“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931-2005
As I wrote about about the ebb and flow of the current political campaign this year, I came across an ad which asked: “What America are you voting for?” I am not sure which candidate raised the point, but as I pondered the question I wondered exactly how we should look at our options.
What can make this question so challenging is the split personality of the American people. In difficult economic times voters want both lower taxes and the maintenance of reliable social services for those most severely impacted. To achieve these ends, Americans demand an open ladder of opportunity – and a safety net to catch those least able to navigate the churning waters of economic dislocation.
Our society has always believed in lending a hand to those in need. We genuinely desire to see our fellow Americans lifted up to achieve their God-given abilities. But that doesn’t mean we want to see the safety net filled with “victims.” Worse, we do not want assistance to seduce people into dependency. Our aspiration is for a thriving economy that extends hope to all by generating the resources necessary to help those in need – while offering real opportunity that breaks the shackles of dependency in order to achieve individual self-sufficiency.
The America I am voting for is one that, whenever possible, draws people out of the safety net by offering expanding, private sector opportunities. I am voting for an America that puts a priority on creating a vibrant economy that can sustain a viable, long-term safety net – and a government that simultaneously strives to make sure the net is as empty as possible.
America will not move forward by using government to diminish one another. If our society is to meet the trials of tomorrow we must produce more – not fight over how we share less. The choice is not between taxing the rich or kicking the poor to the curb. Far from it. Growing our economy is our only real option to help those most in need – and maximize our potential as a nation bestowed to us by our Founders.
I am voting for an America where individual liberty allows each of us to pursue happiness as we interpret it for ourselves and our families – and where personal responsibility to be accountable for our choices guides us to leave a better nation for generations to follow.
I am voting for the continued fulfillment of the American Promise – security, opportunity, and prosperity through economic growth. My choice is clear.
(Paul F. Welday is president of Renaissance Strategies, a political consulting firm in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Originally posted on The Michigan View.)
Speak Your Mind