Productive Life vs. Government Life

By Chris Rossini

After receiving an endorsement from Carly Fiorina (yes, warmongers do stick together) Ted Cruz made a comment today that deserves a bit of contemplation.

Amongst his gratitude to Fiorina, Cruz said: 

"I don't have any steaks to sell. I don't have any wine. I don't have any cleaning products."

The comment was, of course, aimed at Donald Trump. Considering the context and the source of the comment, it's actually quite revealing.

You see, Ted Cruz, with the exception of a few years as a corporate lawyer, is a career politician. He's been climbing up the greasy parasitic ladder, and is almost at the very top. F.A. Hayek wrote about those who reach the top of the parasitic class. It's not a good thing, to say the least.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been a member of productive society for a majority of his life. It's a shame that he's decided to leave it in order to join the criminal class. Trump should stay in the peaceful and voluntary sphere of society and continue to satisfy the real wants of consumers. But, alas, violent political power is very tempting.

In the voluntary marketplace, Trump continually tried to find ways to satisfy the wants and desires of consumers. He had no power whatsoever to force anyone to buy anything. Consumers are king, and Trump's job was to figure out how to serve them best. If consumers want steaks, then Trump would find a profitable way to sell steaks. If they want hotel rooms, golf courses, bottled water, men's clothing, Trump would satisfy those desires.

Every single consumer has the ultimate power of choosing not to buy. Many people over many years chose to buy what Trump was selling, and it provides a testament as how well he served his fellow man.

Let's now look at the other side of the coin.

Government, where Ted Cruz has spent his life, is the opposite of peace and voluntary interactions. Government is force. You pay, or government throws you in a cage. There is no incentive for government to satisfy consumers. There are no profits or losses, so government has no idea how to rationally allocate resources. There is no struggle to find out the most urgent desires of consumers, or even to satisfy them. Taxpayers have to pay, and that's it. 

With that kind of setup, it should be no surprise that government is a giant black hole that sucks the life out of society with every passing moment.

Ted Cruz poked at someone who has been productive. Ted doesn't create, doesn't innovate, and doesn't serve. That's not a badge of honor, but rather a black eye.

Again, it's a shame that Donald has chosen to leave productive life in order to join the dark side. And as we've noted several times here at The Ron Paul Liberty Report, a lot of what Trump claims he'll do as president is very dark and very authoritarian.

What a pity.