The filthy rich test -- are you a closet liberal?

Very few people defend the rights of the rich, and when a libertarian does, there's a good chance another libertarian who leans a little left will accuse the poor soul of being in bed with conservatives. But they have it backwards -- defending the rights of the rich doesn't necessarily make a libertarian a conservative, not even likely, because it's not a vital similarity and has to do with property rights and freedom more than protection of industry, but defending the government's right to violate the rights of the rich (as with any individual) does make a supposedly libertarian person a liberal because it's a vital principle at stake.

What is this all about? Money? Well, not for someone who truly believes individuals have rights which their bank accounts don't invalidate. It shouldn't matter how much money individuals possess, yet, you see it over and over, a freedom loving person in all other respects defending government's use of taxation to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. It's just one of those ideas where people tend to forget about principles. However, it's hard for me to trust the integrity of someone who claims to uphold libertarian principles who sees freedom as conditional, good for all but the wealthy.

If a libertarian with integrity upholds a person's right to keep all the wealth they earn, which has not been amassed through fraud of any sort, or outright theft, of course, this has nothing to do with conservatism, necessarily -- it has to do with rights of person and property. What I earn is mine, even if it's a couple of billion dollars. But, there's something in the psyche of most people that causes them to see great wealth differently, as if there should be regulations regarding owning that much wealth, and that society should receive a share of it, or the person should be forced to use it for the greater good, or something -- but to just keep it, well, that just doesn't seem right -- it's offensive.

I've read on blogs too many libertarians who lose their liberty-religion when it comes to questions of pure old capitalism, outright ownership of property, plain, straighforward "what's mine is mine", or the right to pursue happiness. It seems so greedy -- so evil and country club conservative-like! These libertarians are suffering from the infectious disease of modern-liberalism with a touch of the Marx bug. It's infected most of the country, but many aren't aware of the cause. Although a good libertarian ought to be aware of the cause, it may be the libertarian is actually a liberal for sure! Not suffering from an unconscious influence, but a true, ideological liberal!

If the person can't say, without tensing up and gritting their teeth, that, yes, even filthy rich people have rights and should be able to own their property and do with it as they please without coercive interference from government, then it's a foregone conclusion -- liberal.