“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”
That quote reminds me of a guy I knew when I first got out of the Army. We both worked at a lumberyard: I worked the lumber counter, he worked in kitchens. He always talked about how he was going to be a millionaire before he was 30 (we were both 22 at the time). At 23 he quit the lumberyard and went to work at a factory. He was still sure he would be a millionaire by 30. We lost touch over the years, and last I heard he was still working at that factory. I bet he still thinks he is going to be a millionaire, just a little later than he planned.
Instant wealth is all around us. State sponsored lotteries, casinos that are no longer restricted to just Las Vegas and Atlantic City, reality TV shows like American Idol promise instant fame and fortune. People will stand in line for days just for a chance to audition for American Idol—but the odds are stacked against them before they even sing a note—only 100 out of 10,000 auditions even get past the first round, and there are three rounds. But there they are, trying out for that one in a million chance at fame and fortune.
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As a people we chase wealth, often to our detriment. A large portion of our society lives to complain about high taxes, even though when we look at taxes as a share of GDP, ours are some of the lowest in the Western world. Instead of paying one more penny in taxes to provide healthcare for all, we would rather go with a system that leaves people out and is more expensive than it needs to be.
The U.S. spent $8,233 on health per person in 2010. The average spending on health care among the other 33 developed OECD countries was $3,268 per person.
The media plays a large part in this. This past week as I was perusing the web I came across a story on Forbes titled The world's highest paid celebrities 2015. The last person on the list, Kevin Hart, makes $28.5 million a year. Per the Social Security Administration the median wage in the United States for 2013 (most recent year available) is $28,031.02 a year. It would take someone earning the median wage over 1016 years to earn $28.5 million. Over a millennium to earn what the lowest paid celebrity on the top 100 list for 2015. I like Kevin Hart, I enjoy his comedy, but I certainly do not believe what he does is is worth $28.5 million a year.
Our culture is obsessed over wealth, we practically worship it. In any given year we are bombarded with messages about who is the wealthiest and what kind of houses they buy with their money, while most of us are lucky to even have enough money to put a roof over our heads. Our productivity has gone up, our wages have gone down. Even if we did everything right we still struggle. Banks can lose billions of dollars and get a government bailout—yet if you or I default on our student loans, we will have our wages garnished and our credit ruined. We do not get a bailout, even though we are the ones that build have built this country, and continue to build it.
Wealth inequality is at its widest point since the Great Depression. I grew up with parents who were children of the Depression. Growing up we never had a lot of money, but we never went without. Today, I have to watch every dollar I spend, and like millions of other Americans have difficulty saving. It is not because we live extravagant lives—we work hard and don't earn enough for our labor. At every turn our earning power is attacked with right to work laws, and union busting politicians like Scott Walker. Gov. Walker will likely get a sweet gig on Fox News after he falls out of the race for the Republican nomination, while the people whose livelihoods he destroyed will struggle to put food on the table.
Joe the Plumber recently took a union job in a Chrysler factory.
He never had a chance of making the big time, he was just a disposable prop in the failed campaign of John McCain.
As a nation we need to stop worshiping wealth. We need to realize that we are not temporarily embarrassed millionaires, and start working for the betterment of our society.
