Robin Hood

I guess this one is going to be a little political. (You've been warned!)



I'm going to tell you about something that bugs the mess out of me. It's when political figures compare socialism to Robin Hood. I first noticed the fallacy in this while i was sitting on a subway train in Stockholm. There was some kind of political advertisement poster that suggested that the proposed candidate or party (or however it works in Sweden) would tax the rich and give to the poor. The catchphrase at the end of the poster said "upplev Robin Hood" which translates to "experience Robin Hood". The same idea has been pushed by certain political figures (usually Democrats) in this country and it is completely false! Although Robin Hood is a fictional story, we can learn a thing or two from it about how government should work. Nearly everyone is familiar with the phrase "steal from the rich and give to the poor" which is often associated with the story. But has anyone actually considered what that really means? There is a notion among Socialists that it refers to the government placing heavy taxes on the wealthy and giving that money to the poor. This idea is often referred to as a "redistribution of wealth". Was this actually what Robin Hood did? Let's analyze the story.

Robin Hood was a nobleman (the Lord of Loxley) who was ousted from his position by usurpers while he was away fighting in the Crusades with King Richard. Upon his return, he found a society in which the people were heavily taxed and the government officials were living a life of ease. From this brief synopsis, we can see that the "poor" in the story were the common people and the "rich" were government fat cats. Robin Hood didn't take money from people who worked hard to obtain wealth (which is what Socialists desire to do). He was stealing from the government and giving the money back the the people who were heavily taxed. Funny how people twist the meanings of things to suit there needs...

Chew on that one!