Border Wall GoFundMe Proves We Don’t Need Taxes
Build the wall. This was the hallmark of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Then candidate-Trump promised the American people he would secure our borders and drastically reduce the threat of illegal immigration into the United States. He promised to put America first, and our sovereignty above other nations.
Trump’s lust for a robust border wall has been met with fierce resistance from his left-wing counterparts, who seek to flood the country with third worlders who will vote Democrat. Two years into his presidency, he has been met with roadblock after roadblock in his pursuit to craft a border wall. His latest resistance has come from Democrats in Congress who refuse to include funding for a border wall in their spending bill.
From trying to make Mexico pay for the wall, to trying to tap into the military, Trump has had no luck finding government funding for his fortress. But the American people may have found the answer.
GoFundMe.
In just three days, a military veteran named Brian Kolfage has raised over $8.5 million on the crowd-sourcing website for Donald Trump’s border wall. His goal for the campaign is $1 billion, the maximum amount GoFundMe lets users raise. Kolfage says that “If the 63 million people who voted for Trump each pledge $80, we can build the wall.”
On his GoFundMe page, Kolfage references a story from 2012, when a billionaire donated $7.5 million to help fund repairs at the Washington monument. Kolfage says this is no different.
A very simple idea that anyone could have created, Kolfage’s GoFundMe campaign is a very telling example of how the free market is vastly more efficient than taxation. While the government has remained at a standstill over Trump’s border wall for two years, the American people have made a bold statement with their own dollars in just three days. More than 140k Americans decided the wall was important enough to fund themselves, instead of waiting for a bureaucrat to decide how to spend their money for them.
In a capitalist economy, consumers are able to vote for what they want with their dollars, and the market responds. The reward of a profit incentivizes production, and the desire for a strong reputation and continued business motivates producers to meet consumer needs. Our self-interested human nature is what makes consumers and producers alike desire more. The consumer seeks to maximize his utility, and the producer seeks to maximize his revenues.
The opposite is true when it comes to the government. They receive all of their revenues through taxation, a compulsory tithing that citizens must give up or face the threat of being jailed. Since they lack the same incentives as a business, the government does not need to meet consumer needs in order to receive your money. They simply need to wave a pen if they want more dollars in their pocket.
While consumers can vote with their dollars immediately, they can only vote for their elected officials once every few years. And while the market offers us thousands of flavors, the government presents us with the options of just vanilla or chocolate.
Given the Democratic resistance to Trump’s border wall, the American people may have to wait until 2020 for any hope at government funding for the project. But thanks to Kolfage’s GoFundMe, Trump may be able to get started sooner than later.
Whether any of the funding is actually used to build Trump’s wall or not, Kolfage’s GoFundMe teaches us an important lesson that transcends more than just the need for a secure border. It teaches us our dollars are worth more than our votes, and that taxation is an outdated and unnecessary method for raising funds and building infrastructure. If only GoFundMe could be used to fix our roads instead of relying on taxes, perhaps there wouldn’t be so many potholes.
Crowd-sourcing is the future, and something our government should fear. It has rendered their services entirely useless, and proven that we don’t have to be forced to pay for services that we know we need.
It’s time to do away with taxes and usher in an age of unfettered, free market capitalism.
Taxation is theft.
Wake up to the gift of liberty this Christmas! Tees, sweatshirts, hats, & mugs available here
