Truths Remembered

Every so often we need to be reminded of simple truths, ones that we take for granted and that soon fade from our consciousness. Tom Bowler reminds us of the biggest difference between conservatives/moderates/libertarians and the so-called “progressive” left.

The conservatives, moderates and libertarians believe in equality of opportunity. The progressive left believes in equality of outcome. The problem is that ensuring equality of outcome breeds mediocrity, and ultimately, failure.

Another truth is that too many of the progressive left treat wealth as a zero-sum game, meaning that if someone gets rich that they must have stolen their wealth from the poor. But wealth is not a zero-sum game in a society or civilization where wealth is not based upon the possession of a valuable but rare commodity like gold, silver, or some other precious metal. Wealth is based upon production of some kind of goods or services that are valuable to somebody somewhere. Those who become rich are those that find a way to provide more of such goods and services than somebody else. In the process they create jobs, which allows others to share the wealth. But this is something the progressive left can't seem to grasp, something that is taught in Economics 101!