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Quote by: Autolykos In the thread "Is America Broken?", under Politics & Government, TheNegotiator pointed to "the gap between rich and poor" as "one of the glaring signs of our failing system". His statement has prompted me to post a thread about this gap. To put it simply, is this gap a good thing, a bad thing, or neither? Here is my own take on the matter. Any given gap between "rich and poor", at any given point in time, is neither good nor bad. Yet I suspect that, among people who view such a gap as a bad thing, see it that way because they believe in a ceiling to the amount of wealth that one should be able to acquire. Furthermore, it seems to be implicit in their beliefs that if one gets richer, another gets poorer. In other words, they believe that wealth is a zero-sum game. Am I right here? If so, let me ask the following questions. First, what should the ceiling be, in quantifiable terms? Second, why should there be a ceiling at all? Third, is wealth indeed a zero-sum game? (Hint: It isn't.)
I look forward to any and all feedback. :)
- Rob |
Rob wrote: Any given gap between "rich and poor", at any given point in time, is neither good nor bad. Yet I suspect that, among people who view such a gap as a bad thing, see it that way because they believe in a ceiling to the amount of wealth that one should be able to acquire.
I write: A ceiling on the amount of wealth one should be able to acquire? This is the statement of government gone mad. The day America caps the amount of wealth one can earn, is the day America goes out of business. Class warfare and class envy is a tool of the Socialist and the Communists. They refuse to admit that those who accumulate wealth reinvest it in the economy which provides jobs for those who are taught class envy and class warfare.
The first assumption here is that one remains in the same class in which they are born. Well geez fellas, this ain't the caste system. Education and self employment is the key to moving through the class system. Even someone who enters the work force at age 18, usually is in a higher income bracket when they are 40. My point here is that economic brackets are stable but individual economic situations are fluid. It is highly unlikely that a person who lives and works their entire life in America will remain in the same class at age 50 than they were at age 18.
This idea of someone getting rich at the expense of someone who is poor is another bullshit tool used by Socialists and Communists. I have worked hard all of my life and accumulated my wealth at the expense of no one. As a matter of fact, I have provided work and jobs for others who in turn used that wealth to rasie and educate their families.
I resent the idea that my wealth is a product of the misery of others. It is in fact, just the opposite.
I get so sick and tired of hearing this class envy and class warfare bullshit I want to puke. If someone wants to live in a society where most everyone is "equal" then there are many to choose from, like Great Britain, France, The Scandanavian Countries, Russia, and even Cuba. I would encourage their emirgration to get that person out of our country which encourages freedom and economic choice to be anything you wish to work for in our society.
Today, even more so, a person of minority status can borrow money from our government, go into business, and if they work hard, know what they are doing, and cater to their customers, they can be a economically successful. I have seen it time and again in terms of every ethnic people I can think of here. In Connecticut alone:
The Chinese open restaurants.
The Mexicans open restaurants and work landscaping businesses
The Indians open Hotels, small grocery conveince stores, and restaurants.
The Japanese operate restaurants.
The Thai and Viet Namese people open grocery stoes and restaurants.
The British here open small manufacturing facilities.
African Americans go into the trucking business.
And on and on.........
Obviously, I have painted with a wide brush here but my point is only those who sit around and feel sorry for themselves and look to the government for handouts wish to play the class envy card. Those who see opportunity in America can develop a vision, act upon that vision to make it a reality, and reap the rewards of a society that eschews laziness and rewards hard work.
Don't fall for the class envy rhetoric of the Socialists and the Communists because it is based upon a theory that people are stuck in a "class" and never move up the economic ladder to improve their life in America. Nothing could be further from the truth if one works hard and one works smart in America today. I am living proof of this as I started with next to nothing. I was that person in the lowest economic class and I now have a business that is successful beyond my wildest dreams. I am in the top percentage of taxpayers in America today, living proof that one can acheive the "American Dream." Now all I have to figure out, is how to keep more of what I earn, so I can reivest more money back into society to help others improve their lot in life. :)