Rich vs. Poor

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." This phrase, attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, seems quite applicable to many areas of politics...none more than the subject of the poor.

Much political capital has been gained by espousing the view that, "the rich keep getting richer, while the poor get poorer."  This is a standard, and quite effective weapon of the class warriors.  Those who view themselves as poor are driven to envy and resentment against the rich by such phrases...and this resentment drives their voting choices.

But what is the truth? Are the rich getting richer at the expense of the poor? Are the poor getting poorer over the years? Steve Horwitz, economics professor at St. Lawrence University, explains the facts behind the rhetoric in this video for LearnLiberty.org.

Related Post:
How Poor Are Our Poor?

Power and Corruption

Just a brief thought:

If the maxim "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" was true in 1887 when Lord Acton first penned it, how much more is the corruption today when the potential for power is so much greater? It is even more important today to keep power decentralized, as the Founding Fathers intended, than it was in the beginning of our republic.

Were The Anti-Federalists Right?

In a great series on PJTV called Freedom's Charter, Scott Ott has succinctly laid out the original intent of the scope of our Federal Government, and where it all went wrong in a chapter called Madison Was Wrong (see below).

Remember, in the original debates on the constitution, there were those who wanted a very limited Federal government (The Federalists), and those who wanted an even more limited Federal government (The Anti-Federalists).  The Anti-Federalists argued that there were not enough restrictions and checks on the power of the central, Federal government as proposed by the Federalists.  They believed such a central government could and would eventually usurp the authority of the States.

It seems the Anti-Federalists may have been right.  But, is the reason lack of checks built into the constitution?  Or, is it that the States have ceded their authority and failed in their role to limit the central power?  Ott gets right to the point:

"In the first quarter of 2009, for the first time in history, the Federal government became the largest source of income for State governments.  James Madison's generation feared Federal bullies with bullets.  They apparently didn't anticipate that tyranny could stroll in on a green carpet of cash...welcomed by the passively subdued States that had created the Federal Government."

RelatedPosts:

Balance of Power:

The Utility of Federalism:

The Federalism Series - A Primer

Why Feed the Pig:

Like the 10th Amendment? Repeal the 17th!