| HappySqurriel said: We live in a society where a small portion of the population puts in the work to develop the necessary skills, takes the risks and makes the personal sacrifices to build what is necessary and desired in the economy. Why should we have equality of outcomes when people are so unwilling to share the effort that is required to provide those outcomes? This is a concept that is fairly commonly taught to children and they seem to be able to understand, but after years in "public" education and liberal universities the lesson has been lost; so I will re-teach it with the same story that was used when I was a child. Once upon a time, there was a little red hen who lived on a farm. She was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat, and a noisy yellow duck. One day the little red hen found some seeds on the ground. The little red hen had an idea. She would plant the seeds. The little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me plant the seeds?" "Not I," barked the lazy dog. "Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen planted the seeds all by herself. When the seeds had grown, the little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me cut the wheat?" "Not I," barked the lazy dog. "Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen cut the wheat all by herself. When all the wheat was cut, the little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me take the wheat to the mill to be ground into flour?" "Not I," barked the lazy dog. "Then I will," said the little red hen. So the little red hen brought the wheat to the mill all by herself, ground the wheat into flour , and carried the heavy sack of flour back to the farm. The tired little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me bake the bread?" "Not I," barked the lazy dog. "Then I will," said the little red hen . So the little red hen baked the bread all by herself. When the bread was finished, the tired little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me eat the bread ?" "I will," barked the lazy dog.
While it is completely reasonable to take care of those individuals who have physical, mental or emotional reasons why they cannot become productive members of society, and society should ensure that the most basic necessities of life are not denied to anyone regardless of the choices they make, those individuals who put in the work, develop the skills, take on the risk, and make the personal sacrifices to build what is necessary and desired in our economy should be able to be rewarded for their contribution; and those individuals who refuse to make those choices should not be able to steal their rewards through tyranny of the majority. |
So you're saying that only a small portion of the people are contributing to the society in a meaningful way, or am I missing something here? Does that small group of people include food producers, policemen, carpenters, engineers, nurses etc. or is it limited to economists and investors?
