Socialism Doesn't Work, In the UK or America

Andrews Lloyd Webber has published an opinion article (read it here) on the topic of taking from the rich to pay for entitlement programs. (Hmmmm ..... sounds familiar doesn't it?)

Here's an excerpt:

"I write this article because I fear the inevitable exodus of the talent that can dig us out of the hole we find ourselves in. It is inevitable, given that other countries are bidding for entrepreneurs. The Government must modify its proposals.
I give you this example. I have altered the details of the family I write about for obvious reasons. But the essentials are true.

Last Thursday I met with a thirtysomething guy. I absolutely depend on him in a highly technical area of theatrical production. For legal reasons he has to employ himself through his own company. Under the new tax regime, he will have to pay 13.3 per cent to employ himself before he pays himself anything. And then he will have to pay 51.5 per cent on what's left.
This is a guy at the cutting edge of his profession who works all over the world. He is in demand in every major territory where entertainment is produced. He has a young wife and two children. Last Thursday he told me that he and his wife had decided that the UK was no longer where they wanted to live.

His wife thinks the State education system is inadequate. And she fears that a bankrupt Britain will increasingly be a worse place in which to live as the horror of our present financial mess hits us all in the solar plexus.

He says that he is young enough to set up shop somewhere else. The new tax rates were the final straw. These talented young people know they will make it impossible for them to educate their kids privately in the UK."

So for those of you who may still believe that we can legislate prosperity by taking more and more from the wealth creators and giving it to those who only know how to consume entitlements, take note. The burden will become greater and greater as those at the top shrug off this burden (either by moving, not producing above a certain level, or moving themselves into the more beneficial consumption category). Every time a wealth produces shrugs, the burden falls down to the class at the next rung of the ladder. When they realize how much more weight they must carry to ensure all those entitlements for others, how long will they continue? The whole thing eventually collapses upon itself. It can be a slow, painful process or a quick, painful process - depending on the realization and decisions made by the wealth producers (not Washington). It leads to destruction either way.