Some thoughts on the current divide in our country…
I’ve regurgitated many thoughts about the current movement in America, about the divide which threatens to cripple us. I thought I’d share some original thoughts.
Many dismiss the current movement as an attempt to “redistribute wealth” in this country. Let me correct that notion, as it is not only false, but in fact completely contrary to the opinions of most thinking men.
If you are part of the 1% (or 5 or 10), I do not want your money. In fact, I loathe money. It poisons the things which I hold dear. It alone determines my freedoms, even in this, the freest of countries. Democrats and Republicans alike are bought and sold, plain and simple. Money doesn’t buy everything- but it buys politicians who decide what my rights are. To say that I am demanding, or even encouraging you to “spread the wealth” is insulting.
So why this outrage at the top 1%? Simple. You broke the country. Now fix it. Whether through your banking schemes, mortgage frauds, predatory lending, insider trading… I could go on and on… you broke us. To now say that the country is in disarray because the poor don’t pay enough is the most perverse of statements, and I can’t begin to describe how it makes my blood boil. You’ve been coddled for the past few years, and you took advantage of it, profited immensely at the expense of others, and disregarded the consequences. Now you’re surprised that people are pissed off about it? Get over yourself. You owe me nothing. You owe the 99% nothing, in fact. You owe something to the system which you so loathe that created the infrastructure which allowed you to swindle the less fortunate.
As with all rules, there are many exceptions. Not everyone with money is evil, of course. Many are great, compassionate, trustworthy people- and the majority of them are more than happy to pay their fair share to fix things. If only there were more of them.
What the country is so upset about, primarily, is a lack of accountability. The shadowy practices that put the country on the path to economic ruin (a path we’re still on) has resulted in. at worst, a bonus check to go home. Nobody has been held accountable. Make no mistake - I do not want a scapegoat. I want “the system” to go after those who have defrauded millions of people out of millions, or billions, of dollars with the same tenacity that they go after a homeless man sleeping on a park bench because he’s lost his home.
