NOTE: This is a sort of sequel to my article on Christmas materialism. I'm hoping  to slowly help you, the reader, to understand the thought processes that were behind my transformation from hardcore socialist to Libertarian.

This is the time of the year when a lot of dicsussion centers on how to help the poor and needy in our community. The holiday season increases our awareness of their presence, and most of us, at the core, want to see the poor among us have a reasonable standard of living.

The best way to help the poor is to buy goods. It's as simple as that. You see, retailer X has a labor cost built into the budget. The more goods he sells, the more he has to spend on salary. He can either provide more jobs or provide better wages for the workers already in his employ. It's as simple as that.

Even big ticket items such as automobiles and SUV's help the poorest wage earners, even though the commissioned sales force that sells them could usually not be described as impoverished. You see, when Joe CEO buys a hummer, the salesman that sold it gets a commission. He takes that commission home, and spends it. The box store workers have jobs because of the money Joe CEO spends. It's the basic pronciple of trickle down economics, which DOES work, despite certain protestations to the contrary.

Consumerism is the fuel that drives the capitalist economy. It's why businesses put out bigger and better products, it's why "New! and Improved!" is a catchphrase that we hear on a seemingly basis. Although we take it for granted, consumerism has made our lives infinitely better.

Probably the best example I can give is the one you're sitting in front of at this moment. I personally have worked around computers for over 20 years now, ever since my dad got his (gack!) TRS-80...cassette loaded back in the early 80's. I have seen computers advance from the point where we were mesmerized by simple loop programs that put pixel "stars" up on the screen, all the way to what you see before you now...and more. My children have never lived in a time where there wasn't a computer in the household, albeit not always online. And those advances have been driven by the simple fact that there were people ready and willing to BUY the better product once it was released.

How you DON'T help the  poor is through handouts. Trust me on this. I've had to beg exactly ONCE in my life and I hope to never, EVER do it again. I would much rather have the opportunity to work to earn a living for my family. But I can't work unless there are jobs to be had, and there aren't jobs to be had unless there's money to be made, and there isn't money to be made unless those who HAVE the money, SPEND that money. That's the life cycle of a dollar in a rather small nutshell.

So, the next time someone argues that we can only help the poor through welfare programs, don't buy it. Trust someone who's been there that a FAR better way to help the poor is to help provide jobs through your spending. And enjoy that big screen TV knowing that in watching it, you are creating jobs.