The mantra of the left has become "The rich have too much, they are not paying their fair share". That theme is not new. It has been the backbone of the progressive, leftist, communist, socialist and Marxist philosophy for well over one hundred years. Class envy and jealousy pulls in the uneducated, the ignorant, and those who want something for nothing.
I find it amazing that many of the nearly 48% of Americans who pay absolutely NO income taxes believe the "rich" need to pay more.
Somehow there are people who believe that the only way a person acquires wealth is by taking from another individual. There is a belief that in order for me to make money, someone else must lose that opportunity. I heard a caller on talk radio a few weeks ago say that "The 'rich' received so much from America, they need to give something back". That remains one of the most ignorant, twisted arguments I have ever heard. America guarantees each of us the same opportunity. Not the same outcome. While occasionally the Nation falls short of the ideal of equal opportunity, it comes closer than any other place on Earth. There is no royalty, no caste system to American society.
A couple of college students can create billion dollar businesses. A pizza oven in a small storefront can spawn a global chain. The Horatio Alger rags to Riches story is a real life truth every day in America.
Yet there are those who claim the successful must be punished. Somehow taking 30% or 40% or even 50% of the hard earned wages of one American is fair, while we take 5% or even none of the wages of the guy down the street. Yet do they both not use the same roads, trash collection, police and fire protection? Does our military not protect the freedoms of rich and poor alike? Why should Richie Rich pay more for Government services than Paulie Poor? Little Paulie is more likely to use the Government than Richie. Which citizen wants someone else to pay for textbooks, healthcare, libraries, food, child care?
You will claim Richie can afford it. But is not ten percent of confiscated wealth as valuable to either party? Is it fair to say you must give up ten percent of your apples and I the same? Does it matter if I have ten apples and you one hundred?
The concept that for every dollar I made comes at the expense of another is the underlying falsehood that drives the progressive's view of the economy and Government. I just finished calculating my sales for the first quarter. I sold 52% more in Q1 of 2011 than I did in 2010. That means someone spent 52% more with me. Are you Democrats keeping up? You cannot draw the conclusion that my competitor lost 52% of his business. In fact, we gained no market share, our customer just bought more. Because he sold more. That means more people bought my customer's goods and services. Where I share the customer's business with my competition, we both increased sales. Everyone in the entire supply chain made more money and spent more money. Wealth was created.
Would any of you argue that my company did not deserve increased sales, that is is not fair to other widget makers who do not or cannot compete with our price, delivery and quality? Should the Government step in and dictate that we could only have an increase in sales of 30%, 20%, perhaps 5%? The entire notion seems absurd, yet there are some who think such a plan is perfectly acceptable when it comes to making individual wealth.
I had a customer who argued a person should be limited in the amount of money one could earn. She stated she saw no reason anyone should be allowed to make more than $500,000. If I create a cure for the common cold what would it be worth? If I developed a means to power a car on CO2, thus solving the use of fossil fuels, pollution and preventing (non-existent) global warming and was able to sell such a vehicle for $100, should I be limited to a profit of $500,000?
Who among you believes you possess the wisdom to determine how much is enough? Do you think you know how much space I need in my house? Are you able to know what, when , and how much I should eat? Do you know at what temperature I feel too hot or too cold? Are you able to determine the Delta faucet is good enough, I do not deserve the gold-plated Moen? Are you able to be the arbiter of taste, decency, and all that is right for me and my family? Do you want your neighbor to have the job? The guy down the street?
Who do you trust to determine what you "deserve" in life? Obama? Pelosi? Palin? Limbaugh? Joe Average? Should I tell you what car to drive? If you can go on vacation and where?
That is the problem with the progressive agenda. It progressively eats away your freedoms.
4 comments:
These are the same people that think governments create wealth,don't understand that taxes on consumer goods are actually payed by the consumer. Not one can figure out exactly what the fair share is but it always more than the wealthy are currently paying. Check out some of the occupations of the serious whining crowd.
James Old Guy
If you actually believe that America guarantees the same opportunity to everybody, you are a fool. Nothing could be further from the truth.
You can romanticize about your Horatio Alger rags to riches stories all you like, but it doesn't change the fact that the playing field isn't level.
Additionally, most wealthy people (who have brains and an ability to think rationally) embrace a progressive income tax because they realize that it has the effect of supporting a middle class - usually a working class. Without that, any society is doomed. Kind of like the USA in 2011, a society resembling Rome in its latter days, and a far different creature than the USA of the 50's and 60's when the middle class boomed.
You represent the type of lemming that warms the heart of the $20 million bonus receiving investment banker (whose employer was bailed out by joe sixpack during the financial meltdown). Remember that one - it was caused by people who don't pay taxes (snark intentional).
The meltdown occured because of Government interference, primarily in the housing market. Fannie and Freddie and bundled bad loans (forced on banks by the Government) caused the real estate crash.
I am not sure why you hate America so much Anonymous. I guess the riches gained by Bill Gates, The founders of Facebook and Google are not evidence of true opportunity in America? I bet there are stories by the dozens in your home town of poor kids who built successful business and careers. If you envy the money and bonuses made by Bankers and Execitives, what is keeping you from becoming one yourself? (and I did object to the bailouts).
It is not perfect, as I said in the post, but no other nation on Earth states as its primary goal equal opportunity for prosperity!
I defy you to show me how you are limited in opportunity. Are you pigeon-holed at an early age and sent to trade school or work based on test scores at 10 years old? Anyone can go to college. Anyone can enter a field of their choice provided they have the skills and brains and drive.
It must be a sad bitter life to wake up every day with no hope, no prospects and expecting someone else to provide your needs. Get out there and succeed. NO ONE is stopping you.
For Goodness sake, read some history, read the Constitution, read the Federalist Papers and dream what can be! Your forefathers carbved an Empire out of the wilderness and created a nation unlike any othe ron Earth.
People like you would make my great-great-great grandfather sick.
And your attitude makes me a little nauseous too.
I'm wondering why, if what Anon thinks is true, there are so many illegal immigrants? I'm betting Anon also believes in not arresting illegal immigrants because they are only "looking for a better life".
Last week, my niece married a first generation Vietnamese American. His parents and older brother were once held in a detention camp and were some of the last few that were able to escape the fall of Saigon.
They came here with NOTHING. They said they did not have enough money to even buy cigarettes, so they gave up that habit.
Today, they own a successful alterations business and have provided their sons with a great education, not just a university education, but also one that believed that you have to work hard to accomplish things in life. Now THAT's an education.
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