Sunday, March 21, 2010

Death and...

Scavenger writes:

It is interesting, as a self-employed craftsman just starting out, to figure just how much of the price for which you sell a hand-crafted item has to be set aside for taxes. It is interesting to then connect that with what those taxes pay for. It is then interesting to see what new things each session of Congress cooks up that taxes pay for. You then try not to think, as you pause to brush the sweat off your brow while hammering red hot iron into beautiful and useful items, how much of that sweat is going to various programs. It's not a good thing to do for your blood pressure or ease of digestion.

Probably the most useful item of information I learned in high school was the concept of TANSTAAFL. I learned this in one of my social studies classes, and I found out years later that that particular way of phrasing it was coined by Robert Heinlein. I am grateful to that teacher for teaching the concept. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. The segment of the population that feels they benefit from governmental spending does not see the whole picture. If you do not earn enough to pay taxes, why should you care? Well, who does pay those taxes? Where do they get the money to pay those taxes?

Let's take the example of a grocery store. Everyone has to eat. You pay the tax that the store owner pays to the government. The store pays the taxes that the supplier pays to the government. The supplier pays the taxes that the farmer pays to the government. The farmer pays the taxes that the diesel company pays to the government. And so on, ad infinitum. And so you, the end consumer, end up giving enough of your money to the store that all of the people in that long, long chain can pony up their portion to the government. Whether you pay an income tax or not.

How much of your efforts go to support what the government pays for? How many government salaries for the people that administer all the programs are you paying for? What could you do with some of the money that ends up going in that direction?

Do you want the government to do more? If so, it means that you, ultimately, do with less. Everyone, ultimately, does with less.

I, as an independent craftsman, sell items to people who have enough discretionary funds that they can afford to pay me for them. Nothing I sell is something of vital importance that cannot be done without or gotten by with something from a Communist Chinese factory. I make beautiful, durable goods that will outlast the original owner if treated well, but none of it is something that can't be done without. The less money that people have of their own to play with, the less inclined to buy a handcrafted, beautiful knife made with the sweat and ingenuity of an American they are and the more to buy something cheaper that will not do as well or last as long or feel as nice in the hand froma country with a lower standard of living and less freedom. The more I have to struggle to make it.

Just a thought as I set aside money for taxes late one Sunday evening, when our wonderful government has decided to take control of 20% of our economy to make sure that a small percentage of the population who does not have insurance has it whether they want to or not.

Well, America was nice while it lasted.