Prove it!

Note: This post is mainly me talking to myself. If you're already a better person than I am, than wear that well-fitting shoe and don't be bothered by my remarks.

So, I'm voting for Mitt Romney tomorrow. Why? Well, a reason I'm voting for him and not just against Obama is that I believe that since he's a businessman, he'll understand firsthand how regulations can choke any business, and so he'll get rid of them. So businesses will be more confident, so they'll hire and invest more, yada yada yada, unemployment and underemployment will go away a bit. And the economy will improve!!!

But what is the economy for? For my book group, I just read a book called Radical Homemakers and the author asked that question. Is the economy a game where the point is to win as much money as possible? I don't think so. Studies show that money only buys happiness up to a certain point (I think $70,000), so what's the point of having a lot more? People eventually realize that having more stuff means having more to maintain and play with and store -- like they say, the second happiest day of a man's life is the day he buys a boat; the happiest is the day he sells it.

So what's the big deal with conservatives and money? Why are they such greedy money grubbers who turn pale at the thought of giving more to the government? Don't they care about their fellow beings? Don't they, like Harry Reid (but not Mitt Romney, according to Reid), want to serve the poor?

My automatic answer to that was yes, yes of course they want to serve the poor! Of course they want to donate to private organizations and donate their time! They just know that government has a habit of doing things wrong. They see the bureaucracy and overhead perpetuated by the government as a huge waste of resources. They can spout statistics saying that government has spent a trillion dollars fighting poverty and is still losing to a large extent. They've read Free to Choose by Nobel Prize-winning Milton Friedman who cites example after example after example of how government came in with good intentions but just left things a messier with no one happier (everyone, read that book. It is important.). They, like him, believe things are fixed when they are left up to the free market.

So that's my automatic answer. But then I asked myself, is that really how it is for me? Sure, Americans are the most generous per capita of any rich country. But am I being as generous as I can, as I ought to be?

Then came my conscience saying, Prove it. If you really believe that private groups are better than government for taking care of the hungry, the homeless, or those devastated by hurricanes, Prove it. If you believe that healing families through the gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to end so many of the ills plaguing the nation, Prove it. If you believe that you can do a better job than unions at protecting students and good teachers, Prove it.

Now, I'm certainly not sure how I'm going to go about proving all of these things to myself, but I'm going to try. Hold me to it. Hold me to the the words of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 4: 16, but you ought to read the whole chapters 2-5):

And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.


Whoever you end up voting for, whether you believe good is better accomplished via the public or private sector, never think yourself absolved from personal responsibility. That's not what government or the free market is for.