The Lesson of Robin Hood

The other night I attended the performance of “Robin Hood” at The Phipps Theater. We all know the story about Robin and his band of Merry-Men who do good by taking from the rich and giving to the poor. This story in fact has been used to illustrate the evils of wealth and that those in government who tax the wealthy and redistribute the money for the poor are nothing more than modern-day Robin Hoods. The taking by force in the name of benevolence is honorable. But is the story of Robin Hood really what we perceive it to be?

As I watched the opening of the play where an old widow is seen wandering through Sherwood Forest after having her land taken from her, it occurred to me just how wrong we have been in our perceptions of the story. After spying a caravan approaching the forest, Robin and his men lay in wait to ambush and take from the “rich”. Were these people of wealth which Robin was about pounce upon members of the mercantile class or what we would refer to as entrepreneurs? Was this the wealthy class which forced people off their lands? If this is your belief of the story; then you are wrong! People were being forced off their land because they could not pay the taxes to King John or to the local authority represented by the Sheriff of Nottingham. The caravans of the rich whom Robin ambushed were not those of a baker, blacksmith, or merchandiser; it was the caravans of the King and the sheriff and those who were recipients of political favor. The “evil rich” was government. Robin was in fact stealing from the government in order to return to the people what was theirs in the first place. Robin was not a purveyor of redistribution; he was an advocate for the sanctity of private property.

As in the story of “Robin Hood”, people are being forced off their property by today’s wealthy class. School Superintendents and administrators and the teachers union and consultants, whose salaries and benefits amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, pursue policies which increase the tax burden to the local citizenry. In fact here and in other localities over fifty percent of the property tax bill is comprised of government education. Just as with the Sheriff of Nottingham, the inability to pay the tax results in government ownership of your property. The property tax is the modern-day version of feudalism with government-run education in the position of King and Lord. Today’s government worker’s take in salary and benefits far exceeds that of the average worker in the private sector from whom they tax. Riches such as retirement and Cadillac health insurance for today’s “rich” are not acquired through sacrifice; it is acquired through the taking of property. Government is not akin to Robin Hood, it is the image of King John and the Sheriff of Nottingham who looted private property for personal riches and political favor. The real Robin Hoods today are those who call for market-based reform in education and the abolition of the property tax.

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