The Nome nugget. [volume] (Nome, Alaska) 1938-????, 1949-06-20
WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY

..
When the question is put squarey to my fellow
Americans, | believe there are few OF them who Will
honestly admit craving for government Most
Americans reluctant to accept money directly or in
directly from the government whether or not they
know where it all comes from. Yes, genus Americans
known as Joe Doe still has high respect for his own in
tiative and industriousness.
How much longer he will be able to hold up this self
respect of his against the power OF the encroachng
welfare" state is question for serious thought With
government beseging him from all sides, thinking up
more and more ways to spend his own money for him,
Joe Doe has stiff battle on his hands Actually Joe has
been taught for many years now that taking things OF
fered by the is way to get something for
nothing.
Of course everybody has soft spot for the underdog
yet Joe knows in his heart that you can't help the little
fellow by pulling down somebody else. He knows you
can't really help people by having the government steal
from some give to Others practice that makes the
government both thief and benefactor He sees pot-
clans this line get office and to stay in office Can
didates get elected by doing things for people, with
other peoples money of course.
Nevertheless, our friend Doe is puzzled, like most
other plain Americans This is time of plenty and high
production He is pulling down the best wages he ever
earned yet he's having awful time taking care Of
himself and family What Joe does not know is that he
is working only about q hours week for himself; the
of his 4Ohour work week goes to the
In fact all of together working for ourselves only
two out of every three days work.
One third of what produce, then, goes for the OPP
Grafton of government (ocal, state federa) Is it any
wonder that Joe Doe is having such hard time making
ends meet? He's up against it, trying to get along on
what he has left for himself and family There times
when Joe wonders whether it wouldn't be all right to go
ahead and do many of his neighbors are doing
call on the government to help him out
Joe Doe is definitely the spot. Sure, the govern
ment wants to help him, by giving him more of this
that and the other But if the government is to give Joe
health insurance job security, old age PENSIONS federal
ad and everything else, taxes will have to be raised
Joe will then be working and for the govern
on61pc loco fOrh Do Wi.
cious circle, that leads to ensavement?
1t would that Joe has almost forgotten like lot
of the lessons of history Mans struggle for liberty
and freedom reaches back through the centuries Yet
need turn only few pages to find that tyrants des
pots-and dctators-gained and kept their power by
giving out the money they got through taxes Their
ways not different from the ways of the welfare"
state that would tax away the peoples livelihood to
manage their lives.
1t has been estimated that social security" programs
before Congress would cost the people and
ter tron dollars in 80 years. and at the end of that
time would be taking 13 per cent of the whole nations
annual income and grabbing one-ffh of the paycheck
of every worker in addition to what he is paying,
and in addition to what other new burdens might be
added in the meantime Surely, it is time to stop and
o1 ~ hnvoo lD