The Government’s Compulsive Buying Disorder

Would you hand over your debit or credit card to random teenagers, letting them spend freely and without limits, even if it means going into debt?

Most people would likely say no to this. Yet, we allow our elected officials and unelected bureaucrats to wield similar power. Many of them seem to have the same mentality and unrealistic idealism as a typical fifteen-year-old who, if given unlimited access, would likely spend their parents’ money to the point of bankruptcy.

When you refuse a teenager or child’s request to buy something with your money, many of them are likely to throw a tantrum, becoming overly dramatic about why they should be allowed to spend on something unnecessary.

They will try to fulfil their endless desires with your hard-earned money—whether it is the latest iPhone, a new computer, trips, clothes, video games, or toys—all at your expense.

You might already be saying no to your own teenage child, and at least there is a family connection between you and this child. Yet we face the absurd reality of granting financial control to people who are completely unrelated to us, and that in many cases, even seem to despise us to a point they may wish to erase us, using our own money for that.

The money spending from the political caste is out of control. We have entire nations indebted because of the senseless idealism of the people on power and since they are spending your hard-earned money, they will always justify taxes and will always approve hidden taxes (such as inflation) to get what they want.

The spending caste will squeeze every single cent out of you to achieve their goals. And it is not just one individual; we are talking about a collective—a group of politicians and bureaucrats with different goals and visions for how they should spend your money. These entitled members of the government and state apparatus believe they know better than you how to spend your own money, all while living off your taxed money.

Our overlords’ spending knows no bounds. They funnel your hard-earned money into foreign wars, impose their vision of infrastructure, and shape culture by funding artists and events that endorse their ideals. They secure salaries for themselves far above what the average citizen earns, while pushing public funding for items like tampons and condoms. They manipulate the education system to reflect their agenda, channel donations to foreign nations, and spend lavishly on projects like football stadiums that may soon be useless or handed over to private affiliates with close ties. Meanwhile, public hospitals, held up as examples of social democracy, are plagued by endless waiting lists. you’ll soon realise that despite rivers of money flowing into government coffers, most roads remain in a deplorable state. The funds vanish into the void of inefficiency and mismanagement, leaving you with potholes and neglected infrastructure. The ways they burn through your money are nearly limitless, often concealed, with little transparency around the projects they champion or the votes they cast.

You are too busy working hard, having to face all the life adversities to be able to cope up with the details of how your stolen money will be spent and you are going to be threatened by these people if you do not fund their ideas. And beyond that, they will abuse you, funding an entire structure of propaganda with your own money to say you are a bad person if you do not want to fund their petty dreams. You may be called a fascist or unpatriotic, even a traitor if you do not go along with their agenda.

In many European countries you will pay more than half of what you earn in taxes. You will pay it in form of income taxes and also in form of consumption tax. You may also have to pay other taxes such as property tax which is on the realm of wealth or capital tax, stamp duties, tariffs and custom duties, environmental taxes, capital gain taxes in case you invest whatever is left of your hard-earned-money and make a profit (if you lose, the risk is on you) and ultimately, the final tax, the inheritance tax (we live in the absurd era where you pay taxes even after you are dead).

The creativity to tax people to fund these senseless dreams of politicians and bureaucrats is as endless as their plans on how they will spend your money. However, they will only tax you and think of new ways of doing that if they are dreaming of spending.

The taxation problem is directly related to the spending problem. There would be no need for robbing half of your earnings if the vast majority of your overlords did not suffer of Compulsive Buying Disorder.

Yes, we have to treat this issue like the disease that it is, a disease that corrodes society and the wellbeing of individuals. The government’s spending problem is akin to a Compulsive Buying Disorder, but it is far more dangerous because those making the spending decisions face no limits, have no accountability and they also have no skin in the game, because they are not productive members of the society, working to create wealth by generating goods and services that are useful to society, generating jobs in a healthy economic environment that is demand driven.

If your life is ruined because politicians are taxing you excessively to support limitless spending; if you struggle to pay your bills; or if your business fails due to policies that create an unsustainable environment, those who enacted these policies will face no consequences whatsoever.

To start combating this dangerous disorder that endangers all of us, we must first learn how to diagnose it and then we have to bring awareness to that, only then we will be able to take actions to combat this disorder that directly endangers our lives.

Much like an addict who spends recklessly without considering the debt they are accruing, most politicians fail to think of the everyday struggles you face as they spend public funds. In fact, you are more likely to get empathy from your young teenager child asking to borrow your card for an expensive item than from the political elite, who are often disconnected from your reality but still eager to control your money. At least your child might acknowledge your situation and understand your challenges. Politicians and bureaucrats, on the other hand, are strangers—and depending on who they are and your own background, they may even view you with disdain while seeking ever more of your income to use as they see fit.

The French case

If we look at France, one of the most populated and one of the biggest economies in Europe in terms of GDP, the last time it had a budget surplus was in 1974. Since then, the French Republic has consistently spent more money each year than it has collected.

France is also one of the European countries that spends the highest proportion of its GDP on government expenses among European countries, having spent 58.34% of its GDP in 2022 and all of that to offer bad quality services that many times are perceived as dysfunctional, as above mentioned, by a significant part of the population.

Despite providing services that are largely underappreciated by the public and already being one of the highest spenders in terms of government expenditure as a percentage of GDP, the French political establishment continues to demand more funds to fuel its spending spree. To justify this, politicians continuously propose new taxes, including levies on French citizens living abroad—those who do not benefit from the services they are funding.

The French far-left, who currently controls a significant part of the French assembly also attempt to revive failed policies, such as François Hollande’s Wealth Tax (ISF), which was implemented in 2012. The ISF, which targeted the wealthy, led to capital flight as many affluent individuals moved their assets abroad. This prompted a policy revision in 2014, and the tax was ultimately overhauled after its failure to achieve the desired economic impact.

The political establishment’s answer to addressing failing public services is to press on with the same methods, only more forcefully. The French political elite never pause to consider that the entire framework they are advocating might be fundamentally flawed. Instead of accepting that the state is neither the most effective provider of services nor the best at spending funds intelligently and efficiently, they stubbornly double down on the same approaches they have been using—even if it means resurrecting policies that were acknowledged as failures by the former president, François Hollande and his Socialist Party government.

As a consequence of the constant taxation in a gradual shift towards a centrally planned economy, summed with the regulatory hell created by the French government and the EU bureaucrats, it is expected that more than 70’000 companies will go out of business in 2024.

The spending surge in France has raised such concern that even the European Union recently launched an excessive deficit procedure against the country. Under the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact, member states are expected to keep public debt below 60% of GDP and budget deficits under 3%, thresholds France currently exceeds.

The impact of high taxation is well-documented throughout economic history. When governments impose excessive burdens on those who hold capital, they often drive these individuals to seek friendlier environments. This capital flight can lead to the loss of local businesses and employment opportunities, as investment and job creation follow the money to regions with more supportive economic policies.

Just as an addicted family head wrecks their household and endangers everyone’s wellbeing, policymakers who engage in reckless spending, stacking one megalomaniac plan atop another without fiscal restraint, gamble with the livelihoods of those they govern, pushing them toward economic ruin.

France is just one of many examples across Europe where entire nations are weighed down by reckless policymakers who seem to think the public can be endlessly exploited to fund their extravagant ambitions. Such leaders drain taxpayer resources for their own grandiose projects, with little regard for the economic toll on their citizens.

We need to raise awareness about the issue of excessive spending, recognising it as a dangerous disorder that puts us all at risk. However, this is not a battle between individuals; it is a clash of ideas. To close this article, I would like to draw on the words of the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises: