This is an interesting point that Dr. Friedman brings up, especially when thinking about the morality of the death tax. We should be considering the whimsical idea of fairness and equality in a free society. Here is the thesis:
"The inheritance of talent is no different from an ethical point of view from the inheritance of other forms of property.. Yet many people resent the one, but not the other." Milton Friedman at 1:24.
Another item of note: the introduction of the famous Thomas Sowell at the end of the video destroying Dr. Piven. Enjoy.
"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom." Alexis de Tocqueville.
Blake
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The discussion of taxes and there morality is of particular importance today seeing as how we are not only in a depression but also that major tax cuts are set to expire in the beginning of 2011. But since every equation has two sides that must be adjusted so that it can balance we must also bring attention to the issue of government spending. Murray Rothbard has some particularly illuminating insights - "Moreover, a drastic cut in the government budget--both in taxes and expenditures--will of itself speed adjustment by changing social choice toward more saving and investment relative to consumption. For government spending, whatever the label attached to it, is solely consumption; any cut in the budget therefore raises the investment-consumption ratio in the economy and allows more rapid validation of originally wasteful and loss-yeilding projects. Hence, the proper injunction to government in a depression is cut the budget and leave the economy strictly alone."
Rothbard reiterates this point latter-- "In a depression, it is particularly important that the government's fiscal burden on the economy be reduced. In the first place, it is especially important at such a time to free the economy from the heavy load of government's acquiring resources, and second, a lowering of the burden will tend to shift total spending so as to increase investment and lower consumption, thus providing a double impetus toward curing a depression."
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