Stealing Prosperity

"No matter how bad it gets, we don't steal."
--Jim Braddock (Cinderella Man)

Smart answer to Bernie Sanders' question by Prof Reisman. Sanders, an avowed socialist, asks why people are comfortable giving tax breaks to corporate billionaires but don't think we can afford to pay for health care for everyone.

The answer is simple. When billions are added to the means of production, the supply of products we buy, and the demand for the labor we sell, are increased, resulting in our being better off. When we have to pay for the health care of others, we are worse off. https://t.co/XpZMqSwuDz

— George Reisman (@GGReisman) December 5, 2018

Reisman replies that those billions in tax breaks can be added to the means of production thru savings and investment.Those productivity gains fuel more goods and services, including those related to healthcare, at lower cost, thereby improving prosperity for all. Spending those savings today amounts to capital consumption, which amounts to cooking the goose that lays golden eggs.

Notice the words Sanders uses. 'Giving' tax breaks to billionaires. 'We' can afford to pay for healthcare. He implies that those billionaires don't rightfully own their $billions. 'We' do.

This is the rationale of a thief displaying a pathology of resentment with hopes of capturing supporters with songs of envy and covetousness.