Nobody Gets Rich On Their Own!

Nobody gets rich on their own.....or so Senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren tells us.... 

Aside from the snarky socialist tone  ("You built a factory, good for you, God Bless..), she is wrong in her assertions that business owe more for the things they get from society.


Using the road to take your good to market: Trucking companies pay very high taxes on their trucks, plus the fuel they use is heavily taxed.  These 'use taxes' are just that: taxes you pay for the use of the roads.  Business do not get a free lunch here. In fact, given the overcrowding on the highways and the generally poor condition of the roads, you could argue that businesses and the public are getting shafted here, not getting a benefit.


Workers that the public educated: The factory owner pays the employees a salary.  He is not getting them for free.  And the more educated, the more he has to pay them.  The workers pay taxes, and the factory owner pays payroll taxes.  This is not a freebie.   And of course, given the abysmal state of the public education system, there is not much benefit to be derived.  Business routinely provide additional training, including remedial training that makes up for the lack of basic skills imparted by the 'free' education that was provided by the state.


Safe from marauding bands: The factory owner pays real estate taxes that pay for the police and courts.  He pays any number of federal tariffs, levies, and taxes that pay for the military.  This is not a freebie.


So we can see that the factory owner does in fact pay for all the things that 'enabled' him to get rich. 


Ironically, the most fearsome marauding bands that a factory owner must fear are the politicians themselves.