Yeah Capitalism!

I recieved a comment to my last post that I feel the need to respond to (although I do appreciate all comments). I was only trying to make the point that the rich pay the vast majority of the taxes and so we shouldn't get upset when they benefit from tax cuts. Please read the comment before continuing. Ok, let's go. I know many people in the top 10% of income. How many became wealthy by exploiting the poor? 0, zero, nada. In fact most of them became wealthy by providing products or services that people wanted at good prices. These products/services made their lives better. But wait, there's more: because they were successful in providing these products/services they needed employees. These employees got good jobs (at least better than their other options, or why else would they work there?) and improved their quality of life. Who's getting exploited here? As far as the rich getting richer, poor getting poorer argument, it's simply not true. The rich always get richer because they put their money where it will appreciate. Show me a time when they don't get richer and I'll show you a depression. The poor are also getting richer. Read my previous post on the subject for the hard data, but compared with the data from 30 years ago, the poorest fifth of the U.S. are better educated, spend more money, are in better health, and live in bigger homes. I'm not arguing that the tax burden should be spread equally, but stop hating the rich when they are they are paying far more than their fair share. One last thought, just because Adam Smith wrote it, doesn't make it true. I'm a Calvinist, but I don't support burning people at the stake.