I stumbled across a question the other day that I felt a strong urge to answer. Seeing as this question called out to me so strongly, I figured I’d make a blog post about it, and post that back to the website as my answer.
Here’s the original question:
What is a good Libertarian response to Elizabeth Warren's "There is nobody in this country that got rich on his own" argument?
There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there – good for you.
But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory…
Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea – God Bless! Keep a Big Hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.
Here’s my response:
You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for.
We were forced to pay for these roads, and the person moving the goods pays more than the rest. Roads are maintained by gas taxes in most states. Good thing that factory owner is moving all that stuff via road, burning up all that fuel, or else the roads might fall into disrepair real fast.
You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate.
And then had to teach them how to do the job, and how to work together as a solid team towards attainable goals. Something which the public school system completely failed at. Meanwhile, I'm still forced to pay taxes to educate more people that I'll have to turn around and educate myself if I choose to hire them.
You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory…
Think of the millions of dollars that would have been saved if I, and others like me, hadn't been robbed to pay for that police and fire force you speak of. Do you honestly believe that intelligent business people, with enough sense and ambition to build a factory that employs hundreds, would be too stupid to hire private security who are armed and trained in fire prevention and firefighting techniques? If not for the police and fire departments, I'd employ MORE people, and still not worry about roving bands of losers trying to take what's rightfully mine.
Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea – God Bless! Keep a Big Hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along
Perhaps you don't understand. You have roads because of my factory and the taxes you take from the gasoline I purchase to ship my products. You have police and fire protection because of the property taxes on pay on my manufacturing plant and warehouse, which combined are worth several dozen times the value of your average home. I keep the state general fund supplied by paying B&O taxes on my employees and the taxes I'm required to pay based on my gross revenues for the year, not to mention collecting up the sales tax in states that support that. I help keep the federal coffers full with the huge amount of "income" tax my corporation pays, even though corporations technically don't have "income".
The next time you open your mouth to say something about me and my factories, or any other aspect of my business, how about you just say "thank you".
- For supporting our roads.
- For supporting our schools.
- For supporting our police and fire.
- For supporting our welfare programs.
- For supporting our continued employment.
- For supporting our federal regulatory agencies.
- For providing quality products, made in the US by American workers, at reasonable prices.
Or maybe I should go where I'm appreciated. I hear Mexico is always looking for new factories.
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