I read an interesting commentary in the Daily Herald newspaper in Provo, UT, recently. Apparently a local Hispanic tutoring service was criticized for wasting tax money. The response was astonishing.

"None of the money used for this program came from your pocket or tax dollars. If anything they came from my pocket (which I will never consider a waste). This program was funded through a grant from Utah state to train paraeducators and other grants I applied for. We don't need your tax money or your sympathy…."
- Jose Enriquez

Now just where did Mr. Enriquez think that "grant from Utah state" came from if not from "tax dollars?"

Why is it people who would never think of asking their next-door neighbor for a voluntary "grant" in the form of a donation, would think it perfectly okay to ask the government for a "grant" of money involuntarily confiscated from their neighbors?

Or perhaps he'd asked his neighbors for help and they had refused. Or they'd donated what they felt was appropriate, and he didn't think it was enough. Or he was too lazy to contact enough neighbors to get the funds he needed to operate this worthwhile charity.

Turning to government to solve every social need (or perceived need) is far too common these days. If you have a cause you want to support, whether it is saving an endangered species or providing a home for unwed mothers or building a playground for children, the first response seems to be: let government allocate the money for it.

Americans are a generous people, and many of these projects can be funded by voluntary contributions rather than money taken from people by force. Private charity is preferable for many reasons:

• the contributor has the joy of giving
• the cause is supported by those who believe in it
• no one who disapproves is forced to contribute
• tax resources can be used for authorized functions
• private charities are more efficient than government
• government coercion can be reduced
• administrative bureaucracies can be reduced

When we realize that the government produces nothing, that it's only resource is our neighbor's wallet and our own, perhaps we will be more concerned about the force exerted by government to confiscate our property for the benefit of other people's causes.

Had Mr. Enriquez asked me for a donation, I would have given it gladly, because this is a program dear to my heart. I might even have volunteered some time as a tutor (I've taught ESL to Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees in the past), but I adamantly object to using tax money for this or any similar project.

Cory Layne
Editor

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