It turns out that America’s inequality has more to do with who is on some form of welfare than an actual income gap. Yes, I am using a broad definition of welfare meaning taking from someone else to give to others. Obamacare is the most recent example.
As you can see from this New York Times chart, when you don’t include government engineered transfer programs, the United States has a good standing. As seen on the right side of the chart, America’s inequality measure is only bad relative to other countries because of government programs in those countries.
This chart makes it quite clear why there is the constant inequality drumbeat from the left and that is because one way to solve this “problem” is simply to take more from some, filter it through government and give what’s left to others; more government, more and more dependent Americans; more votes to keep it all going.
[NOTE: After I wrote this I came across this interesting piece in the Washington Post. Take a look]
Is that your vision for America? If so, how did we go from providing safety nets to those temporarily in need to cradle to grave welfare in one form or another? I find it curious that many Americans are annoyed that the cost of health insurance includes subsidizing sicker people, but can’t see we are headed in the same direction for everything from day care, college, time off the job, food, housing and who knows what else?
What happened to grasping opportunity, to hard work, to all the things that past generations did to move up and forward? Exactly what has stopped all this from working today? Is it easier to just get stuff from others? Are we dealing with a generation that does not have the same drive, work ethic or values as their parents and grandparents?
Frankly, I don’t know the answers, but it seems to me we are heading in the wrong direction if we want to improve the lot of the great middle class by making them more dependent on government. I think it’s insulting to hard-working Americans, but there appear many people who see that as the way to go.
Let’s discuss‼️
Is it government’s job to ameliorate disparities or is its government’s job to remove unfair barriers to opportunity and to provide temporary assistance to those in need? Exactly what are we striving for? Do you believe as someone once told me that every household in America should earn only what every other household earns meaning that we raise the poor to $52,000 annual incomes and we lower everyone else to $52,000. Now that’s equality‼️
Here is a scary comment under the guise inequality. It’s from something called ringoffire.com. This is so off the wall, it could be funny, but it’s really quite sad that people believe this.
INCOME INEQUALITY MAY BE HERE TO STAY
Posted on January 1, 2015The gap between the Haves and the Have-Nots is growing larger almost every day. Workers are giving more and more but getting less and less in return. But this story is about much more than one group making more money than the other – it is about the system being rigged to the point that we have US citizens dying every single day because they can’t afford the basic necessities that the rest of us take for granted.
Keep these words in mind, you will hear them over and over for the next two years … “The system is rigged” and “inequality,” they are the buzzwords of the left and will be used to make you feel the victim, but in reality are saying you are a loser, you can’t accomplish much in life without many forms of government assistance. Is this the America of the 21st century? Is that the America you want or that your parents and grandparents wanted?
If you buy into this political trap, explain to me how the system is rigged against you and what prevents you from improving your status. Tell me how the great wealth of the top 1% has taken anything from you.
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