This has become a hot topic during this election season and many different ideas have confused the meaning. Historically, in every culture wealth has moved around. After every revolution wealth starts out somewhat widely distributed and over time it always ends up in the hands of a few. America was designed to be different. With it's great resources there has been tremendous "opportunity" through out our history. Several times in our history our government gave away land. The only condition was that you had to "get there" and you had to build on the land. This often involved traveling a great distance, enduring great hardship and sacrifice and intense, back breaking work. Some tried and failed. Others succeeded. Not everyone was willing. Some stayed back in the familiar environment of the eastern cities. This pattern repeats itself in every generation in every family across America. Opportunities exist. The Government gives away free education. The quality is mixed much like the land previously mentioned.
Whether it is land that requires tremendous dedication to develop or skills that are required in our culture today, the burden rests on every individual to make the choices required to achieve their goals. No where in America until the "New Deal" brought about by Franklin Roosevelt as a response to the Great Depression was there ever a "guarantee" of outcome of some set of choices.
We have finally arrived at a time in our history where the hard work of those who put aside short term comfort to increase their income and wealth is now subject to forfeiture against their will in order to transfer that income to others who did not try so hard and chose short term pleasures instead of sacrificing for the future.
Many will say that they didn't feel like going to college. Remember the excuse of not being able to afford college doesn't fly since many institutions are state run and not exhorbitantly expensive. Many people, myself included, worked while going to school, took small loans to pay for tuition and paid them off with the better jobs that they took after graduation. Others may have decided to start a family before gaining the ability to support that family on their own.
No one should be faulted for their choices. This is America. Land of opportunity and choices and freedom. However, this is America not Russia or China. Everyone here is free to choose and free to fail. No one here until recently is required by law to subsidize the choices and failures of others. If this is still truly America then anyone who tries harder, puts aside comfort for some greater goal, delays their family development is entitled to the fruit of their labor. No one else is entitled to it.
Yes there are those who appear to have a headstart in making millions. Still making millions is not the only option. This is not a zero sum culture. Everyone has the opportunity to make something. Our country has created millions of jobs. From minimum wage to billions, the income from these jobs varies. It is not even hard to discover before heading down a path to find out how much these many different jobs pay. It is not hard to find out how much it costs to live in a particular area of the country. A job paying $25k a year allows more options in northern Florida than Southern Florida, in North Carolina than in NYC. Everyone has the right to live where they want if they can afford it. No one has a right to the fruit of someone else's labor.
Many will say that it's not fair that a teacher should make less than a banker. Some may even say that the teacher works harder. However, anyone can find out how much a teacher makes and a banker makes and make a choice based on that what kind of lifestyle they want. But it is Un-American to force the banker to subsidize the lifestyle of the teacher. If the banker has children he is free to pay the teacher what the teacher requires for this service.
It is a tremendous tragedy that our society has come to the point where at least 45% of the culture believes that income redistribution is a right and good thing. I suppose that this is not surprising when the top 40% of income earners in this country PAY 97% OF ALL FEDERAL INCOME TAXES. Did you know that?
As Christians we are called to be generous. Even before Jesus came to John the Baptist, John was teaching them that a sign of a person of God was that if you have 2 coats you ought to give one to someone who has none. God's people are generous. However, that is about philanthropy and charity. Everyone feels good about that including the giver. No one feels good about having their income taken away by force (all legislation is force) and given to others who did not work as hard, or sacrifice without any accountability for better behavior by the recipient.
We have arrived at a place in this country where hard work and sacrifice are punished by the confiscation of the fruit of that labor and that fruit is given to those who do not work as hard or sacrifice. The sad part is that many will believe and say that they do work hard and sacrifice. But their definition doesn't match. If you want to improve your lifestyle then you should be working every hour you aren't sleeping. That's what successful people do. Successful people do not live off the fruit of someone else's labor.
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