Is Wealth Redistribution Really Wrong ?

I saw this picture from a right-wing site on Facebook. It was being promoted as truth by one of my own right-wing family members. It made me a bit sad to see someone I know (and like) falling for this old right-wing meme -- that "wealth redistribution" is an evil thing that should not be allowed in our free enterprise system. It just shows that a lot of people don't understand what they are talking about when they talk about wealth redistribution.

The real truth is that a capitalist or free enterprise system cannot exist without wealth redistribution. It is based on wealth redistribution. Stop and think about it logically. Wealth is redistributed every time an item or service is sold. Every time an insurance company pays out on a claim, wealth is being redistributed. Every time a worker receives a paycheck, wealth is redistributed. Every time a store restocks its merchandise, wealth is redistributed. Every time someone receives a Social Security check or Medicare benefits, wealth is redistributed. Every time stocks or bonds are bought or sold, wealth is redistributed. And yes, every time someone pays their taxes, wealth is redistributed.

In a capitalist system such as ours, wealth is continually being redistributed. The system will simply grind to a halt if there can be no wealth redistributed. So why, in a system that depends on wealth redistribution, do right-wingers claim that wealth redistribution is wrong (theft)?

There is some wealth redistribution that is actual theft. When a robber takes your money for his own use, that is both wealth redistribution and theft. And when a giant bank sells you worthless junk bonds or charges you exorbitant fees, that is also wealth redistribution that is theft. But these right-wingers aren't talking about real theft. They are trying to demonize the term "wealth redistribution" to make you think paying taxes is evil -- especially when used to help hurting Americans (the poor and disadvantaged, the unemployed, the elderly, children, etc.).

But while we can argue about what the level of taxation should be and who should bear the largest burden of that taxation, it is ridiculous to argue that taxes are wrong because they amount to wealth redistribution. Of course, taxes redistribute wealth. It does so because we have decided that it is proper for our government to give hurting Americans a hand up, and that our economic system should be fairer in the way wealth gets distributed in this country.

Wealth redistribution is not wrong -- it is necessary, both to the operation of a capitalist economy and to the fairness of that economy. Don't let the right-wingers scare you into hurting our government and economy (and letting the rich off the hook by allowing them to not pay taxes) by misusing and demonizing this term. They are just trying to justify their own greed.