Irish Examiner USA: What Is So Wrong About Being Rich?

What Is So Wrong About Being Rich?
By Alicia Colon

By all rights I should be a liberal Democrat who agrees with the mantra-"Tax the Rich." After all I grew up dirt poor in the barrio, in a tenement infested with vermin-animal and human. A few years ago I was at a Christmas party for journalists given by a conservative organization. I met a man from the Associated Press who wondered how I could survive my background and not be a liberal. It should have been easy for politicians to incite envy into my soul by demonizing the "filthy rich" of this city that enjoyed a lifestyle I could only dream about. But America used to be the place where one could make their dreams come true if one were willing to work for them. What I witnessed in my neighborhood, however, was a concerted effort by politicians to sap ambition and create a subculture dependent on government subsidies.

I told the AP writer that it was observing how liberal programs destroyed families that made me a staunch conservative. I was a witness to the decline of a community that may have been initiated by misguided idealists with the very best of intentions. That decline has, however, to this day been perpetuated by power hungry politicians with a malicious disregard for what is in our best interests.

I grew up in a time when welfare was known as home relief. It was established to help families in emergency situations and was only supposed to be temporary. Eventually politicians expanded this program to the behemoth it is today and this meant that certain eligibility restrictions were put in place which removed the fathers from the family.

I consider myself blessed to have escaped the confining safety nets that have trapped and enslaved our community with dependence and the destruction of all ambition. President Reagan said it best: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

What I appreciated growing up in this great city were the cultural venues available to me for little or no money. The great museums were free then and offered events that were open to the general public thanks to endowments from wealthy patrons like Brooke Astor. In the late sixties and early seventies, we also enjoyed fantastic musical entertainment in Central Park thanks to the Schaeffer Music Festival and Mayor John Lindsay who opened up the city for multiple exhibitions. Every Sunday was a happening and you could enjoy it all for free.

I'm not exactly sure when being rich became a dirty word but I'm glad I was able to benefit from their generosity before the liberals began their attacks on the wealthy. This tactic made no sense and if the general public hadn't been so vulnerable to greed and self-interest and more discerning they would have recognized the danger that this policy presented to a thriving economy. It is the wealthy who provide the jobs and rev up the economy with their spending.

Once upon a time, immigrants came to this country in large part to enjoy job opportunities which would provide for their family's wealth and prosperity. Corrupt politicians have instead used the carrot of government programs to bring in potential voters - albeit illegal - to keep them in power. Nobody's checking to see if they're eligible to vote and until voting fraud laws are enacted these legislators will remain in office. Sadly these same politicians have continued to entrap American blacks into Uncle Sam's plantation by insisting that entitlements will be reparation for our demoralizing history of slavery.

Star Parker wrote her excellent memoir (Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It) detailing her escape from this system. Herman Cain who is currently considering running for president wrote: "They Think You're Stupid: Why Democrats Lost Your Vote and What Republicans Must Do To Keep It."

My best buddy Jerry, a former Marine, who grew up in the segregated South surprised me with his description of our parallel childhoods. We had this ongoing game challenging each other with sob stories of our prior destitution. Turned out he was even poorer than I was. He once told me: "Sure we were poor and our family life was a total dysfunctional disaster but no matter how bad and dangerous it got in the projects, we knew that we had one advantage - we were white. There was nothing stopping us from getting out. Blacks had it much harder and the civil rights movement was supposed to change that. It was supposed to open the doors and even out the playing field but they f***ed up."

The civil rights movement was co-opted by liberal Marxists and the ensuing sub culture of government dependency is the result. The ongoing attack on those who work hard and succeed is designed to foment discord in a polarized society. The recent debate in Congress is testament to the unscrupulousness of the left wing of the Democrat Party which tried to rouse the masses to reject the proposed GOP spending cuts by fraudulent claims of dire consequences.

Majority Leader Harry Reid insisted that women will die if we cut off funds to Planned Parenthood. The truth is that Planned Parenthood spent one million dollars last year electing Democrats to office. Planned Parenthood's main focus is on abortion not the health of women. It does not provide mammograms. It only refers clients to other facilities. It has also been caught in nefarious racist activities that should have removed it from the public trough years ago. In addition, PP charges between $350-900 for first trimester abortions so they're not even providing abortions for free. If the women organizations and Hollywood celebrities are so concerned about abortion rights then they should reach in their own pockets to fund them Taxpayers who abhor the killing of the unborn should not have to bear this burden.

America is unique among nations in that anyone with the drive and energy and willingness to work hard can rise to whichever peak they aspire. There is no caste or class system here to limit or prevent one's achievements. The sky's the limit and we should be celebrating that distinction instead of tearing down the ambition to succeed.

Too bad the liberals in Congress haven't learned to appreciate the private sector achievers of society. If they ever unleashed the bonds of government interference the economy would soar.

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com