This is Really Thursday. Oh, and You're Getting Sleepy, Very Sleepy

Sorry about the absence. I haven't forgotten about you guys, I really haven't.

Bill Gates is nice enough to automatically update my computer every few weeks or so. Most of the time, I don't even notice them, but occasionally, I'll have some sort of trouble following an install. That's what happened this time.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Anywho, here's what I was going to post last Thursday.


When Did Making Money Become Wrong?


I’ve been wondering a few things lately, so today, I’ll be Mister Question Boy. Not to be confused with Dave Barry, who frequently becomes his alter ego, Mr. Answer Man.

The main question on my mind this morning is this: When did making money become wrong?

Granted, there have been some folks whose love for money has caused them to make it any way they could, without regard to how they would feel if they were on the receiving end of their own actions. That’s why we have laws, to *ahem* remind these unscrupulous people that we, as a society, don’t take kindly to their tactics.

No, that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the current social undercurrent being promoted by, well, pretty much the entire political leftosphere. Every time I hear someone like Nancy Pelosi criticize “the rich,” I wonder who she means. After all, isn’t she worth several million dollars herself? What sense does it make for her to rail against rich people, the overwhelming majority of whom worked their tails off to get that way.

A casual observer would think that something was amiss. That’s a pretty big psychological inconsistency. Here’s this rich person constantly saying how bad rich people are for being rich.

If anyone can explain this, I’d be interested to hear it.

I’ll carbon-date myself again and say that I can remember a time when this wasn’t so. Making money the old-fashioned way (earning it) was a point of pride. It used to be that the business of America was business. Every American pretty much wanted to be successful, to have more money and the affluence that came along with it. There was nothing wrong with it as long as you did it legally. It was even better if you did it with good cheer and a recognition that you were helping your neighbor to have a better life.

But somewhere along the way, this notion has been turned around until today, even our own President goes against traditional American social convention to ridicule “corporate jet owners,” “fat-cat bankers,” and a few others that I haven’t heard of.

It’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t take much of this type of official rhetoric before the weak-minded begin to parrot it too. Without realizing it, they have allowed themselves to become psychologically and emotionally manipulated through an authority figure.

But, if you point this out, you’ll likely be told that “society has changed.” Which brings up another question: How and why did it change? OK, that’s really two questions, I know, but you get my drift.

Here’s one more: Has society changed for the better? Are we any better off as a result of this new and decidedly leftist passion to “punish the rich?” I heard Rush ask this question the other day while citing the statistic that American is losing millionaires at a rapid pace. Did anyone magically receive any of the hated rich’s money?

No?

I know I certainly didn’t. I bet you didn’t either.

An hour spent researching some world history will reveal that this idea of class warfare isn’t American. Not by any means. The entire philosophy of Marx, Engels, and many other “revolutionaries” was based on economics. They wanted to upend the free market system and create a workers utopia where everyone was "equal," with them overseeing the great new society they had created.

How did that work out? Did Mother Russia become a superpower as a result? Yes, for a time. Were their people happy? Was there plenty of food on the shelves in their grocery stores? Were their automobiles the worlds’ fastest or best?

Were their people more free or less free to innovate and bring new and exciting products to market to make our lives easier or give us more time to spend with our families?

Did it work?

No?

Hmmm…