The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

712 THE FREEMAN DecemberTom and Dick in the Berry PlantNow let's move on a few yearswith our berry story. Tom andDick have grown up and both areemployed by a company that hasbeen established in the neighborhoodand is engaged in growingand canning berries for the market.Diligent Tom has moved upthe ladder to the position of operatingmanager of the plant, butDick has not advanced beyond thestatus of sweeper and handyman.Each is paid weekly by check forhis services and the amount ofTom's check is about four timesthat of Dick's. What are the equities,the respective rights, in thissituation? Should a substantialslice of Tom's money income beseized by taxation or other formof coercion for use to supplementDick's earnings, or render assistanceto some other person or personsregarded as needy poor, orexpended in some other way withoutTom's consent? Many peopleseem to be willing to approve sucharbitrary action, including most ofthose who would not support takingpart of the berries Tom pickedas a boy and awarding them to hisinefficient fellow-picker, Dick.If it be assumed that the respectivecontributions of Tom andDick to the output of the plant atwhich they are employed are beingaccurately determined it followsthat Tom is just as fully entitledto spend the money income he receivesas plant manager as he seesfit as he had a right to consume orotherwise dispose of all the wildberries he personally picked in theswamp, years before.~ The twocases, with this assumption, areon all fours, and anyone who holdsotherwise is throwing logic andcommon sense to the winds. Thosewho don't agree with this conclusioneither fail to grasp the basicidentity of the two situations, ordon't mind being inconsistentwhen it suits their convenience oris in line with their prejudices.There is a possible out, however,for persons who give lip service,at least, to the need for fair-mindedness,consistency, in thinking2 The intervention of the money andcredit mechanism, a necessary instrumentto facilitate specialization and exchange,should certainly not be allowedto obscure the basic facts, althoughmany people at times seem to be blindedby fixing their attention on the flowof cash or equivalent rather than servicesor other economic contributions forwhich payment is being made. I'm remindedof a tussle on our city councilone evening years ago,· during my fiveyearexperience as a member, when afellow councilman proposed that one ofour firemen be dismissed because helived in a community outside our citylimits, and spent "his entire salary" inhis home neighborhood rather thanwhere he worked. I had some trouble ingetting support for the point that themain question for us was not where orhow the chap got rid of his cash but thevalue of the services he provided to ourfire department.