Income inequality is perhaps the biggest domestic political issue in America today. It should be. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Warren can argue until she is blue in the face, and she does make some good points, but income can never be equal in a prosperous society. Life will never be fair. Government cannot legislate equality. People are not automatons. Some people are just more productive than others. We all have different personalities and character. We all enter life under different circumstances, and we all encounter different obstacles and opportunities. That's just the way it is. Deal with it.
Injustice certainly exists. It happens to nearly all of us in some way or another. Nearly all of us have been discriminated against when job hunting, trying to make a sports team, applying for college, and when raises are handed out. But when it comes to being rich or poor in America, the gap is based more on misfortune than injustice. Some people are likely to be born to the right parents, be in the right place at the right time, or endowed with greater intelligence, physical skills, occupational skills, social skills, creative skills, or higher energy than others. That has nothing to do with justice.
Of course there is a small segment of the population who have gotten mega-rich that don't deserve it - such as hedge fund, leveraged buyout, private equity, and other financial services managers, as well as product liability and ambulance chasing lawyers. On the flip side there are many more people who are homeless, poverty-stricken and destitute through no fault if their own, and they are the ones who deserve public support. But cultural influences, political restraints on commerce and industry, and government created dependency are what hold the majority of the underclass back, not discrimination.
The fortunate do not have a legal obligation to provide for equality, but they do have a moral one to support the less fortunate to ensure they have basic human rights. Those who have experienced more fortunate circumstances cannot ignore the plight of the less fortunate. No one in America should be homeless, hungry, unclothed, uneducated, and not have access to basic health care or the opportunity to support themselves. On the other hand, this support must not be so generous that it destroys personal responsibility and encourages dependency. Support should not be provided without reasonable expectations of the recipient earning it or using it to become self-supporting.
Sufficient progressive marginal tax rates must be levied to provide for the legitimate basic support that is required of a civilized country. That is not too much to ask in an affluent society. That support must be designed in a manner that is fair to both those taxed and those who receive it. It must help the helpless, but not allow anyone to game or take advantage of the system by getting something for nothing. And public support should never encourage dependency or tolerate indolence, substance abuse, or criminal activity.
No one should ever be allowed to take advantage of the less fortunate. Private scams should be subject to severe punishment. But public programs that irrationally punish the poor are even more unconscionable. Poor people should not suffer the consequences of destructive political policies created by government officials. Public servants must be held accountable for their misguided and self-serving actions. If anyone should be suffering the consequences of failed government policies, it should be the Barney Frank's and his Democratic colleagues who create these programs of mass destruction, such as encouraging the lending of mortgage money to people who could not pay it back and then blaming the devastation it caused on someone else. Democrats are good at that.
There is also culturally ingrained ignorance, indoctrinated into the brains of some Americans by the pandering of one political party. It is noteworthy that ethnic groups that reward hard work, law abidance, and educational excellence (Asian) tend to prosper in America. Ones that disdain and even punish those attributes (African-American) don't. It is difficult to escape the inner cities when neighborhood gangs ostracize and physically assault the ones who try to improve themselves. Those attitudes must be changed and criminal acts stopped for anyone of any race to participate in the opportunities available to all Americans. Not all will achieve the same results due to many different factors, but we can all live the good life. The only thing holding anyone back is personal choices, the peer pressure of cultural experience, and politically induced dependence on government. It is this culture of dependency that breeds poverty and hatred, not lack of opportunity. Place the blame where it belongs, on the Democrats.
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