Spreading the wealth. It's gotten such a bad rap this political season. Here is my personal take on it.
I am not wealthy or poor. I am middle class. Living paycheck to paycheck. Staying home with my kids (for the most part) because to put them in daycare would require a starting salary of $36,000 or more - which is a hard one to "walk in to". Our family is one lay-off away from the poor house. Kevin works his butt off so that does not happen. We have little debt - some but not much. We have an excellent credit score. This is who we are fiscally.
Who I am as a person is what makes me a "liberal". I believe in sharing. I share anything I can - my ablility and happiness to watch my friend's children when they need a break or the help. My food and home to entertain friends for dinner and build better relationships. Homemade goodies or little gifts for people I love. Dishes if someone is hosting an event or people recovering from medical issues. My time for school events and volunteer activities. These are things that I happily give away. If I had money, I would share even more.
I very much believe that this is what makes our country great. Not capitalism. Not materialism. Not who can have the most stuff. But who we are and how we treat each other.
On Halloween day I read a status on Facebook that said: in preparation for new tax plans we should take candy out of certain kid bags and give it to those who don't have as much. Spread the wealth around ya know.
I responded that as a parent that would be fine with me. My kids don't need gobs of candy to be satisfied. An amazing thing happened that night. My son decided, on his own, to share his candy. We had run out of candy and the door was closed - he was outside. He came into the house and said "Mom, I am sharing my candy with kids that don't have very much." He melted my heart (and the hearts of those in the room). He did this all on his own, unprompted. I know he has a big heart - this proved it. Yes, he earned that candy. Yes, he could have kept it all for himself. I understand that to "make" him give it out could have easily created the opposite effect. Foot stomping, tears, yelling, "i hate yous". If I had forced the sharing, it still is the right thing to do. It's just some people who don't share naturally have temper tantrums when they are asked to share.
I know a few very wealthy people that don't want to "spread the wealth". These same people don't like to pay full price for anything, they enjoy handouts from friends and family without reciprocating, & they look for deals everywhere. They have the means to pay full price and yet they avoid it at all costs. I call them "cheap" or "moochers". They want handouts and yet they don't want to give handouts to others. I just can't fathom being that selfish. I know the main difference between us - I want the best for humanity, not just for myself. In my experience, giving is better and more fulfilling than receiving.
My feelings and opinions on this topic have more to do with humanity than with Republican vs. Democrat. I have never been a political-minded person. I have always been a human-minded person. The negative spinning on Obama's "spreading the wealth" has riled me up a bit, though. I realized, on Halloween, that it comes down to whether or not sharing is natural for you. And if not, can you grow to see why it's essential to a peaceful experience of life?
I just read this in Marianne Williamson's book The Healing Of America:
Within the next ten years, America will have a renaissance or a catastrophe. Something is going to happen to take us back to who we are. If America were an individual seeking counseling, a good therapist might say: "Number one, you're not really sober. Number two, you're obsessed with material things and your spiritual life is begging for attention. Number three, you rarely take responsibility for your own problems and project a lot of blame onto other people. Number four, you've neglected your kids. Number five, the size of the elaborate security system around your house shows paranoid tendencies. Number six, you have a lot of amends to make. Number seven, your attraction to generals is neurotic."
Whether the patient takes the cue or not remains to be seen. But for a person or for a nation, everything will erupt in time if we do not attend to the inner life.
This book was written in 1997.
11 comments:
I am not a selfish person. I give freely of my time and my money, when I can.
However, sharing those things does not mean that I agree with Obama's Redistribution of Wealth. In fact, I am diametrically opposed to it.
Should we not be entitled to the money that we rightfully earn? Should Bill Gates not be rightfully compensated for his brilliance and his operating systems? (lets not forget that Bill and Melinda Gates give tens of MILLIONS away, SHARING THEIR WEALTH every year).
I have no problem with sharing. I think that Americans are inherently good people that share. But I am not willing to allow the government to decide who to share my hard-earned money with.
Be realistic: there are people in this country that 'work the system'. They pop out kids to collect a larger welfare check, and no I'm not exaggerating. They choose to sit in their government subsidized housing in front of their flat-screen plasma televisions, instead of going out and trying to find a job like they should be doing. They work the system... and the government gives them our money.
Now, knowing those people are out there, do you want your husbands hard-earned money going to those people, or would you rather be able to choose yourselves what to do with your money, whether or not to give it away to charitable causes or grow your own bank accounts?
Being 'sharing people', like you expressed in your post, I'm sure you would do great things with your extra money. We all would, and do... Obama's Redistribution of Wealth is a socialist idea.
Socialism does not work. Socialism does not produce extraordinary anything, not extraordinary inventors, artists, BIG THINKERS... The only extraordinary things that Socialism has ever produced are extraordinarily WEALTHY GOVERNMENTS with extraordinarily poor societies of BOTTOM FEEDERS who aspire to do nothing greater because they know they can never achieve anything greater than the umbrella that their governments put above them.
This is what we're facing. I believe so strongly in this because I lived in Venezuela while Hugo Chavez campaigned to be elected for his first term in office as president of Venezuela. Those people were hungry for change, desperate for improvement. Boy, they got change. Hugo Chavez's campaign platform sounds like the script from which Obama now talks. And that is a scary thing... Venezuela, now 9 years later continues to be a country where 9 out of every 10 people is poverty-stricken, while their Constitution has been re-written and their basic Freedoms taken away... their network television? Nationalized. Can't say anything on tv against Chavez or the government. Their banks? Nationalized. Can't have too much money in the bank because the government will seize it. The billions of dollars in oil that Venezuela takes in EACH DAY should make that one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet where is the money?
Not in the hands of the people, though he told them he would 'give them all piece of the pie' to win their vote... but in his own pockets.
The solution is not to spread the money around and take it from one to give to another, the solution is to create more jobs to help people to build their own future, and allow us the freedoms to choose what we do with our money.
I love Marianne Williamson. That's an awesome quote.
It's funny because we teach our kids to share. We feel bad when other kids don't have what ours have. But then we ourselves don't want to share? I guess it's because we look at kids as innocent and adults as choosing their situations.
Casey, Chavez is NOT Obama. Obama is not suggesting the same thing. He's simply suggesting something more comparable to what we have in Canada and in Norway and in Denmark and Finland and Sweden (all cold, countries, interestingly). And it is working far better than what you have down there. It does need to be improved upon, YES. People receiving handouts should be required to do significant community service. Everything I've heard Obama say suggests he agrees with this kind of accountability. He has worked very hard in his life and he doesn't like that people don't do the same. He wants people to get involved with their families and their communities. He sounds far more Christlike than McCain and so I trust his vision. And where someone doesn't trust it, they should simply get more involved trying to improve the system, not buck it altogether.
I am talking about a specific few people I know - regarding selfishness. Secondly, Entitlement is the issue. Should you be entitled to the money you earn? Well, no. This government has never allowed anyone to keep all of the money they earn - we were founded on the principle of paying taxes.
I think Bill Gates has been compensated for his brilliance - and yes they share their wealth.
The thing that people seem to be most upset about is paying any taxes to those that work the system. I am not saying the system is set up perfectly. Let's go back to Halloween.
In our neighborhood we get a lot of kids who come in and trick-or-treat from other places. They don't live in our neighborhood. Sometimes they don't wear costumes. Sometimes they are my age and in costume (or not). Many of the kids are from our neighborhood. Some have the most expensive costumes, some have homemade costumes, some have hand-me-downs. We actually go to a friends house since our move...we contributed candy and I brought a gift & some wine (after I begged to contribute food and was told no). So my friend spends lots of money on candy and is met with kids and adults that have also spent lots of money on costumes and candy. But also kids and adults that left their neighborhood to "take" candy from ours and sometimes didn't even bother to wear a costume. So, what do you do? Do you say "no candy" unless you are in costume? Do you share despite knowing that some are "working the system"? Do you say "sorry you aren't from this neighborhood - no candy"?
My issue has more to do with the people that have the means to contribute and don't. The reason government is involved, and always has been, is that someone has to regulate the rules on who and how they get the candy. We obviously won't all agree.
If you can't afford a halloween costume or candy to distribute should your kids not be welcome to participate?
And the "work the system" crap happens at every class level. That is the point of my "selfishness" topic. It's a persons ethics and morals that lead them to work the system - it's not a class issue alone.
We are already to a point in this country where our media is nationalized (we never hear what is REALLY going on in other countries), I don't support the bank bail-outs - so I agree that bank nationalization is a problem - but it was one that had bi-partisan support.
It's not an issue that we will agree on. But my point was that there is goodness in spreading the wealth, too. You say that we would do it naturally (like my son did) and I say I wish that you were right. There are a lot of people that wouldn't. Which takes me back to taxes. Isn't that why we have them in the first place?
I really like Marianne Williamson. She comes to my church once a year and it's always such a treat.
Oh, and I think you just described me when the kids are in school, Casey.
I sit in my government funded home (FHA,anyone?) in front of my flat-screened LCD TV instead of going to find work that wouldn't be able to pay me enough to afford child care. It's not as easy as you make it sound.
I wonder if there are benefits that cattle ranchers receive from the government? What if I was a vegetarian and I don't want my money going to cattle farmers?
It's easy to point fingers. It's not as easy to look closely at your own participation in the world and how it benefits or detracts from a positive and healthy life.
Yowza, no I wasn't referring to you while your kids are at school! If I remember right, you were out on interviews and actively looking for a job! You're not having kids every 17 months on purpose to collect the money that you know will come your way with the new child when you collect your welfare check.
I'm not talking about ambitious people that are trying to live their life the best they can. I am talking about people who think its okay to take from everybody and not give back.
That is not you.
And you talk about the toxic environment!! You sound pretty toxic yourself, Katie.
If my 'participation in the world is detracting from [your] positive or healthy life', by all means, I won't comment again on your blog. You certainly know that I wasn't speaking of you in my comment on your blog, you chose to assume that role... one that you don't even fit into because I know you aren't a deadbeat 'taker', but a loving and giving person...
I'm not 'pointing fingers' at anyone like you mention, I am just a conservative Republican and don't agree with Obama's politics. I have my reasons, you have yours in favor of him.
I thought you liked sharing of opinions on your blog and you certainly asked for it with this blog post. We have different views on lots of things but I have never, nor would I ever personally attack you like you did me with you statements directed at me the cattle rancher and say that my participation in life is a detraction from being positive and healthy.
Thanks a lot.
Casey,
I am sorry that I have led you to believe I was talking about you. I used the cattle thing as an example that might (not even sure if it does) relate to you. Nothing else in my comments is about you.
I totally respect your opinion as yours. I was saying the pointing fingers statement to everyone, even me.
I am sorry you feel that my blog is a toxic environment. I think we are all at an emotional high point - but I still very much value your opinions - that was never a thought in my head today.
K
Just want to say to all of my readers: Yesterday was an intense day for me. I was writing my post with a specific twist to the "spread the wealth" issue. My issue has to do with a few select people I know (and others that I am aware of) that would rather take and keep for themselves - which leads them to not pay their fair share ever. I wasn't even speaking of taxes - but tipping waitresses and paying contractors, etc.
Casey is not and never was one of those that I was mentioning. I know that she supports McCain. This post wasn't about Republicans and Democrats - this was about a person's ethics. I never even thought for a moment that Casey was unethical. When she brought up certain points, I heatedly made a counterpoint. She took this personally - something for which I am very sorry. I think here we have the common phenomena of written opinions losing the emotions behind them and therefore being misunderstood. Emotion doesn't always transition well to paper or internet. This is not an excuse, because I am very aware of where I was emotionally yesterday.
I have had a few experiences in the last few days that have left me frustrated and sad. I then read my friend Natasha's blog. I decided to express my frustration on my blog. My blog generally is positive, I think. This was an attempt to put a positive spin on spreading the wealth - with my frustration fueling the writing. It was not meant to change anyone's mind or tell them who to vote for. It wasn't about politics as much as it was about sharing and ethics.
I have apologized to Casey and am now apologizing to anyone else that I may have offended.
I have always said, and still believe that we are all better people for having a wide range of friends. Casey has been a sweetheart to me and I have nothing but respect and admiration for all that she does and all that she is.
We are more than our labels. We are more than our opinions. We are more than our disagreements. But I understand that sometimes those things matter, too. And sometimes it is healthier for a person to make a choice to not be exposed to a person that makes them feel wrong.
I respect that.
Kate, you are my new blog crush. Both you and Casey are class acts and I look forward to reading both of your blogs and experiencing both of your views.
I actually came here from Casey's blog (that I just found). I was going to write pretty much what Casey said (only she is so much better with words, and why repeat what she so beautifully said).
I have actually been dwelling a lot on the widow who gave her last mites. How Jesus was touched by her sacrificial giving. This is something that is really speaking to me, and I am trying to be an encouragement to others in the this area.
But this is my choice. I am CHOOSING to give. The bible says that we are to give with a joyful heart. How many people who are forced to give away yet even more $$$ (via taxes) are going to do so with a joyful heart?
That's where I think our country needs to make some changes. That's where Christians need to make some changes. We should be an example of JOYFUL SACRIFICIAL giving, for the rest of the world to see.
Katie...just a note to say I agree with you on every level...you make me proud. I just said to someone the day of the election that I will never understand all the hysteria surrounding the "share the wealth" comment. I feel relatively financially comfortable right now and I love to share what I have. I only wish we had more money so I could share MORE. I don't know where all those old stereotypes come from about people popping out babies and taking our money, but that is what they are: OLD!! My husband began his career in a non-profit program which raised self esteem in minority children...38 yrs ago. We learned first-hand how many perfect storms had to occur to make these children's lives low income and stressful beyond belief...and rarely was it the flippant above comment about using the system. I am very sad that 38 yrs later, that mis-informed opinion is still out there.
I am very relieved that so many people crossed so many linds to support Obama with the same up-lifting message of hope and of fulfilling everyone's potential that I believe in...because our country, and yes, our poor populations, need it more than ever. I, for one, will happily share my wealth.
I LOVE your blog...I usually enjoy your blog without getting in the fray...but just could not help myself today...Elaine
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