The Value of Paternalism

The primary distinction of American politics stands as the conflict between Those who believe in expansion of Government services, and Those who oppose expansion of Government. One of the most intelligent arguments by Those who oppose Government paternalism(Rightest Libertarian terminage) says it is a question of Values:


The Millionaire Next Door vs. the Politician in Washington
By Arnold Kling, Published 02/18/2005
http://www.techcentralstation.com/021805B.html

This is not a class war -- many of the politicians, lawyers, and academics on the left earn incomes that are in the top 10 or 20 percent of all Americans. Rather, it is a values war, between a group whose core values are thrift and self-reliance and a group whose core values are paternalism and redistribution.

Many people can expect to face layoffs, self-employment, retooling, and retraining. For PAWs, this provides yet another reason to be a saver rather than a spender. For PIWs, it provides another excuse to try to get Washington involved in personal economic matters

For those of us who value self-reliance and thrift, the economic trends suggest a need to increase saving and to invest heavily in human capital. For those who value paternalism and redistribution, those trends provide an excuse to "help" more people in more ways. This tends to exacerbate the conflict of values, because ultimately the redistribution policies require heavy taxes on those of us who save and try to educate ourselves

Arnold Kling can be masterful in providing an ideological base for the Values which he advocates. His Essays, though, necessitate a Counterpoint; this Author will attempt an inferior effort:

Those who favor Thrift and Saving enjoy a lessening rate of real taxation, and have faced this declining rate of real percentage taxation since the Reagan Years; the only thing increasing in Taxation has been nominal value of Tax, said nominal increases not even matching the rate of Inflation per Class of Income. Much of the residual anger at Taxation comes from improvement of Income classification, due to rise in professional status and position. Young Labor have gravitated to better Jobs, and resent the placement within higher Tax brackets.

The young Professionals, like Arnold, totally ignore the lack of retooling capacity held by the greatest share of the Labor force; these Workers not possessing the prior Education of the young Professionals. The latter Laborers lack Funds, prior Education, and effective Job opprotunities at levels to which they could retrain themselves. There is a Case for Government intervention.

The real Problem is to determine the manner of Government intervention, with later determination of the value of such intervention. The current Model of Government intervention stands poorly suited to provide actual benefit to Those in need of it. It restricts Recipients from utilizing personal initiative to improve their condition, lest they lose the Aid which they need. It restricts what they can do, without being reclassified with forfieture of needed Aid. The Government decrees the Unemployment rate has declined, soley because Workers have run out of Unemployment benefits. The real question must be posed: Do Those who receive Aid get sufficient Aid, and if They do; is it of sufficient type and quality to satisfy their needs?

The Author has often speculated that simplification of the Welfare process could bring great relief. His thought remains that Income can be safely tracked through the Banking system(evidence of Cheating could be reduced to less than 7%). All Forms of Government intervention should be eliminated; replaced by a simple system of immediate determination of need.

Suggested Form:
1) A net biweekly Needs Income should be determined.
2) A Person's Net Income should be collated through one Banking system.
3) A Net estimate of potential biweekly Income gains potential in Currency due to individual occupation should be established.
4) A Person with insufficient Income should fill out a simple form processed by a Bank Teller, who checked biweekly deposits in the Applicant's banking accounts; making up any inadequacy to the maximum of the established Needs Income level.
5) The Form is simply sent to the U.S. Treasury along with the deposit slip for Payment; the Treasury required to check for malfesiance.

Unemployment Insurance disappears, Social Security disappears, Housing Assistance disappears, and Determination of Tax eligibility by Income level disappears. These are not the only things to disappear, though, as One considers the effect. Bank Tellers are Bank emloyees engaged in ordinary financial transactions, having no need to be paid by the Government; a vast bureaucracy disappears. Proclaimed redistributive effects of Government welfare disappears, except in the context of setting the 'One Size fits All' Needs Income level. Huge amounts of Paperwork vanishes as well, alongside opening the way for a Flat Income Tax; nonregressive taxation because revenues collected increase as does Worker Income. Oh, We forgot, smaller Government here!

Better or Worse, Who knows? lgl