You Didn’t Build That: Debunking the Leftist Narrative

If we listen to the leftists, we hear two repeated messages…

Corporations are not people

No one get’s rich on their own, or, you didn’t build that.

Of course, these are parts of the class warfare lexicon.   For example, corporations are not people because their campaign donations help balance the torrent of big labor money to the democratic coffers.  So, it necessary to redefine them as “not people.”   Oh, and by the way, labor unions ARE people.  Don’t ask how- it cannot be explained.  Perhaps some strange metaphysical process is involved, or it is simply an asinine narrative?  You can be the judge on that.

Then, we have the whole concept that no one get’s rich on their own.  The idea here is that along the line, some teacher might have inspired, or someone gave support at a critical time, all going towards the person in question becoming rich.  Frankly, that might be true, but that is where the leftist narrative leaves the rails.  You see, that same inspirational teacher may have taught thousands of students at one time or another.  However, none of the other students became rich.  Perhaps it was the ideas, talents, or the drive of the rich person that made the difference?  Not so! According to the POTUS.

Also, it is said that if it weren’t for roads and other government sponsored infrastructure, businesses could not succeed.  To this is I must respond, who pays for the roads and bridges?  And, in fact, who pays for the teacher’s salary?  Is it the producers, those that work, create, and build businesses?  How would these projects and careers be funded without people doing something productive, and therefore paying taxes?

There are some breakdowns of who pays taxes.  The first is from US News and World Report (Hardly a Conservative organization).

In politics, perception often counts more than reality. First, for argument sake, let’s classify “the rich” as those in the top 1 percent of income earners. For 2009, the most recent data available, to be included in the top 1 percent you had to report Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of just under $344,000.

That same year, the top 1 percent paid 37 percent of federal income taxes. The top 10 percent (this would include a public school teacher and a police officer each making $56,000 a year who are married and filing a joint tax return) paid 70 percent, and those in the top half paid almost 98 percent of all federal income taxes. That means the bottom half paid about 2 percent. In fact, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, 47 percent of households pay no federal income taxes. Does it seem fair that the top 1 percent pays only 37 percent? Or does the fact that the top 1 percent pays over one third of all federal income taxes seem unfair to the rich?

The second take on the same data comes from the Heritage Foundation…

Top earners are the target for new tax increases, but the federal income tax system is already highly progressive. The top 10 percent of income earners paid 71 percent of all federal income taxes in 2009 though they earned 43 percent of all income. The bottom 50 percent paid 2 percent of income taxes but earned 13 percent of total income. About half of tax filers paid no federal income tax at all.

Well, why are they are paying a higher tax rate than their percentage of income?  That is fair?  No, it’s not, because according to our leftist friends, they should be paying even more of their income, no matter that the scales are already stacked against them.

Let’s take a bit to examine this further.  If these rich people work for corporations (that clearly are non-human), they do need each other to make the system go.  Business owners, or CEO’s need everyone, from the warehouses, janitorial staff, and the mid level administrators doing their jobs to make the company work.  Once again, we have to recognize that without the ideas, drive, and talents of the creators of the business (those inhuman rich people), the janitors, warehouse staff, and mid level administrators wouldn’t have jobs.  You can replace a janitor, or a staffer, and most people wouldn’t even notice. But without a person at the top with the drive, ideas, and work ethic to do what it takes to make the business go, the whole operation can, and often does, fall apart.

Additionally, the drive and ideas of the evil and inhuman rich creates products and services that the rest of us want.  There are stockholders, retailers, salespeople, and scores of others that benefit from the distribution of those goods and services.  That drive and initiative to build a better mousetrap ripples through the economy, and the more ripples, the better it is for more and more people.   If the “builder” were not there, would the goods and services “poof” themselves into existence?  I think not.  However, if you listen to the POTUS, he seems to suggest that he can do that by decree.

And what of businesses and corporations not being “people?”

In a free state, people are able to freely make mutually beneficial associations.  Even if you want to call them “collectives,” you can. People join these “collectives” voluntarily, and break the relationship when one party no longer needs or wants the association with the other.  It’s freedom!  People take and quit jobs as they please.  Businesses, large and small, want to keep people that work well for them, and to replace those that don’t.  Consumers pick the products and services that they want.  Investors invest in the entities that they think will give them a good return.  It’s all volutary.  And, as evidenced by history, it works!

Until, that is, government get’s involved.

Now, let’s the two comments and tie them together.  From one side of the leftist mouth, we are told that people can’t get rich on their own, and that they need other people to make that happen.  However, the other side of that same leftist maw tells us that these people involved in a voluntary arrangement are NOT people.

Let’s briefly contrast the union arrangement; in a private company, you get to chose to stay or go, you get to make the choices, and if you do well, you might find yourself moving up, either at that company, or at your own.  The company has the same choices.  They can associate with you, advance you if they see potential, or terminate you if they don’t.  But, with the union, you are forced to join-there is NO choice.  And, if you do well, the work rules often won’t let the company pay you more.  Your drive, talent, and ideas have no bearing on your outcome, as the union won’t allow that.  You won’t get paid more than the drunk guy at the next work station.  In fact, if the drunk guy has more time in than you, you will be terminated first if there are layoffs.  In the leftist/union/government world, this is called “fairness.”  Of course, since your personal talents and abilities are meaningless, it’s the opposite of fair, but as usual, up is down, and right is wrong in liberal land.

But, even though corporations and small businesses are make up of people-voluntarily engaging in mutually beneficial relationships, they are not people, they are inhuman, and therefore can be deprived of their rights.  And, even though the productive owners, and even the workers of those companies pay far more than their “fair share” of the taxes, they should be taxed more.  Then, they are told that their efforts at building their businesses are irrelevant, and that government made it all happen anyway-even though the taxes paid by business owners funded the very government projects that the government touts as the reason for success in the first place!

Leftist “logic,” and explaining how completely bass ackwards it is, gives me a headache.  But, it has to be done.