In the cesspool of debates that makes up American politics, it is a rare event that the Democratic party is both logically and morally superior in any particular area. But as of the last few days social media has been flooded with people parroting the Republican party narrative, complaining “they have to pay for someone else’s college”. These talking points indisputably show the hypocrisy – and logical fallacy – in the Republican argument against welfare programs and wealth redistribution.

For the record, I’m totally against wealth redistribution in any form – in fact, I’ve opted out of the system*. But that doesn’t change the fact most Americans willingly contribute the the Social Security scheme, indicating they fundamentally are okay with some form of wealth redistribution. Most modern Americans – Republicans included – will say Social Security, Medicare, and other similar programs are important. But such statements completely undermine any arguments that they can make against welfare programs in general. If it is okay for the government to take money from workers via Social Security and then pay it to someone else (to say nothing of Medicare, food stamps, etc) then any other welfare program is equally acceptable.

Republicans – namely, the older ones who are [or are close to] drawing Social Security will tell you the program is important. “I paid into it”, they will tell you, “it is my money”. Except this isn’t true; they are drawing more money than they put in. I make significantly more than most people in my area, and my Social Security tax (that my company illegally withdraws from me, by the way) won’t really cover the average Social Security monthly payout for one person! Indeed, optimistic reports expect total insolvency of the Social Security Program by 2042, with more realistic reports expecting it by the end of the decade.

In other words, these people decrying student loan forgiveness as “$10,000 of free money to people who don’t deserve it” are probably getting at least that much in similarly-free money from their Social Security payouts. Who is paying for that? Clearly nobody, given how massive the U.S. deficit is, but if we were to make the same flawed argument Republicans do (“I’m paying for it”) then that means the younger generations – the most financially strapped group of people America has seen the last 50 years – are footing the bill.

Do you see the hypocrisy yet? Older taxpayers complain they are paying for younger people’s college education, then expect the same younger generation to pay for their retirement. How is that fair? It isn’t, obviously. (Let us also ignore the fact everyone is paying more to support Ukraine than their fellow Americans, by the same logic….)

Normally, I’d argue that the government shouldn’t be taking money and redistributing it for any reason – including welfare programs. When God told the Israelites how to run their government, welfare programs weren’t a part of the instructions. The expectation was that all of the individuals in the community would take care of the widows and orphans. Food would be left behind in the fields so the less fortunate could eat, and individuals in the community would look after each other as decent human beings should. That is obviously the ideal scenario in our fallen world, and it has been demonstrated numerous times that this method works much better than government socialism. It turns out individuals are a lot better at using their money for altruistic endeavors than the government is, surprise surprise. Unfortunately, all of this has little bearing in actual practice.

You see, for practical purposes we have no control over our government. The U.S. has been an oligarchy for many years now, with the two parties being nothing but two sides of the same coin. The deficit is already unsustainable, meaning that practically speaking there is nowhere to go but down. Increased taxes AND a complete stop of all welfare programs wouldn’t be enough to turn this around at this point, even if you could convince both parties to take these drastic measures. What this means is we are stuck riding out the roller coaster as it comes apart at the seams. Is it unreasonable that younger people – who were told college was essential to their future, by the way – want some assistance paying in paying their ludicrous school bills? Despite getting in-state tuition, obtaining several scholarships and grants, AND working throughout college (me and my wife both), I STILL had to take out $30k in student loans to get through school. That’s the cost of a luxury car for the older generations – better yet, a substantial down payment on a house.

It is no wonder the younger generations – crippled by their financial situation and facing $500/month payments on student loans – can’t take counter-arguments seriously. “We worked in college and paid for our education, why can’t you?”. Such pious monologue is exactly why the whole “OK Boomer” meme exists. And when those same people whine about student loan forgiveness while taking out Social Security, Medicare, and the like, they come across as the hypocritical and tone-deaf party-parrots they are.

My take? It is about time this happened. We are already stuck with numerous welfare programs that aren’t going away; at least loan forgiveness helps out a generation of people who’ve experienced nothing but financial difficulty since graduating. Unlike most government programs, this will be genuinely helpful to a great number of people, and being a relative “drop in the bucket” against the overall government deficit, no one can really argue “they are paying for it”. Kudos where kudos is due – the Democrats actually got it right this time.

So for all of you Republicans that are still sour about the whole thing – I’ll leave you with this. Before you complain about where your taxpayer money is going, check to make sure there’s no speck in your eye. Practically speaking, this is more free money; yes, you might not be the one getting it this time, but it sure doesn’t seem you’ll actually be funding it, either!

*Nearly every Republican I know – including many family members – will say they are against taxation. But when it comes time to put their money where their mouth is, things change. I find they’ll make up a number of excuses to continue doing so, saying income taxes are involuntary and so on. But the truth is quite a bit different. Check out NoThanksIRS – and the famguardian site in general – if you want to opt out of the illegal and fraudulent system that is redistributing your money to [frankly] evil causes. If not, well you can’t really complain about it now, can you?