Are the wealthy obliged to give back? There are lots of wealthy people in capitalism is great disparities be- the Pottstown area. Do they have any tween rich and poor. As historian Will special obligation to help improve Durant wrote, “Since practical ability their community? varies from person to person, the Adam Smith thought so. majority of such abilities, in nearly Smith, the Scottish economist who all societies, is gathered in a minority wrote the Wealth of Nations in 1776, of people. The concentration of is generally considered the fa- wealth is a natural result of this ther of capitalism. concentration of ability, and Smith argued that there was regularly recurs in history.” no such thing as a fixed amount The “father of capitalism” was of wealth. Wealth could be cre- well aware of this, but rather ated and increased, and the than trying to make this ine- best way to do that is giving quality worse by giving tax people freedom to pursue Commentary by breaks to the rich, Adam their own self-interest. Tom Hylton Smith advocated something People who seek to en- like progressive taxation. rich themselves work hard The more wealth you en- and devise ingenious ways to create joy, the higher proportion of taxes products and services that other peo- you should pay. ple will buy. As they do so, “an invisi- “It is not very unreasonable that ble hand” increases the prosperity of the rich should contribute to the all. public expense, not only in propor- “It is not from the benevolence of tion to their revenue, but something the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, more than in that proportion", be- that we expect our dinner,” Smith cause a tax on "the luxuries and van- wrote, “but from their regard to their ities of life [which] occasion the prin- own interest.” cipal expense of the rich... would in A prime role of government is to general fall heaviest upon the rich.” protect private property rights, Smith Some states, like California, New pointed out. Otherwise, people would Jersey, Iowa and Vermont, have lack the motivation to work hard, higher tax rates for those with more take financial risks, save, and invest. income. Pennsylvania does not. When individual incentives to Pottstown government is over- work are removed, society is impover- whelmingly financed by the property ished rather than enriched. That’s tax, and Pottstown has the lowest why, throughout history, pure social- property values in the region. ist and communist systems have But that doesn’t prevent the afflu- never succeeded. ent from helping improve our com- But an inevitable consequence of munity through charitable donations.