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One of the great things about being free, is that you get to keep the product of your labor. Or, to put it another way, you get to keep what you earn. Too bad it doesn’t work that way in the United States today.Oh sure, you get to keep some of it. But government at all levels takes a huge bite out of earnings. What it does with an awful lot of that money is transfer it to others. This amounts to little more than theft, or what French economist Frederic Bastiat called “legal plunder.”
Quite a large amount of that plunder goes to fund pork projects at institutions of higher education. Fortunately, the Chronicle of Higher Education has done a good job tracking pork at the nation’s universities. Perusing their database of “Congressional Earmarks for Higher Education, 2008,” one finds the following interesting facts:
- $525,654 to Albany State University (Georgia) “to be shared with two other colleges, for an initiative to increase the success of minority males and nontraditional students in postsecondary education.”
- Another $525,654 to Albany Technical College (Georgia) “to be shared with two other colleges, for an initiative to increase the success of minority males and nontraditional students in postsecondary education.”
- $657,366 to Albany State University (Georgia) “to be shared with Georgia Southern University, to provide assistance on Georgia agriculture water policy.”
These first three bits of tasty pork come courtesy of Rep. Sanford Bishop (D) of Georgia.
What else is on the list? How about:
- $1,033,620 to Arizona State University at Tempe “to be shared with four other universities, for the Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy,” sponsored by Diane Feinstein (D-CA) along with Senators Domenici (R, N.M.), Bingaman (D, N.M.), and Sen. Boxer (D, Calif.).
- $354,501 to Tufts University “for research to help New England farmers better conserve land.” Sponsored by Representatives DeLauro (D, Conn.) and Courtney (D, Conn.).
- $1,600,000 to The University of Massachusetts at Amherst “for the development of enabling chemical technologies for power from green sources.” This one sponsored by Rep. John Olver (D, Mass.).
- $3,097,167 to Texas A&M University at College Station “to be shared with four other colleges, a nonprofit institute, and a state agency, for the U.S. Marine Shrimp Farming Consortium.” Sponsored by four Democrats and a Republican.
These are just a few examples picked at random from a very large list. Moreover, these were from the 2008 list. Just imagine the new and inventive pork our esteemed Senators and Representatives have cooked up since!
Of course, there are those who will say that these expenditures, when they go for higher education, support worthwhile programs. This is true, to a point. Certainly, if I were to have free reign to relieve my neighbor of 40 percent of his property as a sort of tax for the privilege of living in my neighborhood, I would find that beneficial, and would also be able to claim, from my point of view, that the “tax” in question went to something worthwhile -- namely, my bottom line.
But, nonetheless, my taking of 40 percent of my neighbor’s property would still be theft. And theft it is too when, as Bastiat pointed out, a government takes from some, and then gives to others, irrespective of the benefits those others receive as a result of the dubious transaction.
