An acquaintance of mine has long made the argument that many government programs are unconstitutional (or at least unjust) because they take money from one person and give it to another. His argument is that we can only give the government rights that we ourselves possess. He argues that since I cannot rightfully take someone else’s property and give it to a third party, I cannot give the government the right to do that either. This argument misses the point.
What my acquaintance does not understand is the contractual nature of the Constitution. I can justly enter into a contract where a breach on my part gives the other party a right to my property. I can also enter into a contract where I agree to give my property to another person for their own personal use which allows collection by a third party. I think my acquaintance makes his mistake by assuming that the contract is between the government and the people. This is not true – the government is not an entity with the right to enter into a contract. Rather, the contract is between the individual members of the society. It is “We the People of the United States”, not “The government and the people contract as follows...”. The government was created as a part of that contract and was given powers that are derived from the collective rights of the people.
In exchange for my allegiance and tax dollars, the government agrees to “provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare” among other things. I also agree that my interests will be represented by agents chosen by a plurality (sometimes a majority) of people within the district where I live. Most fundamentally, I agree that I will live in a democratic society and be subject to the will of the majority of the people around me. I also agree that my failure to comply with these terms will result in deprivation of property, liberty or even life. If I am unhappy with any of those terms, I can do my best to change them by electing new officials or changing the contract by passing an amendment to the Constitution or by moving to another area with a different contract. (To get out of the US Constitution, it would have to be a different country. Also, for those who don’t want to live under any contract, there are plenty of lawless places in the world.) By remaining in society and taking advantage of the benefits government provides, I am tacitly agreeing to the terms of the contract.
As part of that contract, we agreed that the government could take from some of us and give to others – a tax system. When the government takes my tax dollars and gives them to other people through public education, welfare, road building, and defense, it is not arbitrarily stealing my money, but it is acting pursuant to the terms of the contract. The government is taking money from parties to the contract and giving it out pursuant to the terms of the contract (this allows things like paying UN dues and foreign aid). It is not forcibly taking money from a third party who is not a party to the contract. Under this theory, any action taken by the government pursuant to the terms of the contract is permissible. Only those actions which are unconstitutional are impermissible.
So to my acquaintance and all of his kind, I say stop whining about how unconstitutional the system is because you are wrong. If the Constitution says we can do something, we can do it – end of story.
3-19 Update: I stated above that the government derives its power from the collective rights of the people. I didn't provide any support for the position - an oversight on my part. It does not however, change my point. The contract power of the individual can still give the government the same rights and powers that I described above for the exact same reasons.
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3 comments:
Ok, so I agree with you that funding is a necessary part of any government, but at the same time, I can understand why people are frustrated with the way their money is spent. Let's face it, if people had no problem with the way their tax dollars were being spent, they'd have no problem giving their money. An aquaintance of mine who's on WIC asked me why I'm not on it, and basically called me a fool for not "taking advantage" of this program. And I just wanted to hit them then tell them that I can't go on it because then who'd pay for them to be on it. So to me, it is frustrating to see tax dollars spent on people who are not only underserving, but who will never be anything but a burden on society. Pay your own way people. That's all I ask.
You've hit the nail on the head. My acquaintance said that income tax and welfare are unconstitutional. As I've pointed out, that's not true. That doesn't mean that there aren't tons of other arguments for why the money shouldn't be spent that way, but my point is that unconstitutionality is not one of them.
I wonder if your acquaintance had to go on welfare, medicaid, and food stamps if his opinion would change. having taken part in some of these programs I realize we are Darn lucky to live in a country where the poor are looked after. It's sick that there are still so many people in this country who are too excited about paying for us to invade some other country to ask their congresspersons for more money to take care of the poor, needy, and deserving citizens of their own nation. It makes me sick that there are so many people who live without but cannot change their situations because that is all they have ever known. I'm a big fan of taxes because they have helped me in more ways than one. I think that if everyone was more willing to help others around them, whether they thought they were deserving or not, our nation would be a better place and we wouldn't have to have such high taxes. It makes me sick to be on the government programs that have been on because I know there are other people who need them just as much if not more than I do but I am sure glad they are there because try as I might during this part of my life I would die without them.
I look forward to the day when I can put back in the system tons of money to support great funds like WIC and food stamps and medicaid. It saves millions of lives every day. I think if people don't like the way their tax dollars are being spent they should let their congress people know or go out and help change the world to be a place where people don't need that funding because everyone takes care of each other.
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