By Benjamin Franklin and Dr Agon Fly

I. Industriousness

It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service;

Benjamin Franklin and the other Founding Fathers didn’t have to deal with the IRS, state, county, township, city and district income taxes, taxes on gas, electricity, telephone service, internet access, cable and satellite service, water, sewer, gasoline, heating fuel, beer, wine, whiskey, tobacco, and sales tax on almost everything else thrown in just for good measure. Add to that the taxes on corporations, which are rolled into the price of their goods. Those taxes then get taxed again when you buy those goods.

Today’s governments in America take a lot more than ten percent of your time. They don’t require actual time. They take so much of the typical American’s work product – money for short – in the form of taxes that you really work for the government up to 50% of the time.

It can get even worse when you add in estate and inheritance taxes and probate fees and costs if you are financially successful and don’t have well informed and qualified advisors.

but idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens life. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears; while the used key is always bright, as Poor Richard says.

One thing hasn’t changed. No matter how much of your money the government takes, you are still responsible for your health and your own financial success or failure. That means you have to rely on your own work to produce enough income to care for yourself and your family if you have one.

Benjamin Franklin obviously refers to manual labor when he talks about ‘sloth brining on disease’, rust consuming faster than wear and tear, and saying the ‘used key is always bright.’ Many Americans don’t do manual labor. Finding a way to keep your key always bright is intrinsically your job, too.

A corollary to what Father Abraham teaches is that relying on government for health care or financial support is not a good idea. The more a government gives you personally the more it can take away.

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