October 21, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Demonizing Wealth? Have You Paid Attention To Who Is Prospering Lately?
I’ve written about this topic before in response to an article comment, and I’m going to write about it again in response to another comment. — There are a number of average Americans willing to step up to the plate and defend the wealthy. They believe there is a class war against the rich. They believe President Obama is against wealth. They believe Democrats and liberals are against success. But where does this belief come from? I have serious doubts that so many average Americans simultaneously came to this conclusion. No, they believe wealth is being demonized because wealthy powerful people are saying just that, and they choose to believe it. And I don’t know why.
A recent Left Call commenter said:
Given the number of times Obama has mentioned getting “the rich” (note, he means people with a comparatively high income, not necessarily a high net worth) to pay their “fair share”, although “the rich” already pay the majority of taxes that support social programs, I would argue that he is most certainly demonizing the wealthy. Whether all left leaning persons agree with him, I don’t know, but I do know that very few right leaning persons would.
Maybe it’s because we all hope for greater wealth in our lives, or maybe it’s because of pre-existing ideological affiliations. But whatever the reason these average Americans lend such an abundance of support for the wealthy, they all have one thing in common: they are wrong.
President Obama isn’t against wealth. Liberals and Democrats are not against wealth. I wish these defenders of wealth could put a fraction of their energy spent defending the wealthy and channel it towards helping and defending the poor. I gotta tell you, there’s no virtue in a platform constructed to protect wealthy interests. The wealthy are doing just fine. They do not need your protection, but they most certainly have no problem if an army of average Americans do their bidding. I know my language sounds divisive, but there’s no other way to spell this out. The wealthy do not need our protection. As billionaire Warren Buffet said, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
The impoverished, the disenfranchised and the most vulnerable people in this country are who need the attention, not the wealthy. Tax rates have never been lower. The capital gains tax is obscenely low. Rich people are getting richer every single day.
You are not preaching from a perch of strength if you are an average income American defending the wealthy and powerful. A much more noble and honorable position would be to defend the voiceless and the powerless.
