The Influence of Confiscation on Production

There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while
The walls come tumbling down
When they do, we'll be right behind you
--Tears for Fears

Reread this excerpt from Chodorov's (1959) excellent book. This work is so good--teeming w/ insight.

One axiom so obvious once read yet seemingly impossible for Statists to grasp:  Production must fall in the amount of State confiscation.

When the State intervenes in the economy, which it always does by means of confiscation, it hinders consumption and therefore production. The output of a producer is in proportion to his/her intake.

Stated another way, the more resources that the State forcibly takes from the people, the poorer society gets.

This relationship is immutable, as it is grounded in natural laws that do not bend to political whims.

Yet those married to large government configurations constantly scratch their heads when interventionary programs fail to generate broad societal improvements that these people hope for. Their only conclusion seems to be that government simply must not be doing enough--that the State needs to 'do more.'

As Chodorov observes, such thought process has brought down State after State throughout history.

And that dynamic is certainly in play today.

References

Chodorov, F. 1959. The rise and fall of society. New York: The Devin-Adair Company.