News Flash: Michael Moore, still a moron.

Michael Moore once again surfaced today to show what a deep respect he has for the rights of all people*, everywhere.

* - Note: Those with money aren't real people, and as such don't have rights like the ability to own property.

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This video is full of lovely gems of wisdom but here's the best one (Right around the 6 minute mark), which follows a question about the solution to Wisconsin's budget problem:

"To me the solution is quite simple. First of all, we are not broke. This country is not broke. State of Wisconsin is not broke. There's a ton of cash in this country...but it's a finite amount. There is only so much cash. What's happened is we've allowed a vast majority of this cash to be concentrated in the hands of just a few people...

They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it...

I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates. They need to -- we need to see these jobs as something we some, that we collectively own as Americans and you can't just steal our jobs and take them someplace else."

Those mean, dirty Rich people! How dare they have their money and spend it the way they wish! How dare they not give the money to the government who knows how to spend it better anyway?

Side note, completely and absolutely unrelated Michael Moore's net worth: $25 million USD.

To begin with, the idea that the Rich aren't taxed enough is absurd. From The American:

"The latest data show that a big portion of the federal income tax burden is shoul­dered by a small group of the very richest Americans. The wealthiest 1 percent of the population earn 19 per­cent of the income but pay 37 percent of the income tax. The top 10 percent pay 68 percent of the tab. Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent—those below the median income level—now earn 13 percent of the income but pay just 3 percent of the taxes. These are proportions of the income tax alone and don’t include payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare."

Second, economies are cyclical. That means that no matter how well run a business is, or how booming an economy, it will eventually have some sort of downturn. Provided that there is not a restrictive environment or some other outside influence, the natural greed of people will drive them to work through, find solutions, so that they can earn more money. It boils down to a simple principle, elucidated by Henry Ford:

"There is one rule for industrialists and that is: make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.

If I had a chicken that laid golden eggs, I would naturally wish to retain this chicken. If said chicken laid better eggs if I fed it higher quality feed, I would naturally wish to do this. Not out of any altruism or gratitude towards the chicken, but rather because I wished to have larger hunks of egg shaped gold. Greed motivates success for everyone involved.

Lastly, to have the supposed virtues of the poor working class extolled, and those of the rich vilified, by a man who is himself fabulously wealthy is a delicious irony. Let me be clear: I do not care how much Michael Moore is worth. If he can make a bajillion dollars by producing a product that some people, for reasons that I cannot understand, want to pay for then fantastic! More power to him. That money is his to spend as he likes, and if he believes the government can do such a great job with it I am positive the IRS takes donations.

Unfortunately, I also support the right of the other wealthy Americans to spend the money they have earned however they see fit. There is this strange belief that circulates at times that purports that because the Rich have so much money, they cannot have earned it, and even if they did, they have less right to it because they have so much. In Moore's terms, it's a "National Resource".

Let's analyze the condensed version of Moore's position:

The Rich are not choosing to spend their money in a way that benefits other people. Therefore, the government should take their money from them and spend it for the Public's benefit.

First, remember we are all citizens and hypothetically equal under the law. This is guaranteed by the Fourteenth amendment, which is pulled out of its dusty shelf by liberals whenever they wish to tout gay rights, among other things. What applies to one applies to all.

Second, the status of your citizenship does not hinge on the money you make. There are no "Upper Class" citizens in the eyes of the law.

Third, while the government has used its power of taxation in a graduated fashion which discriminates based on total wealth, these levels are not fixed. In other words, the definition of "Rich" is fluid.

This means that if we accept the principle behind Moore's statement, namely that the government has the positive right to dictate how people spend their own money and utilize their own property if it's not benefiting other people enough, then Moore's statement truly becomes this:

American Citizens are not choosing to spend their money in a way that benefits other people. Therefore, the government should take their money from them and spend it for the Public's benefit.

Beware, ye would be class warriors. The chains you give to the government to bring down the mighty above you today will be the same that bind you into servitude tomorrow.