I have never taken a farm subsidy, but not for the reasons you think.
It is not because I am opposed to them.
I mean, I am opposed to them, but at the point of origin: the theft.
Mostly, I just do not want government in my business.
At its best, taxation is theft.
At its worst, and most common, it is violence and extortion akin to, but worse than, mafia rackets.
What makes it worse is what that stolen money goes on to produce: more violence, more wars, more prisons, and more surveillance.
Flock cameras everywhere.
Spied on at your own expense.
Yet even with free money, the state cannot live within its means.
So it uses a printing press.
It literally prints free money and still manages to find itself trillions of dollars in debt. Then you, the supplier of its existence, are hit with another hidden tax, the most sinister of all:
Inflation.
Inflation makes your dollar buy fewer things than it did before.
Some of the plunder is, of course, passed down to “provide services,” which we ourselves could provide much more efficiently if we were allowed to.
But if we were allowed to provide them ourselves, what excuse would they have to exist?
Obviously, I would rather individuals, farmers, families, and ordinary people have the money than the most corrupt corporation in the world.
I am all for ending welfare.
I know charity is better delivered by families, churches, neighbors, and the private sector.
That is why I made the shirt:
Charity Comes From the Heart, Not Government.
But I want the plunder ended first.
As long as they are stealing from the public, I will encourage the public to use every service and every dime available to them.
If the state stole it, the people should not be ashamed to take it back.
WEAR THE REVOLUTION
This argument is why I made the Charity Comes From the Heart, Not Government shirt.
- Don’t Ask the State to Force Others to Give T-Shirt
- Charity Comes From the Heart Blanket
- Charity Comes From the Heart T-Shirt
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About the Author
Mike Shaner is the founder of Black Market Cattle Company and River Cade Farms. He writes about faith, liberty, food freedom, family, self-reliance, rural life, and building outside centralized systems.