Do You Run Your Household Budget Like the Government?

I understand how politics work.  Well, at least I understand how politics don’t work.  But seriously, when you look at how you run your own household budget you should expect your government to run the same type of budget, right?   Okay, maybe your personal budget can’t influence the government, but at least you can vote for the politicians that agree with your views on saving, right?   I mean, you should vote for a government that has the same philosophy on spending as you do.  Well, we’ve done our own research on this topic, and granted it’s not super scientific, but we’ve discovered that people vote for parties that are completely out of touch with the way they spend.  Here are some examples and explanations of what I’m talking about:

The Most Frugal Family I Know Votes For Spending More

I have a friend that is probably the most frugal person I know.  He and his family have an above average income and plenty of money saved for a rainy day.  Most of their purchases – that is, the one’s that they don’t forego – are of the thrift style.  Their family has literally the tightest budget I’ve probably ever seen, saving a large portion of their money.  So, you’d think they would prefer a government that did the same.  You think they’d vote for politicians that want to lower spending and fix the budget.  Nope.  They vote for increased spending, even though they would never spend their money that way, they somehow think it’s okay for the government to do so.

My Vocally Politcal Family Member Votes For Spending That He Wouldn’t Do Himself

Another example.  Everyone has that family member that is always outspoken about politics right?  I don’t know why the more liberal you are the more outspoken you are.  I guess its just expected that way because of the liberal media.  Anyway, this family member is also very frugal.  Their money is saved and they forego a lot of big and small purchases so that they keep their household budget in good shape. So why is it that they run their household budget in the black but vote for a party that wants to increase spending?  I think I know the answer.  I think it’s because most people don’t even really think about the issues.  They grow up liking a particular party.  Most likely the party that their parents or friends liked.  Then, they get set in their own ways and justify all politics based on the party they chose.

So What Does This Tell Us?

To me, this tells us that party lines are so far engrained in our thoughts that we do not even look objectively at the way we vote anymore.  Rather, we vote for the party that our parents voted for, or for the party that we liked in college because everyone else did.  After all, its really easy to justify either party’s choices if you want, because economics and politics are still much more of an art than a science. Personally, I think government should be run like a typical household.  They should spend wisely and spending decisions shouldn’t be based on their revenue.  Furthermore, you shouldn’t raise taxes because your spending is out of control.  In a household, your income is usually set and you work on your expenses to get your budget in order.  The government should be the same.  They should work to control their spending.  All of the entitlements and socialist programs only serve to reduce productivity and lower the motivation for the hard working public.  It’s true that a lot of people need help, but the system is so abused and people that are helped forget how to help themselves.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these thoughts I had while thinking about my own budget and being disgusted at how the government is run.

Tagged as: household budget, politics