you that this is for your own good.