The Politics of Envy

The further I get in life (all almost 22 years, haha) the less I believe in luck. I don't think successful people are lucky and unsuccessful people are unlucky. I think across the board, across races, across genders, etc. successful people work hard and unsuccessful people are usually unsuccessful for a reason and I'd say about 80% of the time it has at least something to do with themselves. My mother always used to tell me, "successful people work hard" and I bore witness to this in her life as she worked hard she was promoted very quickly year after year. Liberals do not believe in this. They would say my mother was lucky she was white and she'd been promoted even faster had she been a man, both of which could be true to a certain degree, but I cannot ignore the examples of Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Antonio Villariagosa, Chris Gardner, Linda Chavez and yes, President Barack Obama who pressed through obstacles, worked hard, and where able to get ahead in life.

It's unfortunate that President Obama, despite knowing this to be true, continues to promote the politics of envy. Intentionally or not, the president has a tendancy to pit rich against poor, black against white, Democrat against Republican, himself against former President Bush. Despite being hailed by the media as the great uniter, President Obama is promoting policies, from his massive stimulus plan that rewards liberal special interest groups rather offering any real significant stimulus to the economy to his new housing plan that rewards faliure giving breaks to people who could have never afforded the mortgages they took out in the first place, that are dividing more and more Americans. You think we were divided under Bush? While I doubt the mainstream conservative opposition will spew the level of vitriolic venomous hatred the left gave Bush during his tenure, expect the substantive debate to be intense as Obama is showing his belief system is far off the mainstream American belief system.

Obama clearly believes that those who are poor and unforunate are there because they're unlucky: they were born into poverty, they're black, hispanic, or some other victimized minority, they've got the wrong last name. Obama even throws gays and lesbians into this group, despite the fact that gays and lesbians are generally much more successful and better off financially than straight people in their same socioeconomic group. Obama may think one of the presidents duties is to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States" but it's just the side job, the real job of the president in his mind, is to make sure that those who are less fortunate in our society know they have an ally and that they punish those who have kept them there.

Look, no one denies that there is inequality and injustice in our society, I have visited over ten countries all over the world and I can tell you in each one there is inequality and injustice. I also believe that we need to do what we can to give everyone as much equal opportunity as possible. But equality of outcome is where I get nervous. If an African American man is working his ass off night and day to provide for his family do you think he should be paid the same amount as the lazy ass white guy who shows up punches his card, converts oxygen to CO2, punches his card out and then leaves? Of course not! The black guy should be paid WAY more, he's working alot harder! Should that white guy complain that he isn't being treated fairly cause he's not getting what the black guy's getting? It would be ridiculous for him to do so. If the white guy wants more income, he should work harder. Now I know more often than we'd think, that white guy would be getting the same pay and sometimes even more, but most of the time, 70% of the time in 2009 I would guess, people are judged by their work ethic and their character.

Envy is not something confined to race though, whites are just as suseptable to envy as any other person on the planet. Most poor people I know are white and most poor people I have encounted all have something in common: envy. Envy is listed amongst the Catholic Church's "Seven Deadly Sins" for a reason, it can literally destroy one's life. It can keep one from reaching their full potential. Envy keeps people from discovering their ability and talent because envious people are too busy noticing everyone else's talent and ability. It keeps people from appreciating what they have because they're too focused on what other people have. Envy keeps people from dreaming for more for their life because they can't get over the fact that someone else has more than them. Envy is a dangerous flame to fan and President Obama and the Democrats are fanning it faster than anyone I've ever seen fan it.

I am not dismissing the fact that there are other factors that play into poverty and I am not dismissing the fact that it is harder for minorities and women to get ahead in life, but what I am saying is it does not help anyone to live in envy. I can't change the fact that my credit is crap right now, but rather than blaming the guy with good credit for my bad choices, the best thing I can do is make good choices today and try to improve it. It's going to be hard for me to do certain things, it's going to be hard for me to buy a car with a reasonable interest rate, or get services without paying deposits, but I've got to do things to help myself, otherwise I'm screwed.