Machiavelli, Obamanomics, and Freebies

Niccolo Machiavelli in his famous work The Prince wrote that "A ruler who pursues a reputation for generosity will always end up wasting all his resources, and he will be ogliged in the end, if he wants to preserve his reputation, to impose crushing taxes upon the people, to pursue every possible source of income, and to be preoccupied with maximizing his revenues. This will begin to make him hateful to his subjects, and will ensure no one thinks well of him, for no one admires poverty. The result is his supposed generosity will have caused him to offend the vast majority and to have won favor with few."

Machiavelli's description of the inevitable demise of a nation whose leader seeks a reputation for generosity can be applied directly to the United States under the reign of the new leftist triumvirate of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. The left promises massive increases in domestic spending for a variety of "generous" programs like government healthcare, government childcare, government program after program... and of course the tax cuts for people who don't pay taxes (the most "generous" plan of all). Of course we cannot afford to pay for all of this idealistic spending with our massive budget deficits but no matter... thus as Machiavelli said the inevitable outcome will be to "impose crushing taxes upon the people." Aha! I know what you lefties are thinking already.... Barack Obama promises 95% of Americans a tax cut, so would not his policy benefit the many by harming the few (the rich obviously, fuck them over), thus contradicting Machiavelli, who said that such "generous" plans would instead benefit the few and harm the many? Let us take a closer look: Barack Obama's plan to give hand outs or as he calls them "tax cuts" to 40% of the country that makes too little to pay taxes will certainly benefit the few at the expense of the many, the many being EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO PAYS TAXES. Sure, taxpayers not in the top 5% will see a modest tax cut. However, where do you think all of the money is coming from to give these "tax cuts" to the people who don't pay taxes? THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!! (China is also an acceptable answer) ..... Everybody who pays taxes, not just the top 5% that Obama will hammer, pays into the system. Thus when the system is going to fund hand outs for people who pay no taxes, that money is coming from every taxpaying member of society, not just "the rich" or the "corporate fat cats" whose tax increases will surely cause Obama and Pelosi to foam at the mouth. Thus Obama's schemes to "spread around the wealth" are affecting a lot more people than just those rich fellas. So, as Machiavelli said, the few (those who pay no taxes and make little money to begin with but make a little more after their entitlement checks) benefit at the expense of the many (those who do pay taxes and see a significant portion of their income shipped away as freebies) with everybody becoming poorer in the end and as total economic output and growth decline. So next time you hear about all of the liberal "generous spending" plans, remember what Machiavelli said....

Note: This is by no means an endorsement of Machiavelli or his worldview, simply the application of a relevant quotation from a brilliant thinker to contemporary politics