Today's "Ask Dr. Ruwart"

How could libertarianism help the poor and disabled?

Question: I am a 60-year-old disabled widow. I have been unable to work at all for over 15 years. After years of paying high taxes, which I thought were to help me in case of emergency, I had to fight with the government for 5 years to obtain my disability judgment. I live on a meager $800 a month and never know from one month to the next if I will be able to pay my bills. I receive nothing from any charities. I am in physical and emotional pain, almost suicidal at times. Tell me where I'd be without the government pittance I receive. Dead or on the streets under a bridge, that's where. How could a libertarian government help me in any positive way?

My Short Answer:

In a libertarian society, you probably wouldn't be just scraping by on the equivalent of $800 a month. A libertarian society wouldn't have the taxes and regulations that hamper our economy. Consequently, our nation would be at least three times wealthier.

More wealth means better living standards for everyone, including the disadvantaged. That's why it's better to be a poor person in the United States than in India. As a nation embraces liberty, wealth creation increases and people with low income, like yourself, benefit proportionately.

For example, in a libertarian society, you wouldn't have paid those high taxes when you worked. You could have bought disability insurance with some of the savings. Consequently, in your time of need, you'd be getting much more then you are now. Insurance companies invest your money so that it's there when you need it. The government, on the other hand, spends it and can only pay you by taxing the next generation, including your children and grandchildren if you have any. Of course, the next generation pays $2 for every $1 you receive. The government pays the other $1 to the tax collectors, lawmakers, and bureaucrats who administer your disability program. What a waste!

In a wealthier, libertarian society, people would have much more money to give to charities. You probably wouldn't need charity, since you'd have a true disability insurance. However, if you did need charity, it would most likely be there, as it was in the days before government welfare. Indeed, charity was so plentiful that some individuals made their living simply by going from charity to charity and collecting the handouts that were offered. They became known as "rounders," or shady characters, because of their willingness to take without giving.

Today, many people assume that the government takes care of the disabled and don't even think about helping them. They forget that politicians rarely deliver what they promise. Consequently, many of the needy are literally left out in the cold. (We call them "homeless.") People like yourself, who receive back a tiny fraction of what they have put in, become fearful of dismantling the very system that has impoverished them. The government programs that give you a monthly pittance are the very reason that you can barely get by after working hard for the better part of your adult life.

We all receive back a tiny fraction of what we put in. The very least that a libertarian government would do for each of us is let us keep what we earn.

A libertarian government would enforce contracts. If someone took our money with the promise of adequate disability insurance, they'd have to provide it — or go to jail. Our politicians can promise us anything and give us nothing. Because they enjoy sovereign immunity, we can't even prosecute them for their fraud.

Part of that fraud comes to us in the "inflation tax." Because politicians spend more than the government takes from us, they expand the money supply and inflate the currency. Those on a fixed income find it harder to make ends meet each year, as this hidden "tax" takes more and more of our spending power.

The bottom line is this: People like yourself, who are just scraping to get by, would have much more in a libertarian society. Indeed, if we had had a libertarian government, you would almost certainly be comfortable now instead of on the verge of suicide.

Will you continue to support the government that has created your problems, or will you support libertarian values?

Dr. Mary Ruwart is a leading expert in libertarian communication and author of the international bestseller Healing Our World. She is also author of Short Answers to Tough Questions, in which you will find a collection of her answers.

Read more of Dr. Ruwart's Short Answers to Tough Libertarian Questions.

Dr. Ruwart's answers graciously provided by The Advocates for Self-Government.