Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a splash last week with an off-the-cuff comment. “You don’t necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country.”
The candidate whose initials are “B. S.” doesn’t call himself a Socialist for nothing.
The Democratic-caucusing “Independent” Senator from Vermont was expressing a tired old sentiment. See his error? (Raise your hand if you know.)
To make any connection between “feeding the hungry” and cutting back on competitive products one would have to believe there is a fixed stock of wealth, and that we waste it on different brands and whole varieties of antiperspirants and sports shoes.
But there is no such fixed supply.
Supplies are concocted to meet consumer values, wants, and getting rid of competitive products means that some values are not being met … and that some folks are not being employed at the rates they could be with more diversity of commodities.
The best way to “feed the hungry” is for the hungry to feed themselves, by being productive — if children, then being fed by productive parents. And to do that, folks need to find their market niche. Which might very well entail another deodorant or shoe.
There is a realm where one person gains at the expense of someone else: redistributive government. If Sen. Sanders wants government to give more money to feed hungry people, he should consider cutting back on some other government expenditure.
Why didn’t B. S. suggest that? Perhaps more than feeding the hungry, he’s interested in feeding government, and his own pride in his own b.s. ideology.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
5 replies on “Raise Your Hand, Dry and Secure”
Economically illiterate, hopeful, egalitarian are the characteristics of the utopian socialist which Senator Samders is. Problem is the Hitlers, Stalins and others of their mind set are always ready to implement the program.
I would like to know how much money Mr. Sanders donates to Charity yearly. I would also like to know how much $$ this Senator has. As we all know Senators have tons of perks, Rolls Royce pension & health care plans. Unless they are utterly selfless, most Congress people leave office as millionaires. But we won’t mention that Bernie enjoys his feathered nest. We should all allow the over-spending, bleeding red ink, government take ever more of our dollars & allow them to run every aspect of our lives.
After Barack Obama, there couldn’t be a worse choice for President. We will be goose-stepping in no time.
No one can goosestep better than John Cleese.
If you’re trying to talk me into voting for this guy, Paul, you’ve failed miserably.
Every place where the government has selected which will be the single official deodorant, there have been shortages of deodorant. Which is ok since the government deodorant usually doesn’t work that well anyway.