The Bernie Syndrome

It begins in public schools.  During registration, you're given a list of school supplies that your child needs, to have a successful school year. Typical items are pencils, paper, folders etc.  But, far too often, the list includes more than is necessary. Why?  So that there will be enough to share with other kids who may not have enough supplies.  What?  Why do parents have to buy extra stuff for other children?  If every parent is given the same list, doesn't that mean that every parent is buying extra?  Wouldn't that mean there is a surplus?  Where does all this extra go?  Do the schools save the extra for next year?  (Sounds like the surplus in SC. 900 million dollars left over but they're wanting to raise the gas tax. That's a whole different post...)

Fast forward 13 or so years and these children are voting in their first election.   They've spent their whole childhood being indoctrinated into thinking that everyone should give a little more to be sure everyone else has plenty.  They hear political candidates talking about the rich needing to pay more, so that college can be free,  healthcare is guaranteed to all, etc.  These kids buy into it because they've always been taught that if you have more, you should give more. Now, they're young adults with very little income and they figure that the rich owe it to society to pay more so.....you know, free stuff for all.

This sounds appealing, especially when you're living on ramen noodles and mayonnaise sandwiches while working your way through college. The problem is, that this doesn't solve anything. The rich people are the ones who run companies. Those companies create jobs. Those companies sell their goods or services based on cost vs profit. Raise taxes, they raise prices. Raise prices, working people can afford less.  When working  people can afford less, politicians begin to say "raise minimum wage". Raise minimum wage, cost of doing business goes up. This causes prices to go up, causing the higher minimum wage buying power to go down.  It's like reading the same page of a book over and over but never turning the page. No matter how many times you read it, the story never progresses.

But the sad thing is that the millennials will accept this as normal or necessary, because they've been conditioned to think that it is normal. But it's not. Normal is working for what you get and striving to do better today than you did yesterday. By doing that, you will eventually have the things that you need and more of the things that you want.  I'm not rich, but, if I ever am, I want to keep what is mine and I don't want government deciding how much I get to keep.

The Bernie syndrome is a dangerous thing for a free society.


Until next time....

Peace