I don't get how makers of inanimate objects like guns and sneakers get the blame for dumb decisions by actual human beings. There are a lot of people in the country that can afford $350 sneakers, although many got that money by being frugal enough to never buy $350 sneakers.
Be that as it may, when will this blame game stop? When will people be held to account?
I can hardly stand another four years of victimization. The ultimate goal is to punish success and excuse laziness all in the name of social justice. It will destroy the country. If someone wants what I have, they better be ready to give up things like vacation and lunch breaks. If you want my money, you better be ready to read and learn every single day.
Taking from people that earned to give to others that didn't is the same line of logic as guys sitting in the joint for hitting an old lady over the head with a brick at an ATM. If some mother buys her kid the new Nike sneakers, and they can't pay the rent, she's the bad person. On the flip side, the same people that hate Nike also hate Wal-Mart (WMT: 72.11, +0.55, +0.77%), where sneakers could be bought with enough money to pay the rent and grab a couple bags of groceries.
But, this line of thinking is spreading and is becoming more dangerous.
Pew...Something Stinks
I happen to be a big fan of the work from Pew Research Center so was kind of disheartened when they took the Occupy/White House view of a recent survey on the so-called middle class.
In a report titled "Fewer, Poorer, Gloomier...The Lost Decade of the Middle Class", Pew points out the awful job of turning this economy around, but missed a few silver linings.
Middle Class
Percent of current population
Percent of total income
2011
51%
45%
1971
61%
62%
Upper Class
Percent of current population
Percent of total income
2011
20%
46%
1971
14%
29%
Lower Class
Percent of current population
Percent of total income
2011
29%
9%
1971
25%
10%
The Pew report is valuable for its insights, but for me the biggest is the one that speaks in direct opposition to the cover title. It should have been titled "Upward Mobility Alters Middle Class- But More Work Has to be Done."
Make no mistake; the notion that the same people stay rich and the same stay poor is a terrible and deliberate misconception. Amazingly, 67% of the middle class in the survey agreed that "most people who want to get ahead can make it if they are willing to work hard" versus 29% who think "hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people."
There is one guarantee, however, and it’s if you don't make your own destiny it will not be the best it could be and most of the blame will have to go to the person in the mirror.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/investing/2012/08/24/richest-bracket-gets-richer-that-just-one-great-things-about-america/#ixzz24hO0cXwO
