Your statements would suggest that I am opposed to our country's free market society. This could not be further from the truth. Among the great strengths of our nation are its brilliant entrepreneurs and innovative businesses that support an enormous economy. You must be aware, however, that our government even now is not purely capitalistic and has many important social programs that strengthen rather than weaken our nation. For example, the mission of the National Institutes of Health is to better the health of the average American by using taxpayers money to fund health-related scientific and clinical research. This research not only has provided a better understanding of disease processes but has also aided the development of many vaccines and drugs effective at treating and preventing disease. Until recently, such important work could only be conducted through governmental funding as such research would have been too financially risky for businesses to undertake. Knowledge obtained from such publicly funded research has improved health in the United States (and World) and also has spawned many successful biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The point is that our nation and the average American benefits and thrives by nurturing both capitalistic and social ventures. Our country must have just the right balance of these complementary programs at any particular time. A failure to understand this fundamental concept due to inflexible political opinion can only serve to prevent needed progress on many important fronts.

 

^^ another great example of this is the space program. the findings of the space program have led to many many many discoveries and innovations. What is NASA funded by? Taxes.

 

Nicely said.

 

There doesn't seem to be much debate among historians. From Wikipedia:

"Virtually all historians believe that the New Deal helped resolve the Great Depression..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Dea...eat_Depression

 

what about the ones who are hiding their money from the US government by putting them in banks in overseas countries?

Also, you say we shouldn't "punish people for being successful" by taking the money from them by taxing, and that it is wrong to tax the hard-working man and give that money to someone not working hard...
Well, there are a lot of people out there who were successful but got laid off and no longer have a job, and can't find a job to support themselves. This is a result of our poor economic state and is only happening because of this particular situation the country is in. You are generalizing all unemployed people and saying that they aren't hard-working people. This is simply not the case. There are many people who are willing to work hard to support themselves but currently can't because they can't get a job. There are also many people coming out of college with a degree, and ending up working somewhere where you don't need more proof of education/experience than your High School diploma to work there, and making minimum wage or barely more than that. It's pretty hard to contribute money monthly to pay off your student loan, let alone support yourself when you are placed in this situation. There are simply not enough job opportunities right now for your generalization of the unemployed to be applicable in the least bit.

I know this is not a scholarly reference, but have you seen the Will Smith movie "The Pursuit of Happiness"? In the story, he is trying hard to make a living and gets divorced and can't do his job anymore and ends up living in a homeless shelter for a while. During that time living there, he works his way up and eventually becomes rich. So, looking back at that, he used someone elses money (the money that supports the homeless shelter - regardless that this may be funded by donations, not taxes) to get where he is.
It is based on a true story and is proof that just a tiny bit of help from someone else, along with a lot of hard work by the person receiving the help, that someone can work their way to success, and then will be paying taxes once they are successful, which will help others work their way towards success.

People who receive welfare may eventually work their way to financial stability, and then will be paying taxes that go towards helping those people who are in the exact situation those people were in. It's a loop.