Life on Earth is an interesting balancing act.
I'm still trying to get used to the fact that most living things on this planet have to eat other living things on this planet to survive. The strong hunt and dominate. The weak are destroyed.
We are animals. It's the nature of things. Every human being needs protein to be healthy and strong.
I was disgusted this week to see the top-five money making hedge fund managers testifying before Congress this past week. I can't get it out of my mind.
The lowest paid manager made $1.7 billion last year. The highest paid manager made $3.3 billion last year. That's billion with a "B."
I know we like to think of ourselves as a civilized society. And compared to the current world at large, we are.
But, man do we have a way to go. At least I think so.
Shall we go with the nature of the planet and let the strong eat the weak for our own species? Or should we try to reach a consciousness beyond that?
I don't know.
It's tough for me to watch one person make $3.3 billion a year while others starve. But we have innate instincts to protect, dominate, and destroy others for our own well-being.
I mean let's face it, Communism and Socialism are nice ideas. But they have no chance of working because they go against our basic nature. In the Soviet Union there were certainly class structures. It was still survival of the fittest.
It's the very definition of our free enterprise Democracy, no restraints, the strong survive and the weak are left at the side of the road.
I'm a big softie. I want to help everyone. I hunt for my meat in the cold section of the grocery store.
There is a part of me that wants to take a lot of money from the overpaid hedge fund managers and spread the wealth around.
But then there's a part of me that doesn't want to be foolish enough to try to stop the wheels that make the Earth run.
What do you think?
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2 comments:
Your theories are all good ones. However, in a democracy everybody has the chance to make those billions with a "B" with work, education, foresight and astute management of money, time and education. Not all, but some who have made billions with a "B" really deserved making that kind of money because of their hard work. Now we are dealing with the spoiled brats of our society like the Paris Hilton's who have made a mockery of what their families have done in the past and they don't have to lift a finger -- it just keeps coming to them gratus. I don't know the answer to how we should deal with that kind of society. I only know that communism and socialism is not the way to go. "Spreading the wealth" as we are calling it will still only produce the classes that are either rich or poor and the poor will have no chance of pulling themselves up by the bootstraps.
Without those people who have billions with a "B", our present charities that extend all around the world would cease and desist not to exist. Welfare is the worst menace in any society. We need more of teaching people how to grow the seeds instead of giving them a free lunch. The Bible also tells us that the poor will always be among us no matter what we do. Do I resent the fund managers for making billions with a "B" -- you bet I do because in the society that we have created over the last 50 years, we don't find the hard workers -- only those who cheat and steal and lie their way to these billions with a "B". Until we re-establish our moral fiber and ethics in this country, nothing will get any better even by "spreading the wealth". It just cannot be done. We need to learn to live not just for the moment but for long term survival. Certainly I enjoy the "welfare" programs set up supposedly to make my "old age" a lot better but we sometimes forget the purpose of the original programs -- every administration comes along and tweeks these programs to their own liking. Maybe they honestly believe they are making things better but are they really? I would prefer to be able to work and since I am able bodied I should be working. Now, many people will suffer because they are unable to live on the support these systems offer because they used the system when it was fat and didn't prepare for life when the system went belly up. I am just as guilty as the next guy. I am not against any of our support systems but they should be maintained by everybody not just the folks with billions with a "B". We all must do our part and should have been doing that over the last 50 years. Instead, we demanded bigger salaries with extreme perks and now we see our industrial base has gone elsewhere because they could get the same job done cheaper -- the steel industry, the clothing industry, the shoe industry, the auto industry. I am saddened by GM'S losses and probable demise. We have created our own problems at all levels of our society not just those who earned the billions with a "B". We went through a long time of "keeping up with the Jones's" and now the piper must be paid. We can emerge a much stronger nation but it won't happen by spreading the wealth -- we all have to contribute from the highest to the lowest. We need to relearn about honesty, trust and hard work again. It does not have to be survival of the fittest but rather survival by everybody no matter what. Love MOM
I think that's a vote for survival of the fittest.
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