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Lucas Vincent and Lucas Vincent Holding Limited
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WELCOME
Lucas Vincent
P.S.: You will find all the relevant sources at the end of the respective
chapters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ch 1 - Principles of Liberty
Ch 2 - Political Ideologies
18
Ch 3 - Government
36
42
52
Ch 4 - Taxation
64
68
74
86
90
Section 5 - Conclusion
98
Ch 5 - Social Welfare
100
Section 1 - Pensions
106
122
130
142
Ch 6 - Infrastructure
152
Ch 7 - Education
166
Ch 8 - The Judiciary
180
182
194
Ch 9 - Domestic Security
210
212
220
Ch 10 - International Security
226
Section 1 - Guns
246
260
Ch 12 - Abortion
268
Ch 13 - Discrimination
276
Section 1 - Racism
294
Ch 14 - Immigration
304
Ch 15 - Regulations
312
316
332
342
Ch 16 - Domestic Security
346
Ch 17 - Monetary System
362
368
380
386
398
Section 5 - Conclusion
404
Ch 16 - Appendix
406
7
SOCIAL WELFARE
CHAPTER 5
101
102
In the following four sections, we will look in more detail at the various
welfare systems, how they violate liberty and how to reform them in
accordance with everyones right to be left alone.
104
Most welfare spending is meant to help the elderly. However, retires can just be as
well o under a privatized welfare system as will be shown in section 7.1. Image:
monkeybusinessimages, Bigstock
--- Sources --1. Definition for Social Security - New Oxford American Dictionary.
Copyright 2010, 2013 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights
reserved.
2. Examining the Means-tested Welfare State: 79 Programs and $927 Billion
in Annual Spending. Robert Rector. Heritage Foundation. http://
budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/rectortestimony04172012.pdf. Retrieved
July 28, 2015
105
PENSIONS
CHAPTER 5 - SECTION 1
108
2500
32%
15%
$4980
2000
1500
1000
$826
500
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8,000
People with low incomes get 6 times as many benefits (90%) out of every
additional $1 income they earn than high-income earners (15%). Source: chart
made by author, data from Social Security Administration
3. Many Are Better o Placing Their Money in Savings Accounts
The Social Security system is used to redistribute money from highincome earners to the poor - not to help people save for their
retirement. A study by the Urban Institute has calculated and
compared social security taxes paid and benefits received for
average-wage earners. A single male earning the average wage
(44,600 2012 dollars) and retiring in 2030 will receive $65,000
fewer benefits than he paid in social security taxes. If this individual
is female, the dierence between taxes and benefits equals a
personal deficit of $40,000.
109
110
112
Austria
65
60
China
60
50-55
Colombia
62
57
Croatia
65
60
Czech Republic
63
59-63
Greece
67
60-67
Israel
67
62
Italy
66
64
Poland
65-67
60-67
Romania
64
59-63
Russia
60
55
United Kingdom
65-66
60-66
Vietnam
60
55
115
117
Due to their longer life expectancy, women receive more benefits for every Social
Security tax dollar paid compared to men. This is just one of the reasons why the
118
Solutions
To make the Social Security system compatible with voluntaryism there
are three options:
1. Continue to oer a public Social Security program, but make it
optional. Let people decide whether they want to opt-in. Yes, this
may lead top-earners to leave the program, but this is what you get
when one portion of the population wants to live o of the other
portion. Just because supporters of social security are in the
majority does not entitle them to force other hardworking folks to
subsidize their retirement in Florida. Forcing people who want to
remain uninsured to buy insurance is equivalent to theft and
violates an individuals right to be left alone. If people wish to
manage their retirement savings on their own - so be it.
2. Allow private opt-in pension schemes. Private pension programs
already exist in most countries, however, they may not replace
public pension schemes. This has to change. People should be
allowed to invest their own money wherever they wish, whether
this means giving it to the government or a private pension
provider. Those who pay into a private pension scheme should be
free to opt-out of Social Security completely.
119
--- Sources --1. What happens if I work and get Social Security retirement benefits?
Ocial Social Security Government Website. https://faq.ssa.gov/link/
portal/34011/34019/Article/3739/What-happens-if-I-work-and-getSocial-Security-retirement-benefits. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
2. Social Security Benefit Amounts - Ocial Social Security Government
Website. http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/piaformula.html. Retrieved July
28, 2015.
3. Social Security Benefits Versus Taxes Comparison - Social Security and
Medicare Taxes and Benefits over a Lifetime - 2012 Update. C. Eugene
Steuerle and Caleb Quakenbush. The Urban Institute. http://
www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/412660Social-Security-and-Medicare-Taxes-and-Benefits-Over-a-Lifetime-Update.PDF. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
4. Age Expectancy at Birth, by Gender - World Health Organization. http://
apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688?lang=en. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
5. [German] Gender Discrimination for Pensions in Austria - OECD-Rge
fr die Pensionsreform. Wiener Zeitung. http://www.wienerzeitung.at/
nachrichten/wirtschaft/international/272383_OECD-Ruege-fuer-diePensionsreform.html. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
6. Women Receive More Benefits from Social Security Than They Pay in Women's Stake in Social Security. National Academy of Social Insurance.
https://www.nasi.org/learn/socialsecurity/womens-stake. Retrieved July
28, 2015.
120
121
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
CHAPTER 5 - SECTION 2
125
Solutions
There are numerous ways to deal with unemployment in an economy,
while still complying with the No-Force Principle.
1. Abolish the payroll tax used to finance unemployment insurance.
Instead, establish a public, but voluntary opt-in unemployment
scheme. Such a program needs to be run like a private insurance to
be financially viable, while being denied access to any other
government funds. Employees can enroll by paying a monthly fee,
and may choose between various plans. Some hypothetical plans
may look as follows in terms of logic:
a.
128
--- Sources --1. The Work Versus Welfare Trade-O: 2013. Michael Tanner and Charles
Hughes. The Cato Institute. http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/
pubs/pdf/the_work_versus_welfare_trade-o_2013_wp.pdf. Retrieved July
28, 2015.
2. Size of the Shadow Economy by Country - Shadow Economies All over
the World. Friedrich Schneider et al. World Bank. https://
openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/3928/
WPS5356.pdf?sequence=1. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
3. Unemployment Rate in Greece - Eurostat. http://
appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=une_rt_m&lang=en/.
Retrieved July 28, 2015.
129
HEALTH INSURANCE
CHAPTER 5 - SECTION 3
131
134
If someone rides down a ski slope by night, break his legs and as a result needs to
go to an emergency room, it is his fault. You should not have to pay for that.
Image: bren64, Bigstock
Health insurances were first introduced to cover unexpected expenses, for example
for a heart surgery as shown in the picture - not to cover the cost of the annual flu
shot. Image: kadmy, Bigstock
139
--- Sources --1. Medical Bankruptcies on the Rise - Medical Bankruptcies are Still a
Problem, Here's What to Expect. Fox Business. Donna Fuscaldo. http://
www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/02/18/medicalbankruptcies-are-still-problem-here-what-to-expect/. Retrieved July 28,
2015.
2. Medical Bills Are the Biggest Cause of US Bankruptcies. Dan Mangan.
CNBC. http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
140
141
In the United States, the poor are financially assisted through at least
79 government sponsored, means-tested programs. These vary from
public housing to food stamps, child benefits, and energy subsidies.
Most of these programs were initiated by Lyndon B. Johnson's vision to
create a Great Society during his presidency between 1963 and 1969.
The Great Society also included various other initiatives concerning
civil rights, education, and the environment.
The failures of Johnsons War on Poverty are numerous. They are the
main reason why we need urgent welfare reform.
Types of Poverty
When people talk about poverty, they mainly refer to the lack of
financial means to buy food, shelter or other goods and services. It is
often overseen that poverty can also refer to a lack of free time or
emotional satisfaction.
Wages are what we get in exchange for our time, resulting in most
people either ending up time-poor and (relatively) money-rich, or timerich and money-poor. While there are people advocating the
145
Forced Charity
The money spent on the War on Poverty represents nothing more than
a giant forced charity program. American taxpayers were made to
donate $22 trillion. Instead of helping the poor to become selfdependent and find jobs, taxpayers have had to subsidize the poors
food, transportation, TV sets and other consumer goods.
You are free to donate to whatever charitable cause you like. But is it
justifiable for you to force others to contribute to the charity of your
choice? If not, how is it justifiable for the government to force others to
do so?
Solutions
How can we reform the still ongoing War on Poverty in a way that it
(1) actually helps the poor to become self-sucient and
(2) does not violate peoples right to be left alone?
147
149
150
151