This is the image that got me started this morning:
The funny thing is, the people who really get their panties in a bunch over sharing with those less fortunate SO OFTEN describe themselves as Christian -- you know, the self-described followers of that World Teacher who said that it was virtually impossible for a rich man to enter heaven....
Furthermore, they have a tendency to belong to the struggling working class -- NOT the 1% which is the legitimate target of tax-raising pushes. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, these people WHO WILL NEVER BE RICH THEMSELVES tend to IDENTIFY WITH THE VERY RICH and their point of view. What are they thinking with? Extreme wealth is not associated with work ethic in most cases -- it's inherited, or wheeler-dealered, or ... virtually-stolen on a huge scale. Even people like Bill Gates, who has created his own fortune, had dirty little business tactics which helped him get there.
As Raymond Chandler, one of my favorite writers of his genre, said in "The Long Goodbye": "A man doesn't make your kind of money in any way i can understand. ... There ain't no clean way to make a hundred million bucks.... Somewhere along the line guys got pushed to the wall, nice little businesses got the ground cut out from under them.... Decent people lost their jobs.... Big money is big power and big power gets used wrong." THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS -- it is FACT. Those who defend the system of tax-evasion by the very rich, on the nebulous excuse of hard work and entrepreneurial spirit, are either profiting politically/professionally from the racket, or seriously self-deluded and are the first victims of the scam.
Also to be found on FB this morning is this little gem, which i've seen often before and "shared" myself in the past:
...Self-explanatory and highly illuminating -- unless you've drunk the koolaid.
According to certain esoteric sources, the money- and power-protecting crescendo we're seeing these days is a last-stand of desperation from those cosmic forces which are resisting being dragged into a more evolved era. They'll use any tool they can to delude and trick the altruistically-undeveloped among us to make things more difficult, causing them to go against their own best interests -- and this is what fascinates me in a horrified sort of way. MOST of the victims i'm referring to are NOT stupid. How are they able to so easily fall prey to those who want to exploit their fears?
It's not your slice of 'umble pie that is being targeted by the cosmic forces of generosity -- it's part of the pie of the nursery-rhyme king ... who certainly isn't going to go hungry without it.
Hi Tess
ReplyDeleteSomeone once said behind every great fortune, there is a great crime. We live in crazy world where a football player can earn more in a week than a surgeon can earn in a year. A flat/apartment in London recently sold for £150 million pounds and was probably just one of one of one mans homes. The amazing thing is many of these super rich are so insecure they have to flaunt their wealth as if it makes them a better person or more valuable human being.
"The culture and civilization of the White man are essentially material; his measure of success is, "How much property have I acquired for myself?" The culture of the Red man is fundamentally spiritual; his measure of success is, "How much service have I rendered to my people?" Ernest Thompson Seton
Kind regards Eddie
:-) and sometimes the frustration of it all gets to me, and i have to gripe about it! thanks for the support and understanding!
DeleteWhat gets me is the rich always say they "earned" their money. Perhaps for the first generation that may be true (often at other's expense as you pointed out), but for those born with a silver spoon, their money earns their money, not them. Yet, they think sharing the wealth with the lower classes is stealing from them, even though they have had their riches handed to them by birthright, not by their own labor or ingenuity.
ReplyDeleteit's a tough and tricky situation, this question of social fairness! it can be abused both directions, but as the rich (through money and influence) are well able to take care of themselves, i think SOME "affirmative action" is warrantable. it's unfortunate that some believe they DEEESERRRVE more consideration than everyone else because of gender, skin color or wallet contents.
DeleteSo lovely to read something well thought out instead of knee jerk. Thank you for that!
ReplyDelete:-). I'm afraid it WAS rather knee-jerk, but it's a pet peeve of mine.
DeleteTHIS.
ReplyDeleteA college instructor once put it this way to me: Imagine there are 10 cookies on the table. Three people are seated at this table: you, an average union/government worker, and an highly-paid corporate executive. The rich CEO reaches over and pockets nine of the cookies. He then turns to you, points at the cookie, and says "Watch out for that other guy: he is going to try to steal YOUR COOKIE."
True story. And it is happening right now.
And his ego tells him he EARRRNNNED those nine....
DeleteI LOVE IT! I am going to have to share that one. It is the perfect analogy.
DeleteOne thing I can't understand is how people get so enraged over "socialized medicine": OMG GODDAMN LAZY WELFARE BUMS GONNA GIT LIFE-SAVING SURGERY ON MAH PAYCHEQUE RAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!!!!!!1111
ReplyDelete...Like, what? Seriously. I thought before doctors start practicing, they have to take the Hippocrates' oath and swear to "do no harm". People before profits - that should be the golden rule in medicine.
Ain't gonna happen with for-profit medical centers, and with pharma companies writing medical textbooks. :-(
DeleteEasy on the docs, not all are wealthy...college and med-school cost a lot of money and the debt is high. Hospitals and Pharma take most of the medicine costs out of our pockets. Uninsured folks cost us more than insured folks. I'm for a real reform that will get us equity. This ACA is only a start.
ReplyDelete