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Two
weeks ago you read it here in Lincoln Daily News in a Mike Fak
commentary about fuel costs. Sometimes it is expressed in no uncertain
terms; other times the mention of it is vague or subtle. But make no
mistake — it is a dangerous thought and the mere mention of it is
highly contagious.
On
the popular, conversational level, our economy seems to be a two-class
system: those who have money and those who want it (although we really
have a five-class system: [1] those who have it, [2] those who have
some but want more, [3] those who don’t have much and want more, [4]
those who have little or none and have given up, and [5] those who
have some but don’t want anyone else to have any).
The
dangerous, damaging thought and talk comes about when we criticize
those who make money and scheme of ways to diminish their wealth and
their means of gaining it.
Want
examples? Take for instance Robert Reich’s comments in his new book
(Reich was formerly Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration)
where he recommends that there should be a special tax, on only the
wealthiest 10 percent, which would be used to provide money for every
18-year-old in the United States to go to college free of cost. Or
Mike Fak’s comment that the big Oil Companies made record profits in
2000. Or the comments you made last time you and I talked about how
much money Bill Gates has in his bank account.
It
seems to be the talk around the country that making money, big money,
is wrong. It’s not a new thought or conversation, but it still
smacks of envy and reveals that we are a people with two conflicting
minds: "I want some" and "I want them to have
less."
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column]
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To
set the record straight, one of the founding principles of our great
country and our wonderful economic system is that people with the
right amount of determination, the correct attitude and enough
ambition can be successful without doing anything illegal or immoral.
And in turn they can become very wealthy. The determining factor is
not what family you were born into or how much education you have
received at what institution, but whether you choose to try. We reward
those who try.
Corporations
are in business to make money, which in turn provides employment for
people, funds expansion, pays taxes and rewards the investments of the
stockholders. They are not in business to limit their success because
making too much money might be unpopular. They are in business to make
as much money as the market will allow. This includes big oil
companies.
Bill
Gates is in business to make money, and he indeed has succeeded in
that regard.
The
real promise of our system and our great country is that you and I
have the opportunity to be as successful as Bill Gates. You and I can
buy stock in corporations and big oil companies. You and I can start
businesses. You and I can discover new sources of wealth. And you and
I can even buy lottery tickets and dream of being wealthy.
To
remind you, the alternative to our system is communism under Mao or
socialism under Stalin.
And
so, let’s stop talking as if there is something wrong with our
system or those who have succeeded. Making money is not a sin. Our politicians should stop
sniping at those who have made great economic gains (most of the
politicians who recite such rhetoric are already wealthy). Our
government should stop thinking of ways to tax the wealthy to provide
debilitating entitlement for the masses (let’s tax them evenly and
fairly instead). And you and I should lift each
other up and herald the examples of economic success instead of tearing at the promise.
And maybe, just maybe, we, too, will follow in their footsteps.
[jim
youngquist]
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