"Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief:"
The Fallacy of Taking From the Rich to Give to the Poor

When you rob from a rich man and give the booty to the poor you commit several crimes. First you rob the poor man of his incentive to improve himself. Then you rob the rich man of an opportunity to enrich his soul through voluntary charity, or better yet to offer profitable employment to the poor man. Consequently, you rob the poor man again of the opportunity for employment that a good investment by the rich man would have provided. But ultimately you do yourself the greater harm when you deceive yourself by justifying your crimes with some lofty ideal.

Jonathan Reed
December 4, 2013