Income inequality

     This guy told me about how he hated the rich.  Since we went to the same church, I just nodded and said that my parents always taught me not to worry about what someone else made.  It is counterproductive to your own focus and goals in life.  It is a violation of the last commandment about jealousy and envy.  And the rich often get burdened with their riches and forget God, so envy them?  Moreover, Jesus taught that life is about other things than money.  Money just counts successes in your walk and stewardship God wants you to have. Having money should be a celebration of your own freedom and a stewardship. And we should be eager to personally share our wealth, not take it from the rich.  On the other hand, to serve money and be its slave is spiritual disaster.  So, I don’t hate the rich.  I shrug them off, wish them well and wish them the freedom which benefits us all.  You know, that guy just harrumphed and walked off on me.

    Another guy said that he didn’t know anything about economics but he always did better when the Democrats were in there.  I paused and told him, You know, the last 5 years under Obama have been the best ones financially of my life.  Aha! He countered.  You should tell that to your lousy Republican friends!  Okay then let me tell you how it worked out for me.  Here’s how I find myself with newfound resources for retirement.  In every recession, there is a bubble that bursts and sends us into recession.  In 2007 it was housing.  In 2000 it was dot coms and  phone stocks.  In 1973 it was too much inventory.  But in the aftermath of this recession, Obama decided not to let the bubble just sell itself off.  If that would have happened, housing would been cheap for a year or two and then recovered smartly.  Instead, Obama bailed out the bankers and they didn’t have to come to terms with their mortgages.  Housing went through a dull 5-year depression.  Money wasn’t being lent.  Housing has finally come back this last year.  Those 5 long, ugly years gave me time to buy a bunch of houses at half price or even better.  Now they provide huge income for my retirement.  It’s strange, I told him, why Obama bailed out the bankers and not the homeowners. 

     And then he and the Fed agreed to buy bonds and put money in the hands of Wall Street.  Stocks went up and we have had an enormous ride.  Why they would stimulate Wall Street rather than Main Street, I do not know.  But I was pretty well invested for the simple reason that once something has been down for a while, it usually comes back up.  So now instead of worrying myself to death over my savings, I’m stunned at the nice nest egg. 

    But who can celebrate?  I look around at a lot of people who lost jobs and are struggling.  There are fewer people working full time now than in 2009.  Less freedom for businesses.  More healthcare uncertainties.  Christians being persecuted for their beliefs.  IRS targeting conservatives. Putin taking what he wants. It’s weird to me.  If Obama had an R behind his name and did this same stuff, he’d be much-hated, but with a D he is popular at least among the Dems.  So have you done well, yourself?  I looked around and that guy had left.

     Finally another guy said, The Rich don’t pay their fair share.  I certainly agree, I responded.  The upper 1% pay 40% of all taxes and that’s certainly not a fair share.  You know it is funny when a country has just a few wealthy people like Russia’s oligarchs, and the government gets all their revenue from those people, then the government really depends on those guys.  If the oligarchs do well, so does government.  If not, government starves.  It then becomes  the goal of government to do all they can to support these robber barons.  The rest of the people don’t count, bunch of serfs, just give ‘em food stamps. But big government and the big rich are in cahoots.  So what I’d like to see is we go back to the days of JFK when the richest 1% pay about 15% of all taxes and everyone else pays something, pays more, so that we all have some skin in the game.  And get the poor people back to work rather than on entitlements.  That’s how folks get to be proud of what they do. That was Camelot.    I looked at the guy and he was staring at me as if I was from Mars.  Then he changed the subject.  I just don’t understand why these guys don’t want to talk about the subject of income inequality with me.  Do you understand it?