A Fool’s Errand
(Photo by Tony Fischer) (CC BY) (Resized/Cropped)
Franklin Roosevelt’s tone and message in his second inaugural speech revealed his collectivist direction of social justice and wealth redistribution. Lord Acton squarely refuted this practice and revealed its strangulation of freedom and liberty – its opposition to American Exceptionalism. “The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion for equality made vain the hope for freedom.”[1] In summary, redistribution and liberty cannot co-exist. As psychiatrist and author Dr. Lyle Rossiter noted, what is needed is “the realization [that] individual liberty is not compatible with enforced transfers of wealth.” He continues:
In genuinely free societies, wealth is transferred only through voluntary exchanges among those who buy, sell, and trade in free markets, or through inheritance, or through charitable donations to recipients selected by the donor.[2]
Roosevelt claimed inequalities can be designed out of the system by establishing more control over the system by the governing body; that is, Central Planning. But centralized planning actually increases and exacerbates inequalities. Moreover, inequalities are a natural result of any economic system. As economist Friedrich Hayek pointed out, “There will always exist inequalities which will appear unjust to those who suffer from them, disappointments which will appear unmerited, and strokes of misfortune which those hit have not deserved.”[3] Since economic actions and activity are very dynamic and occur on such a large scale, involving nearly the entire population–consisting of individuals with as broad difference of knowledge, skills, and experience as the number of them involved–actively engaging with each other and business entities, it is utterly impossible to not have some level of inequalities. Economist David Henderson points out:
[T]hose who have the highest incomes in a free society by and large earned them. Either they earned their incomes as wages and salaries, or as interest, dividends and capital gains. In this sense, inequality is justified.[4]
[1] Lord Action. Taken from Friedrich A. von Hayek (Bruce Caldwell, Ed.), 2007 (originally published in 1944), The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents, (Routledge, London: The University of Chicago Press), p. 134.
[2] Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D., 2006, The Liberal mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness, (St. Charles, IL: Free World Books, LLC), p. 124.
[3] Friedrich A. von Hayek (Bruce Caldwell, Ed.), 2007 (originally published in 1944), The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents, (Routledge, London: The University of Chicago Press), p. 137.
[4] David R. Henderson, June 2008, “Economic Inequality: Facts, Theory and Significance,” NCPA Policy Report No. 312, (National Center for Policy Analysis: Dallas, TX), p. 7.
Originally published on Townhall Finance.
Jim Huntzinger began his career as a manufacturing engineer with Aisin Seiki (a Toyota Group company and manufacturer of automotive components) when they transplanted to North America to support Toyota. Over his career he has also researched at length the evolution of manufacturing in the United States with an emphasis on lean’s influence and development. In addition to his research on TWI, he has extensively researched the history of Ford’s Highland Park plant and its direct tie to Toyota’s business model and methods of operation.
Huntzinger is the President and Founder of Lean Frontiers and a graduate from Purdue University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology and received a M.S. in Engineering Management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He authored the book, Lean Cost Management: Accounting for Lean by Establishing Flow, was a contributing author to Lean Accounting: Best Practices for Sustainable Integration.
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