You Didn't Build That.

There isn’t much time. A man’s (woman’s) life is short, and there’s a finite time for you to grab your portion of the American dream. You work if you’re able (most of us do, anyway), you bring home money to feed and clothe your family. Maybe squirrel something away for a rainy day; hopefully have enough left over to bequeath to your family and loved ones. Time on this earth is fragile and precious and (for most of us) limited to a short interval. Forty or fifty years of productive work. And then you have some temporary hacks in Washington telling you that you didn’t build something. What you’re selling, say footnotes to history like Elizabeth Warren, was driven to your customers on roads that ‘other’s paid for.’ President Obama (who knows nothing of your toil) tells you that the business you built is not really yours alone. Collectivism. Sharing the monies you make with everyone else. If you’re fortunate to make a small nest-egg or even a little fortune (there are very few Bill Gate’s), you need to pay “your fair share”. In 2013, that meant that the top 1% paid 38.9% of their wealth to taxes. The bottom 50% paid 2.78% (less than 3 %). And still the statists say the rich aren’t paying enough: they want more. How much is enough? Well, it’s hard to pin down an answer. There is, some statist’s admit cagily, never enough. America has never before been a covetous nation. If your friend or neighbor made a million, you wished them well. Through luck or hard work or ingenuity (or a blend of all three), they were able to succeed and grab the brass ring. To live the American dream. Never before has this nation been a land of people with hand extended, looking for freebies and shortcuts. A land of jealous haves and have nots. Never before has America been a nation of classes; a land where people felt they were somehow ‘owed’ a living. Where rights like Social Security, insurance, Medicaid, voting were conferred on a group simply for breaking that nation’s laws and entering her illegally. Free enterprise, the best and most productive system ever devised for insuring dignity and a fruitful way of life, is ignored. One former college professor told me that the Keynesian economic theory that President Obama expounded was a sound theory (in fact, it has never worked): the professor had to cut our conversation short because the library where we were standing was closing and he had to wash up. He was living in his car (the irony was lost on him, of course). So you work hard. And your savings – all that you can amass during your short time on earth – is taxed and frittered away. The small amount you’re yet able to save is threatened with massive debt that your government is unwilling or too stubborn to pay down : its imminent implosion threatens to obliterate everything you’ve ever worked for. Your savings could disappear overnight. Still, you manage to die first. And the money you’ve scrimped and saved is cut by 40% again in what they euphemistically refer to as an “inheritance tax” but which is more correctly identified as a ‘death tax’. Money that has already been taxed while you were alive: the government swoops in for a second bite of the apple before they let any of what’s left go to your family. “You wished to pass along your savings to make your son’s life easier? That’s rich. Now bend over while we rifle your pockets!” Envy, jealousy, resentment, division, collectivism are antithetical to the American dream. Our dream is boundless, unlimited. We are born with unalienable rights to be left alone (something statist’s find impossible to do); to live freely and unfettered with constant harassment (ditto). We pay taxes for roads, police, fire, to help people who truly need help. But paying for 50% of the country PLUS illegals who wander over without any pride in this great country or assimilation is too much to ask. Communist writer George Bernard Shaw said “when you rob Peter to pay Paul, Paul will always be your friend.” But Peter will resent the constant intrusion. And may (if you’re not careful) release the Hounds of Hell at your heels. *** Thanks for visiting. You can find ebooks from Vince Iuliano on Amazon and Smashwords, and wherever ebooks are sold... including "Quotations of Chairman Oba mao!" and "What Price Liberty?"