It's Never Enough

It does not matter how much wealth a person accumulates, it is never enough. It does not matter how much wealth a company, the government, or organizations collect, it is never enough. For this reason, the new taxes on the wealthy and those implemented to raise money for ObamaCare (Medical Devices, Health Savings Accounts, Investment Income, Medical Expense Deductions, and Medicare Payroll Increase) will never be enough. The federal debt stands at 16 trillion dollars and the true national debt when accounted for liabilities such as federal pensions and post retiree benefits (social security and Medicare) is 87 trillion dollars. This equates to a debt of around $275,000 for each person in the country. It does not matter if we tax the wealthy at a 100% rate, it will not make a dent in this debt. Yet, cutting government spending is a hard habit to break, because what people receive in entitlement benefits is never enough. The state and federal government actually collect enough revenue (nearly 1 trillion dollars) to pull all 50 million Americans living in poverty into the upper middle class. However, since less than 30 cents on the dollar makes an impact on poverty (government waste), the amount of money collected for anti-poverty programs is never enough.

If all of this is not bad enough, gender and ethnicity play its part in this greed. Since women are perceived as being discriminated against and treated unjustly, now they want the government to fund their contraception and abortions (Their role model – Sandra Fluke – was nominated at the Time person of the year). Yes, women are paid less than men (nearly 20% less, but this does not include child support and alimony payments for divorced or separated women). Minorities are also paid less. Is this pay discrepancy due to discrimination – Yes, but most agree it is less than 5%. Most discrepancies in pay are due to working few hours and working less skilled and lower paying jobs. Women and minorities take fewer risks than white men and therefore, only account for about 35% of company ownership (this trend is changing). Still, women and minorities fail to realize that the United States is the best place to live in the world and they take many of their freedoms for granted. Women and minorities receive more in entitlement and charitable contributions than white males and women live considerably longer than men. Take for instance the investment in breast cancer. Breast cancer (less than 1% of all cases effect men) is the third most common form of cancer, yet it receives more than twice the amount of funding than any other form of cancer. Prostate cancer is the second most prevalent form of cancer and it is nearly as deadly as breast cancer, but receives less than half the funding that breast cancer receives. Ovarian cancer funding dwarfs testicular cancer funding. Is this fair? Yes, because women made it happen. If I did not think it was fair I could raise money for other male causes – these are the freedoms we have in this country. Is it fair that women in the military do not have to fight on the front lines? I do not have a problem with it. I do not think this is a conspiracy against men, but at the same time I do not expect women should think they are being discriminated against because I think they should be responsible and held accountable for their own choices about promiscuity.

I was a poor white male, but I never felt I was discriminated against because wealthy females and minorities got better opportunities at college. Women and minorities garnered most of the scholarships and the few co-op positions that companies offered. I could not argue since my grades were not as good. However, I knew of no engineers working 20 to 30 hours a week while averaging 21 credit hours per semester as I was doing. I did not receive a single penny of assistance from my parents, but I received a PELL grant one year (after my freshman year my mother never got her taxes done in time for me to qualify for future grants). Was this fair? Yes, unfortunately that was my situation. In fact, I was so grateful I paid back my grant with interest. I would have never done this if I felt everyone else was being treated better than me. After all, I did not understand the individual struggles each woman and minority candidate who competed against me for compensation and jobs had to face. It was best for me to concentrate on my struggles and adversity and do what was necessary to overcome them and succeed. I realize that not everyone has the luxury to pay back grants, but people like Michelle and Barack should pay back any grants they received so another person can benefit. Instead, we all feel we were entitled at the time. Should wealthy people accept social security and Medicare benefits? No, but most do because they never seem to have enough money.

It does not matter whether we are poor, middle class, or wealthy we never seem to have enough money. It does not matter if it is the government, a company, or organization, they never seem to have enough wealth. We all want more, but it is not realistic.