[Vision2020] Entitlements, Feeding the Animals, and Ludwig von Mises

[Nicholas Gier]

Dear Visionaries:

I want to thank Roger for the quote and Ron and Wayne for the good aid in
responding.  The Ludwig von Mises reference is explained in the full
version attached.  Here are the epigraphs.

*“I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least
of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me.”
*—Matthew 25:40 (New Living Bible)

*Jesus' words are full of resentment against the rich, and the Apostles
are no meeker in this respect. The Rich Man is condemned
 because he is rich, the Beggar praised because he is poor.
*—Ludwig von Mises

Von Mises, one of the founders of this form of libertarianism, has nothing
but scorn for Christianity, which he calls a religion of hatred and
resentment.  Von Mises also believes that Christians were the first
socialists.  Perhaps von Mises was aware of the economic communism of early
Christianity (Acts 2: 44-45) and Tertullian’s statement 200 years later:
“We Christians hold all things in common except our wives.”

Yours for entitlements forever,  Nick

      *ENTITLEMENTS AND FEEDING THE ANIMALS*

By Nick Gier

*The case was presented to the court on the theory that the child
 was a member of the animal kingdom and therefore entitled to
the same protection from abuse that the law gave to animals.
*—a New York City girl removed from her parents in 1874*
*

Under the headline “Isn’t It Ironic?” the following statement has been
making its rounds on the internet.

“The Food Stamp Program is distributing the greatest amount of free meals
and food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the National Park Service asks us ‘Please
Do Not Feed The Animals.’ This is because the animals may grow dependent on
handouts and not learn to take care of themselves.”

Here is the real reason from Bryce Canyon National Park:

“Most animals have very specific natural diets and therefore specific kinds
of digestive bacteria. Being fed human food causes the wrong type of
bacteria to become dominant in their stomachs. Soon these animals are no
longer able to digest their natural foods.”

While it is illegal to feed wild animals (exceptions are starving elk
during harsh winters), we have a moral obligation to feed domestic
animals.  When neglected farm animals can’t be taken in by neighbors, who
steps in to feed and care for them? Public officials of course.

Why is it then that when the government offers assistance to help people in
need, far too many Americans say that they should just tough it out? Or
die, as some in a GOP debate audience yelled out when the moderator asked
Ron Paul: “Should the uninsured be left to die?”It is really unnatural to
depend on publicly supported health care, fire/police protection, public
roads, public parks, public wildlife agencies, and public education?

In 19th Century America there were no laws protecting children from abuse,
but there were, thanks to English influence, humane societies.  Finding a
9-year-old girl suffering from malnutrition and physical injuries, a New
York social worker contacted the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals. In 1874 a judge was forced to admit that the girl was
indeed a “member of the animal kingdom,” and that she should be taken from
her parents and placed in an orphanage.

 Some Americans treat their dogs better than they want the government to
treat people who can’t help themselves.  Is it because they believe that
the poor and disabled are somehow wild animals who should fend for
themselves? Should we, as the Victorians did, criminalize poverty and send
the reprobates to the Poor House?

These questions are not rhetorical because Newt Gingrich has criticized
child labor laws, but then turns around and claims that poor children
wouldn’t work even if jobs were offered them. He said that “poor children
in poor neighborhoods have no habit of working and have nobody around them
who works.”

Always correcting the fact-challenged GOP, Charles Blow of *The New York
Times* replied that “three out of four poor working-aged adults work. Most
poor children live in a household where at least one parent is employed.”

Those on the right spit out the words “entitlement” as if no one has ever
deserved to receive a cent let alone a helping hand.  The sentiment appears
to be that everyone should somehow self insure themselves against the
exigencies of poor health, old age, and unemployment.

Beginning with the rule of Otto von Bismarck—under pressure from the
fledgling Social Democrats—Germany established the principle that
self-interest is best attained by assuming collective responsibility for
humanity’s most basic needs.

Many governments believe that children are so important that they pay
mother or fathers to stay home with their infants in the early months, and
then provide a monthly allowance for all children through their school
years. In Finland parents are paid 80 percent of one salary for 23 weeks,
and a child allowance ($140 per month) until age 17.

The percentage of food stamp recipients in the 21 states that voted for
John McCain is two percent higher than the 29 states that voted for Obama.
Idaho had the second largest increase of food stamp users from 2009 to
2010.

If government programs do in fact generate unhealthy dependencies, why is
it that in 2008 22 red states received more federal funds than they paid in
taxes. Only 10 blue states were in this category.  Texas was the only red
state that sent more money to Uncle Sam than it received, while 16 blue
states did.

Why don’t these GOP governors send all of this money back to their rich
uncle? After all it is unwise to feed animals who claim to be
self-sufficient.

Nick Gier taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years.
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