The Profit Prophet

Sometimes what is said, and what is meant are two different ideas and as such there are unintended consequences... as this short story demonstrates. A minister was completing a temperance sermon. With great emphasis he said, 'If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.' With even greater emphasis he said, 'And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.' And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he said, 'And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.' Sermon complete, he sat down... The song leader stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, nearly laughing, 'For our closing song, let us sing Hymn #365, 'Shall We Gather at the River.'

There is a lot of talk about "job creators" and "redistribution of wealth" and fair taxation lately. No, I am not an expert on taxation, but I tend to be a good student of the human condition, and I know one thing for sure, that while we are all created equal, we are NOT all endowed with equal gifts. Some of it is just luck, and some is hard work, but however it has been gained, there are differences in all of us and trying to 'make' us equal through taxation is just counter-intuitive. I believe the story below makes the most sense. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they dec...