This little controversy that is brewing over my remarks last week has been quite instructive, if not entertaining. As you know, I opined that in a time of disaster it would make sense to try to save those members of society who actually actually contribute to the economy, rather than drain it. Save the makers first, the takers later. Look at it this way. If you save the takers, and let the makers expire ... just who are the takers going to take from?
Oh, the insensitivity!
I'm actually quite happy that my comments on Friday afternoon have stirred the puddin' this way.. As you know, I'm writing a book named "Somebody's Gotta Say It." There will be a chapter in that book on hatred for the rich and one dealing with the manner in which we in this country enable the poor, much like a doting husband enables his alcoholic wife. The emails to me and my search of the postings on that wonderful Democraticunderground.com website and others have given me an absolute treasure trove of goodies to use in that book.
The depth of hatred for the so-called "rich" is astounding. I spent some time yesterday reading through the posts on leftist websites and in the wonderful emails I received. It is not an exaggeration to say that nowhere did I see any acknowledgement that those in this country that we consider to be "rich" actually busted their rumps to get there. Instead, I found comments like "You do know the wealthy usually have inherited it or stolen it and have no idea what work is" and "Maybe that is why right-wingers lie, cheat, and kill to gain more wealth?" These people aren't just trying to create a little controversy. They really believe this stuff! They actually believe that most wealthy people in this country either inherited their money or stole it from someone. The deeply believe that the evil rich got that way by lying and cheating. The just cannot bring themselves to admit that hard studying, hard work and good decision making can lead to wealth! It just has to be cheating, stealing or inheriting.
It is instructive that so many of the leftists who post their "thoughts" in these websites cite one particular person as an example of the rich in America. That person is not a business owner. The person they cite didn't work hard to become educated, and then work harder to turn that education into entrepreneurship. No ... the person most often cited as an example of the rich is none other than Paris Hilton. Well ... I have to grudgingly hand it to the leftists on this one. Outside of the circles of celebrity worship most people view Paris Hilton as an insipid spoiled rotten rich little trust fund tramp. If you hate economic liberty; if you hate individualism, there is nothing quite so irritating as one lone individual out there taking advantage of all America has to offer, from education to some semblance of economic liberty, to become wealthy. If you can paint all such people with the patina of Paris Hilton you have done a good job of denigrating their hard work and belittling their character.
When you think about this bitterness toward the wealthy, it becomes easier to understand if you can somehow adopt the perspective of the left. First and foremost you have to recognize the left's war on individuality. No, I'm not imagining this. When leftist icon Ted Kennedy actually states that we are "at war against the concept of the individual" you know there's something to it. Wealth creation is an individual pursuit. You go the extra mile to gain an education then you put that education to work, working the extra hours, taking the calculates risks, all in hopes of achieving success. The left isn't fond of individual pursuits. To recognize the value of individual pursuits is to recognize the individual; and once you have acknowledged the concept of the individual you then have to deal with pesky little issues such as individual rights ... like property rights. When you acknowledge the concept of private property rights you are then faced with the difficulty of explaining just how you are going to violate those rights in order to seize that property for the benefit of your favorite constituency .. the poor. The simplest way around this is to just to worship the state while ignoring the individual. Any individual who has obtained wealth is merely another government asset to be used to further the goals of those who believe that the state is supreme in all things.
Poor? We call these people poor? Do you realize that the average person identified as "poor" in the United States has a higher standard of living than the average citizen of Europe? Not the average poor European .. the average European.
Let's wrap this up with a question. Can any of you cite one single program or idea from the left designed to lift people out of poverty in this country, other than government spending programs? To the left the solution is always government. They come by this honestly. They believe that American is great because of government, so naturally they're always going to look to more government as the solution to any problem they encounter. To a Democrat, more government means a greater America.
The greatest anti-poverty program ever conceived in the mind of man has been capitalism. No economic system in the history of civilized man has lifted more people out of abject poverty and created a general standard of living that even approaches that brought about by free people interacting freely with one another in a system based on private property rights and economic liberty. Dive into democraticunderground.com or other leftist websites, however, and you'll see constant slams on capitalism and free enterprise and deep praise for government-controlled economies and socialism. |