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Is The Gap Between The Haves And The Have-Nots Dangerously Large In America?: Left of Center View

For literally centuries the prosperity gap between those who are privileged and those who are not has continuously grown in America. While the greedy got fatter the hard-working have had to make do with less and less. It has gotten to the point where it is a matter of luck that determines whether or not people who have worked all their lives will even be able to purchase a home or have any hope of a real retirement in their golden years. For many the dream of a middle class life is snatched away from them for no greater reason than a line on a balance sheet not looking good enough to a corporate bean counter.

If you look back at history you will see that there is an inevitable ending to this situation. There will come a point when the oppressed cannot take it anymore. When that happens, the seeds of revolution will be fully sown and it will only be a matter of time before the oppressors will find themselves staring at angry mobs of people intent on their destruction. It won’t happen overnight and it won’t be easily recognizable at first. It may begin with wealthy people being abducted and ransomed more and more frequently. It could start with an increase in thefts from wealthy homes. The signs could go unnoticed for years while the anger simmers in the minds of the people working for the wealthy. While the wealthy go about their lives oblivious to the plight of the less fortunate the anger among the working class will grow.

One day, a leader will emerge and the anger of the oppressed will find focus. Those people who had been angry all along but felt helpless to change their situation will suddenly find clarity of purpose and a cause that they feel is worth fighting for. As their numbers grow and their rage reaches the boiling point an event will happen where a great injustice is seen to have been perpetrated upon an innocent and then all bets will be off. Revolutions don’t start overnight but they often do suddenly explode into full-blown rebellions when the oppressed are discounted as incapable of changing their circumstance.

The folly of the elite has always been and will always be hubris. The arrogant sense of invincibility always leads to disaster for the privileged. As they become disconnected from the people who make their power possible they begin to think of themselves as almost demigods who do not have to concern themselves with the lives of the common man. It is that disconnection that invariably leads them to their doom.

Unfortunately there are always innocents caught in the middle of these conflicts who ultimately suffer the most. They simply want to live their lives and raise their families but because of a few greedy people and a lot of angry people they are pulled into conflicts that tear their lives apart. Children of combatants become victims of the wars they don’t even understand and in the end a cycle of power and inequity begins anew with different people holding the reins. The revolutionary becomes the leader and in the course of leading their people they lose sight of what it was like to be a working class citizen so they make decisions that empower those who have their ear to oppress the less fortunate. And the beat goes on...


LJ Finstermore - World Citizen | E-mail Comments on this column. | Click icon to Digg this article

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Is The Gap Between The Haves And The Have-Nots Dangerously Large In America?: Right of Center View

Every time there is a downturn in the economy some liberal wants to turn it into an opportunity to redistribute the wealth through unfair taxation. People always love the system when it works in their favor but as soon as someone finds success through innovation or hard work some less industrious person wants to claim it’s unfair. What’s truly unfair is that people who have never worked an honest day in their lives are supported by hard working people against their will.

The real danger to America is not the wealthy but rather the lazy. Entitlements have run rampant in America and hard working people are the ones paying the price for it. The welfare rolls have grown to the point where they account for billions in state and federal tax dollars every year. There are second, third and fourth generation welfare recipients who have never worked one day in their lives. The question we should be asking is why we should be responsible for supporting the lazy with our hard-earned tax dollars.

Before people start saying I’m heartless I want to make clear that I understand that sometimes unforeseen things happen and people need temporary help. Unemployment insurance makes sense because people pay into it and are entitled to file a claim if they have legitimately lost their jobs. What should not be happening is people getting that type of assistance when they have never even tried to find honest work. Welfare for people who have never worked only makes the problem worse. They are a drain on the economy and every child they produce without having the means to support them makes it even worse.

There will always be a gap between the rich and poor. That’s life in a capitalist society. The gap grows and shrinks in cycles. Where liberals have made the problem unmanageable is in the area of entitlements. If we keep giving shiftless people a means to get paid without producing anything we force the actual working taxpayers to work harder to produce enough to support themselves and the people who don’t want to work. It may sound heartless but we need to allow people to fail as a means to drive earned success for people who deserve it. Instead of giving handouts to lazy people we need to let them know that if they can’t support a bunch of kids they shouldn’t have them in the first place.

In the short term there will be people that will suffer for the tough love approach but in the long run people who work hard will find success. The people unwilling to work and follow the rules will eventually die off. The people left standing will have more resources and there will be greater prosperity for all. Welfare states are not the answer to the problem. It is not doing a service to someone to reward them for not working. Success takes hard work and a willingness to sacrifice momentary pleasures to achieve a greater goal. A strong national work ethic and intelligent pragmatism are needed to improve the situation for working Americans. The gap between the rich and poor is large but it only becomes a danger to our nation if we continue to support the idea that people inherently deserve a good life without having to earn it.

Tony M. - California | E-mail Comments on this column. | Click icon to Digg this article

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