The True Cost of Government Handouts

When "help" hurts New to the Digest? [Click here.]( [Manward Digest] The True Cost of Government Handouts [Joel Salatin] Joel Salatin Contributor Government largesse is everywhere. But it's inherently unfair, even when it sounds kind. Here's what I mean... The college tuition bailouts made everyone who either didn't go to college or paid for their education themselves look like suckers. The day the government involved itself in higher education, tuition costs increased dramatically. Young people developed a new sense of entitlement. And the "help" bred resentment from those who didn't or wouldn't take advantage of the freebie. This is the way it is with all government help. [["Bigger Than the Personal Computer, the Smartphone and Even the Internet." Man Who Called Nvidia at $1.10 Says This Will Change the World.]( A few days ago, my wife was picking up an antibiotic prescription at Walmart for my mother (now more than 100 years old). As my wife waited, a guy came to the counter wanting four vaccine shots, or the 4-in-1: covid, flu, shingles, RSV. All free, of course. My family, including my 100-year-old mother, doesn't believe in any of those vaccines. Obviously we aren't anti everything - see my mother's antibiotic - but vaccines are completely out of hand. None of us, including my elderly mother, got or gets any of these vaccines. None of us has had any of these maladies. We just keep chirping along, eating non-chemical food, cooking from scratch, and enjoying life. We disagree vehemently with the notion that 4-in-1 is healthy. We consider it fairly deadly, actually. But our taxes pay for it. Therein lies the unfairness. SPONSORED [Strange Zero Day (0DTE) Trade Wins in Surges... AND Crashes]( [115% Average Gain]( Every Time The Government Releases Jobs, Inflation, GDP, and Other Economic Reports... Use The Zero Day Loophole to target up to 253%... 327%... Even 383% overnight gains... Whether the market surges... or crashes! [Discover The Zero Day Loophole (BEFORE Tues at 2 p.m. ET!)]( Your Choice, Your Money One person chooses an unorthodox cancer treatment in Mexico. Another person opts for Medicare-funded conventional treatment at a U.S. hospital. I have no beef with either option: your body, your health, your choice. But as soon as your choice becomes a financial liability for me, my attitude changes. No longer is this just freedom of choice. It creates resentment because I'm paying for your recklessness. Private insurance and private marketplaces take risk into account. But as soon as the government decides on a one-size-fits-all approach that everyone has to pay for - regardless whether they agree with it - it creates a quasi-dictatorship. And if I'm scrounging to privately pay for an alternative medical procedure in Mexico, how is it fair for me to also pay for someone who opts for the government system? Let us each bear the burden of our choice. Putting choice in a straightjacket is never a good option. We see it now in nearly every area of life. SPONSORED [$100,000 Passive Income Stream]( [Collecting Passive Income]( Thanks to [a little-known alternative investment](... One man was able to turn a single $1,000 investment into a $100,000 income stream - over 50 years - without touching a single stock! [Click here to find out how]( My decision to harm myself, whether through drugs or unorthodox medical treatments, should not impact you. But as soon as the government mandates a certain path and asks me to pay for it, your decision to harm yourself (according to my beliefs) puts your fist to my nose. As long as you bear the cost of your decisions, I can enjoy a free live-and-let-live attitude. But the moment my taxes pay for your fentanyl abuse or your mRNA-induced heart attack, your decisions have caused financial liability to me. And no, it doesn't have to be that way. If everyone had to bear the financial outcome of their decisions, folks might contemplate their choices more deeply. You can't incentivize responsible choices with societal safety nets that pick up the pieces of bad decisions. So how do we incentivize better decisions? By eliminating all government help and putting the burden of choice and consequences on the individual. SPONSORED [He Picked Apple at $1... and Netflix at $2... Now He's Invested $100K Into This $5 AI Stock]( [Alex talking outside]( [CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHAT IT IS]( Poor Outcomes Many, many spheres of life in today's America suffer from this kind of help. Education is another a good example. The moment the federal government involved itself in public education, state initiatives decreased and parental involvement fell off the cliff. It created an elitist academic culture that demonized charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling. Why should a family who chooses homeschooling pay taxes to support the choices other parents make to feed at the public trough? Of course, now the same thing is happening in energy. I've met many brilliant inventors who have created alternative and innovative options in energy, but windmill and solar panel subsidies tilt the scales away from any other option. Let's look at the problem another way... When the federal government said pharmaceutical companies weren't liability for vaccine damage, they created a massive subsidy to protect one kind of decision. The upcoming Farm Bill now has a proposed provision to absolve pesticide and herbicide companies of liabilities. At the very time when more and more people are fighting against glyphosate and other toxic chemicals in our food, the companies that make them are asking for special protection. Again, it skews responsibility in decision-making. The SNAP program (formerly food stamps) subsidizes Coca-Cola and other high fructose corn syrup diabetes-inducing drinks to the tune of about $10 billion a year. I resent, deeply, my tax dollars going to physically damaging ingestables. And yes, it offends me when someone thinks my hard-earned profits should be taxed away to buy someone Coke. While I absolutely will defend your freedom to promote and drink Coke, it's only acceptable as long as the decisions and outcomes are on your dime. Small-government-minded folks are too focused on regulations and economics to explain this deeply emotional aspect of meddling in private choice. While the bureaucracy is burdensome and the tax bite is obscene, what debilitates a society more is this incessant artificial incentive steering choice. It divides, builds resentment, and is patently unfair and unjust. That is the greater atrocity. Resentment often moves to vengeance. How much of the anger welling up within our nation is a direct result of government help? Sincerely, Joel What We're Talking About [Monday Takeaways: Tesla, the Mag Seven, and More]( [Trump - Musk]( The real reason Tesla jumped 26%... a crucial earnings week that could move the markets... and getting ready for the election. [Get Shah's take here...]( [This Small Cap Is Up 65%... With Room to Run]( [Credit report]( Small cap stocks have been on an incredible run. But you wouldn't know it by looking at the Russell 2000. [Here's where you should look instead...]( [Buy This, Not That: The Only Race That Matters]( [Racing asphalt road]( We're pitting two auto giants against each other... and the winner of this race will drive profits into your portfolio. [See who Shah picked...]( Want more content like this? [YES]( [NO]( Joel Salatin Joel Salatin calls himself a Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer. Others who like him call him the most famous farmer in the world, the high priest of the pasture and the most eclectic thinker from Virginia since Thomas Jefferson. Those who don't like him call him a bioterrorist, Typhoid Mary, a charlatan and a starvation advocate. He draws on a lifetime of food, farming and fantasy to entertain and inspire audiences around the world. Was this email forwarded to you? [Click here to sign up!]( You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Manward Digest. To unsubscribe from Manward Digest, [click here](. Need help with your account? [Click here](. Have a question or comment for the editor? [Click here](mailto:mailbag@manwardpress.com). Please do not reply to this email as it goes to an unmonitored inbox. 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