Jim Huntzinger | On August 5, 2020

In his book, The Constitution of Liberty, Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek disclosed that, “Not only has liberty nothing to do with any other sort of equality, but it is even bound to produce inequality in many respects. This is the necessary result and part of the justification of individual liberty: if the result of individual liberty did not demonstrate that some manners of living are more successful than others, much of the case for it would vanish.”[1] This is the very reason income mobility is so predominate in America. Individuals are free to use and leverage their God-given gifts – talents, knowledge, motivation, ideas, skills, relationships, and other attributes – to work toward accomplishing whatever they desire and are willing to put their effort into, in the form of labor (of the mind and/or body) and capital, to create and fulfill their dreams and ambition.

This freedom of liberty is exactly why so many immigrants flock to America. This drive and motivation began with the Pilgrims and our forefathers and continues today. This is the Light which emanated from the Shining City, as Ronald Reagan so frequently called it.  It is a reflection of God.

This situation is nothing new or unknown. In the 1800s, Robert Hartley developed and deployed an extensive plan to help the impoverished, inspired by Scottish theologian Thomas Chalmers, who “stressed the biblical obligation of the better-off to become personally involved with the poor.“ He believed “that legal or statutory relief tended to pauperize because it removed the need for self-help and discipline.”[2]  Hartley quickly realized that poverty was chiefly a moral issue of the individual. “[He] saw that alcoholism often was part of a bundle of spiritual and material problems,” writes Marvin Olasky, that “material deprivation was often the tip of the iceberg.”[3] What Hartley discovered and worked toward was compelling “every able-bodied man” to work to support himself and his family. He believed that if a man is not capable of doing so, “it is probably owing to idleness, improvidence, or intemperance,” and he “should be compelled to work or left to suffer the consequences of their misconduct.”[4]

This echoes the apostle Paul’s warning, “For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.”[5]

The first one hundred years of the United States reflected this view of the poor. Several initiatives during the 1800s proved unsuccessful, as the efforts exacerbated people’s conditions rather than improving their lives. The federal government resisted national welfare, not only because of the poor results when it was not a local effort, but because it was not the enumerated domain of the federal government.[6] President Franklin Pierce illustrated the typical federal view when he vetoed a bill for mental hospitals built and sustained by the federal government. “If Congress has the power to make provision for the indigent insane,” stated President Pierce, “it has the same power for the indigent who are not insane.” Pierce also feared such federal intervention would negatively impact local support and help for the poor and mentally ill. Pierce continued, “[S]hould this bill become a law, that Congress is to make provisions for such objects, the foundations of charity will be dried up at home.”[7]

Originally published on Townhall Finance.

Jim Huntzinger

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.