When I was a kid, I was a big fan of Robin Hood. I remember reading at least two books recounting the legend and I watched the Errol Flynn version of the movie several times.
And, as an adult, I saw both the Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe versions of Robin Hood.
None of this makes me an expert, but it does allow me to state with some confidence that Robin Hood was not a left-wing hero who stole from the rich and redistributed to the poor.
Instead, he was a quasi-libertarian tax protestor. Okay, maybe it’s an exaggeration to claim he was a libertarian, but Robin Hood was on the side of ordinary people who were being exploited by incessant tax demands from the ruling class. His main enemies were Prince John and the Sheriff on Nottingham, not the medieval equivalents of Wall Street.
In the Russell Crowe version of the movie, Robin Hood even gives a speech about the importance of liberty.
So you can imagine how irked I get when statists agitate for things such as the “Robin Hood Tax” in this moronic video. But what motivated me today is a story in the Financial Times about a Cesar Chavez wannabee politician from Spain.
For Spain’s ruling politicians he is a criminal; for his supporters he is Robin Hood, stealing from supermarkets and redistributing the food to the poor. Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, the mayor of Marinaleda, a southern town with a population of 2,600, has been catapulted to cult hero status in Spain after setting out this week on an anti-austerity march across Andalucia – occupying banks and stealing food… “We are fighting a war for the poor … going to jail is not important for me, it would be an honour,” Mr Sánchez Gordillo told the Financial Times. “We are going to occupy all of the banks and supermarkets we are able to in Andalucia. The robbers who have caused this crisis must pay the consequences for what they have done.”
But if the Mayor really wants to make robbers pay, he should march straight to jail and turn himself in. Not for the empty publicity stunt of robbing grocery stores, but for being part of a political class that has dramatically increased the burden of government spending in Spain, from about 30 percent of GDP in 1980 to well over 40 percent today.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for self-awareness from this clown.
Not surprisingly, unions are part of the protest. I’m guessing that Mr. Canamero represents government employees.
On Friday, the marchers, who plan to sleep in the open or in parks, occupied a branch of Banco Santander in the town of Mancha Real in the province of Jaén before leaving later in the day. Diego Canamero, head of the Andalucian Workers Union, was in the branch on Friday. He said critics of the protests were politicians protecting their own interests. “These are symbolic actions against an unsustainable economic situation,” he said. “The bankers rob us, and take our money to tax havens…”
The dig against tax havens is particularly laughable. Ordinary Spaniards should hope and pray that their deposits in the local banks are safely re-deposited in banks based in well-run and honest jurisdictions such as Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, or Singapore.
And if they’re smart, they already cut out the middleman and directly placed their savings in one of these low-tax jurisdictions. That way, they’re not only at much less risk of a bank collapse, but they also have greater ability to protect their assets from the venal and incompetent tax-hungry political elite.
Returning to the mischaracterization of Robin Hood, this Payne cartoon does a good job of capturing my thoughts.
I especially like how Payne shows that the left-wing version of Robin Hood is all about a perniciously corrupt version of redistribution (though he should have included the Export-Import Bank on the side of the van). The genuine poor get crumbs while the well-connected interests make out like bandits.
P.S. Other good Payne cartoons can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
[…] pet peeves is when people characterize Robin Hood as some sort of left-wing redistributionist. As I’ve explained, that’s utter […]
[…] pet peeves is when people characterize Robin Hood as some sort of left-wing redistributionist. As I’ve explained, that’s utter […]
[…] pet peeves is when people characterize Robin Hood as some sort of left-wing redistributionist. As I’ve explained, that’s utter […]
[…] pet peeves is when people characterize Robin Hood as some sort of left-wing redistributionist. As I’ve explained, that’s utter […]
[…] pet peeves is when people characterize Robin Hood as some sort of left-wing redistributionist. As I’ve explained, that’s utter […]
[…] pet peeves is when people characterize Robin Hood as some sort of left-wing redistributionist. As I’ve explained, that’s utter […]
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Obama really does want to hurt the powerful businesses but yet he wants to help unions.
[…] Stop Maligning Robin Hood! […]
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[…] Here’s another Ken Catalino cartoon that I like, even though it perpetuates an inaccurate portrayal of Robin Hood as a […]
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[…] can enjoy some of Payne’s best cartoons here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. My favorite is the one with Robin […]
[…] can enjoy some of Payne’s best cartoons here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. My favorite is the one with Robin […]
[…] of Government” rather than “The Reverse Midas Touch of Government.” But since I’m already trying to restore the good name of Robin Hood, I’m going to leave it to others to decide how to characterize […]
[…] to have an opportunity in the interview to defend Robin Hood’s reputation. As I’ve explained, he was a Tea Party guy, helping to reclaim and return money that was taken by the tax collectors of Prince John and the […]
[…] to have an opportunity in the interview to defend Robin Hood’s reputation. As I’ve explained, he was a Tea Party guy, helping to reclaim and return money that was taken by the tax collectors of Prince John and the […]
[…] an opportunity in the interview to defend Robin Hood’s reputation. As I’ve explained, he was a Tea Party guy, helping to reclaim and return money that was taken by the tax collectors of Prince John and the […]
[…] If you like the Henry Payne cartoon in this post, you can enjoy some of his other work here, here, here, here, here, here, here, […]
[…] If you like the Henry Payne cartoon in this post, you can enjoy some of his other work here, here, here, here, here, here, here, […]
[…] Stop Maligning Robin Hood! […]
I really enjoyed the movie when I first saw it in the 1970’s and it did bother me that the liberals had adopted him as their hero. I am glad you have shown Robin Hood to be on the side of the good guys again!!!
Dan, you should check out the recently done BBC rendition of Robin Hood:
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0787985/
There’s some of those quasi-libertarian, anti-oppressive tax, peace and liberty loving themes thrown in there.
The Left is all about rewriting history. Thus Che the murder becomes a cult icon, Hitler the National Socialist becomes a Rightwinger and if Hollywood ever made a movie about William Tell, Gessler would have to be a Jew banker.
I agree with you there. The reason progressives hate people disagreeing with them is that if you disagree with them you are, by definition, not intelligent enough to see their point and therefore you have no right to voice an objection to a perspective which is clearly beyond your intellectual capabilities. It becomes a Catch 22 situation. If you agree with us you exhibit a natural intelligence. If you disagree, you don’t. A very childish and simplistic world view.
Good thought. Certainly the biggest problem for progressives is anyone who disagrees with them. They really hate being disagree with. I would suggest that it is because they simply do not have the facts with which to refute disagreement— so they call names and insult. I visited the Robin Hood Tax website and they proudly say that the idea comes from France’s new Socialist PM Hollande. and Chancellor Merkel.
I have a bit of a different take. I believe progressives are true aristocrats who believe that only they are intelligent enough to rule. They know that they are in a distinct minority (as has always been true, there are only so many aristocrats out there) so they have to convince a larger percentage of the population that only they have the interests of the masses and only they are capable of guiding the masses. One of the ways this is accomplished is by demonizing the mythical ‘rich’ to the working class (‘rich’ meaning anyone who makes more money than you). Progressives don’t hate the rich. Most progressives (the ones who aren’t rich themselves) use the rich for resources such as funds etc. The ‘rich’ that they hate are those who do not agree with them politically, such as the Koch Bros. etc. They certainly don’t hate Buffett or Soros or or Imelt (guy that runs GE). Much like Hitler did, they are perfectly happy to have rich people as long as they can control the rich people (He was after all, a Socialist). In the end, the ultimate game for Progressives is to ‘divide and conquer’.
I loved Robin Hood as a kid too, but the latest portrayal by Russell Crowe was spoiled forever by the 12th Century Normandy Invasion complete with Higgins Boats. Greatest idiocy ever perpetrated in a movie!
Liberals always think they can promote class envy of “the rich”, but most Americans don’t care and hope to get rich themselves. I think it’s a bit of projection. They demonize the Koch brothers while depending on the Democracy Alliance to support all their efforts. What is it that they think “the rich” actually do with their wealth? That luxury tax with which they were really going to get the rich and their yachts simply sent the wealthy in the market for a yacht offshore and put all the boat builders out of work.
We need the end the demagogery on once and for all and enact The Neutral Tax (www.neutraltax.com). It creates a perpetual free market for tax reform. Check it out.
Bravo, Bravo! Finally, someone who understands my first childhood hero (even if he was allegedly fictitious). I have admired the character so much my wife suspects I named my son after him (Robin). Robin Hood was exactly what the writer says he was. He was an individual who, in protest of crushing taxes on the middle and lower classes, began to rob the aristocrats in order to help the ordinary citizens survive. Of course, the obvious analogy here is our current situation, where the aristocrats (AKA bureaucrats and politicians) are rapidly taking away the ability or ordinary people to feed, clothe and take care of themselves. The greed for money is one thing, but the greed for power is much more insidious and that is what our ruling class suffers from, a lust for unlimited power.