How would you define moochers?
How would you define moochers? This was a question recently put to Dr. David Kelley. Here was his answer...
I would define them as takers on any scale who regard taking as their right, or at least as a legitimate activity. The qualification is important.
In our current mixedeconomy, welfarestate society, all of us are de facto takers. When the government runs education, retirement, and most of health care—supported by taxes on our earnings—we have little choice but to send our kids to public schools, take Social Security and Medicare when we get old, and get healthcare through a system riddled with government controls. However, the real takers are those who claim a right to such benefits and lobby to increase them. Like AARP.
By the same token, a poor person who wants to make an honest living is prevented from doing so by local regulations that prevent him or her from driving a cab, braiding hair, and similar jobs. These people may be forced to rely on welfare as a result. They are moochers in fact but not in spirit, by contrast with those who claim a right to support.
At the other end of the spectrum, no business can avoid dealing with government controls and subsidies. Still, there’s a difference between those who aim to create goods or services and succeed through market competition, for whom the struggle to navigate the shoals of regulations and permissions is a sideline, and those for whom deals with politicians and bureaucrats are the essence of what they do. They are the crony capitalists—moochers on a par with the most irresponsible welfare mother.
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Read the full Dr. David Kelley interview here: http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/31...
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I would define them as takers on any scale who regard taking as their right, or at least as a legitimate activity. The qualification is important.
In our current mixedeconomy, welfarestate society, all of us are de facto takers. When the government runs education, retirement, and most of health care—supported by taxes on our earnings—we have little choice but to send our kids to public schools, take Social Security and Medicare when we get old, and get healthcare through a system riddled with government controls. However, the real takers are those who claim a right to such benefits and lobby to increase them. Like AARP.
By the same token, a poor person who wants to make an honest living is prevented from doing so by local regulations that prevent him or her from driving a cab, braiding hair, and similar jobs. These people may be forced to rely on welfare as a result. They are moochers in fact but not in spirit, by contrast with those who claim a right to support.
At the other end of the spectrum, no business can avoid dealing with government controls and subsidies. Still, there’s a difference between those who aim to create goods or services and succeed through market competition, for whom the struggle to navigate the shoals of regulations and permissions is a sideline, and those for whom deals with politicians and bureaucrats are the essence of what they do. They are the crony capitalists—moochers on a par with the most irresponsible welfare mother.
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Read the full Dr. David Kelley interview here: http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/31...
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