A young woman was finishing her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was very much in favor of the "redistribution of wealth." She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?" She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over." Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA." The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!" The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party."
My dad always said everyone is a democrat until they get a job. Best way to get rid of taxes is to eliminate payroll taxes. Make everyone have to write a check to IRS at the end of the year for 30% of their earnings. Marches on Congress would ensue really quickly.
thats stupid and insulting. if youre rich that means you worked harder than poor people. you must not know many poor people. perhaps ive subconsciously stayed away from the lazy poor crowd, but easily over half of the poor ive known through my life work harder than the rich ive known (physically harder work and longer hours). our system of govt doesnt reward hard work. it rewards work that society values, basically work which relatively few can do. generally, id say that to become rich you must work hard (becoming less true as there are more super-rich amassing generational wealth), but to imply that poor people are poor because they dont work hard is ignorant. please rise above your party.
You're describing the upper middle class, I think. The truly rich in this country mostly inherited their wealth and their income comes from what they own, not how hard they work, if they work at all.
Growing up in Louisiana, you can't help knowing some poor people. They are all around us as we're one of the poorest states. Not every poor person is lazy, but to suggest that many of them aren't lazy is just as ignorant as saying all of them are. And I don't know if we can ever figure out what percentage of them are lazy, but those who refuse to get at least a high school degree are lazy. Those who refuse a minimum wage job in lieu of government benefits are lazy. We can blame it all on their environment, but no one is ever going to be able to change that environment for them. No amount of government assistance will get them out of poverty. They have to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. I don't think many people begrudge hard working people, poor or not. It is only those who demand a handout in lieu of hard work. Katrina exposed this ugly side of our society.
