This is priceless.
First of all, Medicboy, I've got to say, god bless your supervisor. God bless her opinions and her emotional resolve to state said opinions. God bless the country that has produced the sort of people that can think in this manner. God bless the nation that has done so well for itself in the course of its short life, that it can boast citizens that are have been so heavily cushioned in their lives that they can actually maintain such convictions into their middle-age years. God bless the nation where somebody can actually exhibit an elevated pulse at the mere mention of living for oneself, rather than for the greater good. We are certainly living in a rich, fertile land when there people among us who are so ready to give up their own liberties and luxuries for the sake of the indigent.
But more than anything, god bless those who still live in reality.
First of all, $200k a year is great, but it's not filthy rich. It's making ends meet, and then some, but it's generally the result of innovation and hard work. Those who have the brains and dedication to earn it deserve to keep as much as possible, and if whatever they're forced to give up should go to causes greater in value than the sustainance of people who've voluntarily chosen to waste themselves away. This has nothing to do with creating and maintaining a better society--correction, perhaps it may, because it is not the responsibility of the ambitious and hardworking to maintain a population of conscientious incompetants. A better society is one where everyone does as much as they can, where laziness or substance abuse is not rewarded, and where merit decides who leads and who prospers. Taking care of the unfortunate, given that they were placed in such a situation by forces outside of their control, is definitely a cause we should all strive to achieve. Everyone else, for the betterment of society, should be left to their own devices to either die or survive.
yes, gentlemen, you heard it clearly. You either do as much as you can, given your abilities, or you suffer the consequences. Doesn't sound quite so draconian in those terms, now does it?
And for those who are filthy rich, for those making $20m a year or more--kudos. You are the people that bring about change. Some of you are crooks, without a doubt, but a tiny minority for which the overwhelming majority should not need to pay. You are the inventors, the geniuses, the indispensible men and women who forward our society with your work, with your visions. The compensation you receive for your achievements is well deserved, and will find no better place than in your hands, even if it is for the seemingly inane cause of building a 3rd beachhouse, or buying a 5th Ferrari.
Those of you who retain a bleeding heart, please, be my guest, give up your wealth for the sake of... whoever. Take Bill Gates or Andrew Carnegie as examples. The men contributed vast fortunes to charity. Just make sure of one thing, that the money you earmark for the 'greater good' is your own. Earn it, amass it and give it away until you're blue in the face, but don't you ever think that you're entitled to tell me what I do with the fruits of my hard work. I owe monetary support to the needs of my family and myself, to the desires of my family and myself, and then and only then to the greater good, in that order--which does not include the healthy 20-something male I saw lounging on the streetcorner on my way to work last week. That's right. My beachhouse, my sportscar, my swimming pool and my round the world cruise(all ofwhich I have yet to experience) are infinitely more important than another handout to an able-bodied guy who depends on that handout to lay around and drink all day.
If we lived by the rules of Medicboy's supervisor, we'd all be enjoying a mortal paradise in the blissfull land of no work, abundant indulgence and endless sustainance at the cost of some higher power. A great fairytale.
But that's just my opinion.
