Toastmaster’s Introduction
Todd grew up in Flint, Michigan. He graduated from high-school at the
beginning of the automotive bust in 1980.
He witnessed first-hand how foolish fiscal policy can ruin an
economy. Years later, Todd received his
undergraduate degree in business from Walsh College in Troy. This degree required several classes in
Economics and Finance. Todd excelled in
these classes, and learned several theories of economics. As a result of his experience and education,
Todd is a strong fiscal conservative, and thinks you should be too. Please welcome Todd as he gives his speech
“Why you should be a fiscal conservative”.
Memorized Introduction
What do you think of when you hear the word “wealth”? If you are like many of my friends, you think
of greed and oppression. The bible says
that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. While this is true, today I would like to
convince you to put away so-called progressive ideas of how we should think
about wealth. You should be a fiscal
conservative because you believe that a healthy society is one that encourages
prosperity for everyone.
Body
My liberal friends don’t like rich businessmen. They say that rich people are selfish and
greedy. Why do they think this way? I think it’s probably because rich people
tend to be selfish and greedy. The
interesting thing is that my liberal friends would like to take wealth from the
rich. I ask you – how do we describe
people who want to take from others? We
call these people greedy and selfish. I
can only conclude that being self-centered and greedy is a human characteristic
that does not tell me anything useful about wealth. There is, however, a more relevant
perspective on wealth that I hear from my friends on the left.
No one expressed this idea better than the Reverend Jesse
Jackson. I remember watching TV during
the prosperity of Reagan era. The panelists
were discussing the reduced concern for the poor as the standard of living was
rising. Jesse Jackson said “The
principle we must all understand, is that when the ceiling rises for the rich,
the floor drops out underneath the poor”.
I was confused, because I studied several competing economic theories
while earning my undergrad at Walsh, but I never heard that principle.
Over time I began to understand the basis of this
principle. Imagine the economy as a
pizza sliced into eight pieces, and four friends sit to eat. The first guy says he is really hungry and
takes four pieces – half of the pie. The
second guy takes his fair share of two pieces, leaving just one piece each for
the remaining two men.
The economy is not like a pizza. The economy is more like a balloon that grows
and shrinks. We measure GNP, GDP, and
other metrics to track the growth and decline of the economy. The rich generally get rich from blowing
wealth into the economy, which is good for everyone. Allow me to illustrate.
It was a simpler time 500 years ago in the humble village of
Englandshire. A master boyer (one who
makes bows for hunting and defense) moved to the village from a far off
land. The boyer made fantastic bows,
which far outclassed the bows made by several families local to the village. Many of the villagers were outraged, because
these long established family businesses suddenly found themselves unable to
support themselves. Everyone wanted a
superior bow rather than a traditional bow.
As a result, the master boyer became very rich.
On the surface it looks like the master boyer became rich by
stealing business from the local craftsmen, but looking deeper, we see that the
villagers as whole became more prosperous.
The villagers had better fortune hunting with these superior bows, and
were therefore able to put more food on the table. The King’s guards were better able to control
roving bandits, making it safer to travel.
The master boyer became significantly richer, and most everyone else in
the village became just a little bit richer.
Where did this wealth come from?
It literally was created out of thin air as a result of the productivity
created by the master boyer.
What of the former boyers who were driven out of business by
the master boyer? They went through a
very hard time when their businesses collapsed.
As it turns out, they had useful skills for making furniture and
tools. They did fine once they
discovered that their skills were needed in Englandshire’s evolving economy. In fact, the prosperity of the new economy
helped them to gain more wealth then they had previously as mediocre boyers. It is
similar to what we often see today as people are laid off from failing
companies and eventually land jobs in prospering companies. It is painful, but prospering companies tend
to serve the public better than failing companies.
The boyer’s tale continues to be repeated. As a result, we experience wealth today that
was unimaginable during the boyer’s time.
As an example, the poorest of us can get an EKG from an emergency room
if we are experiencing chest pain. We
carry devices in our pockets that link us to our friends and family, and
provides us the ability to obtain information from around the globe. We can travel dozens or even hundreds of
miles per day by jumping into a car and taking a drive. We have this massive amount of wealth because
of greedy, selfish people who wanted to create products and services that people like us wanted.
Memorized Conclusion
Why should you be a fiscal conservative? Because you recognize that wealth is not a
limited commodity that should be shared fairly and equally. You know that wealth is literally created out
of thin air by people and organizations that provide valuable goods and
services. While it’s true that some
people benefit more from wealth creation then others, you recognize that wealth
creation helps a society prosper and lifts everyone to a higher standard of
living. Should we reward the rich with
low taxes, or should we require higher taxes for those with the ability to
pay? I don’t know, but we can agree that
we owe a debt of gratitude to those who have made our lives more prosperous. Thank you for your time, and I may I be the
first to give you a heart-felt welcome to the Republican party.
