Letter to the editor: Trickle-on vs. trickle-down

The only thing new in the world is the history you haven’t read.

This country was conceived by wealthy white men who wanted to retain the fruits of their labor.

The big government across the waves wanted to confiscate that wealth to pay for wars without giving “we the people” a say in the matter.

The choice is the same now as then: How much government do you want to have in your life?

One side wants you to work to take most of the fruits of your labor to redistribute for things like medical care, education, housing and leisure time to make everyone financially equal, but you really don’t get a say in the matter. In other words, “trickle-on” economics. Other words are socialism, progressivism, communism — a government-run economy. Extreme examples of this are Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and the USSR.

The opposite side prefers you to work, retain your earnings and let you make the decisions on how to run your life as you see fit. This is called “trickle-down” economics. Other words are capitalism, private enterprise and entrepreneurism. Trickle-down because wealthy people mostly contribute back to society. The best example of this system has been the USA.

Let us review the lesson. Public education is getting failing grades, government medical care at the VA isn’t so good, Social Security and the U.S. Postal Service are going broke, and college tuition is rising beyond inflation because of government-backed student loans. Oh yeah, big government gave GM $40 billion in a loan and then five years later said to GM, “You only have to pay back $30 billion,” and “we the people” now watch as GM lays off 15,000 employees.

David A. Scandrol

Lower Burrell