Liberals want to give your money to the poor

Liberals want to give your money to the poor

EDITOR:

What do you do with a good idea poorly implemented? That is a question that has plagued humankind since Adam and Eve, and it is at the heart of this presidential election.

Take liberalism, as an example. Economically, liberalism, like communism, proclaims: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. It is a simple and almost Christian concept. Who can argue with the educated teaching the ignorant, or the rich helping the poor, or the decent guiding the decadent? No one. And no one does.

What’s argued is how these things are achieved. When we instruct and share and guide of our own volition, it is noble. When we are forced to provide these good deeds, it is tyranny. Therein lies the difference between conservatism and liberalism. Conservatives give because it is the right thing to do. Liberals give for political gain.

Take Barack Obama, for instance. For all his proclamations of change, he is the same old liberal. He wants to take your money and give it to the poor. Now I would be inclined to embrace such a proposal if Mr. Obama was willing to give his money to the poor. I don’t mean in the form of taxes, but in the form of charity. But the last I heard, Barack was living large, and Michele was dining on lobster and Iranian caviar in a New York hotel.

A true liberal would reject such excesses. They might be willing to work with kings so they could maximize their earnings, but they would then live like the common folk so they could maximize their giving. Instead, most liberals work with the poor and live with the kings. Or should I say use the poor so they can live like kings. If Barack really wanted to change something in America, maybe he could start by looking in the mirror.

Mr. Obama hasn’t earned the right to give someone else’s money to the poor, until he has shown the courage to give his own money to the poor. And it shouldn’t be dependent on whether I am giving. It should be a reflection of his principles and beliefs. A true liberal would live the lie. He would give until it hurts. The day that happens, it would be real change — the kind of change I could vote for.

THOMAS MASKELL

Poland