Quote:
Originally Posted by Fern
The fact is, nowhere in the world is there a greater disparity in wealth as in the US. Wealth is not all due to how hard you work. If, for example, you're lucky enough to be a VP at a financial services firm, you know, like the ones who got all that taxpayer bailout money, you're still enjoying s-figure year-end bonuses. Do you really think that VP worked that much harder than a cop or firefighter who risks his life every day? Is their job less important? I don't think so.
Thanks to favorable tax policies under presidencies like that of Bush, wealthy people in the US may in some cases pay less in taxes than someone making $40,000.
Is that fair? This argument has not so much to do with individuals' desire to work hard as it does with government policies that favor the rich.
|
Individual examples do not prove a rule.
I would argue that the reason that America has such a wealth disparity is not because the poor aren't getting a fair shake, but for two other reasons:
1) Cultural trends that cause the "poor" to spend themselves into true poverty buying things they don't need
2) Our advanced economy, the largest in the world, provides more opportunities for meritocratic advance into the category of ultrarich.