Hello Everyone,
I was surfing the Internet tonight when I came across this article from World Net Daily by Mr. Neal Boortz. It is called “Why Socialists Hate Rich People.” Here is a link to the article so you can read it for yourself:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=16272
In the article Mr. Boortz gives his opinion as to why socialists or “leftists” in this country (the United States of America) are envious of those who are wealthy. His conclusion is that these “poor” leftists can be rich themselves if they only work hard enough. However, they remain poor, because they are too lazy to go the extra mile.
Granted, this article was posted back in 2002, before the economic crisis we face today. However, this way of thinking still permeates through the political air of our society. Now, I am NOT a liberal or a republican, but Mr. Boortz’s article is partially right and partially wrong.
It is partially right in the sense that there are those in lower classes who are envious of the rich, but are too lazy to do anything about their situation. However, it is partially wrong, because there are those in the lower classes who work very hard and receive little in return. There are a variety of reasons for this. Here is a list of a possible few:
1. Institutionalized Prejudice. I know. The word “racism” gets tossed around a lot these days and for many unnecessary reasons. However, I believe that there are situations where a person’s race affects their ability to get a certain job and how they are perceived in society. The reason I use the word prejudice instead of racism is very simple. In some cases, it is not the hatred of one’s skin color (racism), but the irrational fear of others based on stereotypes (prejudice) that drive some businesses and institutions to discriminate. However, this problem can not be solved through government intervention and should be dealt with at the local level of society.
2. The world financial system is designed as one big pyramid scheme. The few at the top keep getting wealthier from the work of the people on the bottom, who do not see most of the money they actually earned. In a society like this, there are few winners and many losers. Again, government cannot solve this problem, because government (especially our own) is run much like a business and those run it are the winners, while those who are under it are the losers.
3. Another reason is that in this society, hard work, knowledge, and experience are rarely honored. These days, it’s about who you know rather than what you know. For example, let’s say an employee at a company applies for a higher position, because he or she has met all the requirements of the job. They have years of experience working for that company, they know much about the job, and have worked hard for this position. Then, there is another candidate who does not match all of the criteria for that position, but knows the boss very well. Who do you think would get it? Logically, it should be the first one, but according to this world, the second person would get it. Then, if this person does not know much about this position, most of the work will fall on the rest of the employees under this person. This in turn would slow business down and the people who get blamed are the workers on the bottom, while the management at the top give themselves bonuses. This causes many businesses to suffer in the long run. Businesses should not be run as country clubs.
4. Finally, some managers are not respectful towards their workers. They do not even commend their employees going the extra mile. There is this white shirt and blue shirt mentality. The blue shirts are supposedly at the bottom, while the white shirts are at the top. The two do not usually mingle and mostly, white shirts will look down on blue shirt workers. Those in management (and I know this is going to sound unrealistic) should compliment workers under them who go the extra mile every once in a while. This would build morale in the workforce.
One of the main reasons some rich people get on the nerves of the lower classes is because they flaunt their riches in everybody’s face to “prove” their supposed superiority, but instead prove their insecurity by doing this. Not all rich people do this. There are those who worked very hard for what they have and are very benevolent people. This arrogant attitude trickles down from the elite class (see the article “Their Time Has Come”) to the lower classes. Spiritually, this arrogance is in the hearts of everyone, because of sin. I can understand Mr. Boortz’s frustration with Socialism, but Socialism acknowledges the State as being God, but we (as followers of Christ) are not supposed to worship the State, but rather the One True God Who sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and rose again to give us forgiveness and a chance to live in His Kingdom when we repent and follow Him.
Also, some rich people adopt an Ayan Rand philosophy and see poor people as parasites. This is a Satanic belief. Jesus Christ commanded us to love God first with all our mind, heart, and spirit (Matthew 22: 37) and then to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22: 39), so we (including myself) should try our best to pray to Him to help us follow the two greatest commandments the Lord gave mankind eternally.
Rise Up 