So much to learn
LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson
I have always felt one could learn as much politically speaking from the business page of a newspaper as from the front page. The business page reports the financial health of the country.
A recent article entitled “Surging Stock Market Powers Wealth to $96.2 Trillion” caught my eye as an impressive measurement of the country’s prosperity. America, it seems, is now doing fine bucks wise.
But wait! It wouldn’t do to make it sound too good. Not when Donald Trump is president.
This is the opening paragraph of the article: “A healthy gain in the stock market and steadily increasing home prices boosted Americans’ household wealth this spring, a trend that likely adds to the nation’s inequality.”
Let’s take a moment to process…
Done? Good. Chances are you got the point even before I make it.
The phrase “adds to the nation’s inequality” is liberal political commentary within an Associated Press news report. AP has to provide the news, but that doesn’t mean the report can’t be qualified politically. You can see for yourself how the liberal perspective is worked into it in a clear attempt to skew the stats in its favor.
To the left more wealth creates more inequality because distribution of wealth within a capitalistic system isn‘t perfect. The left’s solution to this alleged problem is redistribution of wealth as expounded by Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and other left wingers. It is worth noting all these people are wealthy and became so within the system they have spent their political lives criticizing.
Leftists deliberately distort the meaning of equality. We all have equal rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and a plainly worded list of Amendments to our awesome Constitution.
Equal rights, however, doesn’t extend to wealth or property. The accumulation of such is up to the individual. To be successful one has to work hard, offer something of worth to employers, and have goals and a plan. If one isn’t willing to do these things, that’s not due to the failure of the capitalist system or the country at large. That’s the fault of the person who doesn’t understand what is expected.
The design has little empathy for those who don’t try, who present themselves as victims, or allow themselves to be pawns of the left in return for subsidies. Why should it?
Now, liberals would say I am missing the point. Some people, they sob, don’t have the wherewithal to meet those standards. They need society’s help.
Sure. No one has a beef with helping the disabled or the temporarily unemployed, but there should be an issue with people who spend their time complaining about the system while sucking it dry. Their social contribution is dissimilar to that of hardworking taxpayers. That’s inequality too.
The same article mentioned Americans’ net worth rose 1.8 percent while stock portfolios jumped $1.1 trillion and home values climbed $600 billion. This is good news for everyone but lefties. A capitalist who actually knows how to build wealth, you see, is president, and that is a disaster for leftist economic theories and political goals.
From paragraph four of the same article: “But the increases in wealth aren’t widely shared, which many economists worry limits its economic benefit. Wealthier Americans are less likely to spend additional income and wealth gains.”
Well, wealth sharing is egalitarianism, the corner post of the leftist economic fence, which suggests wealth should be spread to be fair. The point that wealthier people spend less of what they gain is suspect. Wealthy people are spenders but also invest their resources which benefit many in ways liberals never mention. If one buys more property or stocks, one is still spending.
Says paragraph five of the article: “Roughly 10 percent of Americans own 80 percent of the nation’s stock market value.”
So what.
Not everyone buys stocks, but anyone can. One doesn’t have to be wealthy to invest; indeed, most accounts begin small. Besides, many people have no interest in investing. They spend everything they make in a country designed for spending. The stock market is not an economic conspiracy designed to oppress the unfortunate as the left submits.
It seems the left’s ideal is no one should have stocks unless everyone does. You can decide the level of nonsense that reaches.
The American system is the best in the world, but one has to understand how it functions. Liberals don’t get it because they don‘t align philosophically.
One other thing.
Stop listening to leftist politicians who offer nothing but extended poverty, false hope and excuses. Do that, and you’ll be fine.
Larry W. Anderson is a retired educator, author and Bearcat.
