What motivates folks on the left? For some, it’s a simple matter of self interest. They belong to a group that benefits from favoritism or redistribution. Or, as Mark Steyn has explained, they want to create dependency for short-run political self interest.
For others, it’s probably a go-along-to-get-along strategy. If you work in Hollywood, your life is easier if you adopt the dominant belief system, even if you privately think it doesn’t make sense.
And don’t forget the folks on the left who assume that wealth is the result of some sort of scam (often because the rich people they know “earned” their money in less-then-impressive ways).
But what about ordinary leftists? Why do they support statist policies. My own personal guess is that they think good intentions make them good people, and they naively assume that spending other people’s money is a way of solving problems (which is the most charitable interpretation of FDR’s policies).
This Chuck Asay cartoon expresses this mindset.
You can enjoy other Asay cartoons here, here, here, here, here, and here.
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Gorky,
WHY do you think equal distribution of money is a good thing?
You used the term “self-interest” pretty haphazardly; self-interest does not require or allow the initiation of harm against others – as those advocating “equal distribution” must necessarily endorse. Properly self-interested action does not involve sacrifice on the part of either party – I don’t sacrifice myself to you or you to me.
The cartoon is excellent though.
I’d have liked to see more about how wealth and money are not the same thing. Distribution of wealth happens naturally, though not equally. When people’s rights are respected and they are allowed to create vast amounts of wealth, everyone becomes wealthier, not because money “trickles down” to them, but because they can buy more with less, and earn and save more freely. That’s why the vast majority of people are objectively wealthier now than people were 100 years ago, even if some are comparatively poorer.
Money is an asset of all citizens and it’s not redistribution we seek it’s equal distribution.