I’ve seen this quoted all over the web, but sources are scarce, though I have seen it attributed to Ayn Rand as often as not. As always with maxims of this nature, they can be a little simplistic. Number 1, for instance- it depends on why the poor are poor and the wealthy are wealthy and what the legislation is. But let’s not nitpick. In general, I agree with these to some degree, especially 3 and 5:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
An example of what happens when number 5 comes into play here:
http://thecommonroomblog.com/2007/05/of-communes-and-anarchy.html
Here’s one person’s explanation of what this means for the Christian.