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  • From: Phillip Rhodes <mindcrime AT cpphacker.co.uk>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] from the desk of Arianna Huffington
  • Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:15:08 -0400

Paul Cory wrote:

Please also note that over the past 24 years, as the Republicans have gained ascendancy, they have greatly weakened government efforts in all the above areas. Predictably, over the same period of time, wealth in this country has become more greatly concentrated.

Is wealth concentration necessarily a bad thing? As I recall, the
fundamental principles this country are based on are "life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness." Note that the word is "pursuit" and
not "guarantee." More specifically, nobody is guaranteed to get rich.

What is guaranteed in this country (supposedly) is a equal opportunity,
and the right pursue your dreams, by working hard pursuing then. Of course, you're not guaranteed to succeed, but that's life.

Interestingly, I grew up pretty close to dirt poor, so one would
probably expect me to be a Democrat, and favor socialistic
principles. But, I choose to see it differently.. I grew up poor,
worked my ass off to go to college (working full-time, 3rd shift,
while going to school all day)... and have worked my way up the
"career ladder" to a point where I'm moderately successful. And I
know I now have the opportunity, should I pursue it, to try and start
my own business, etc. In other words, more of the "pursuit" of happiness / success.

Personally I think all poor people should embrace capitalism and free-trade... it's the one avenue, in my mind, that will allow you
to rise above those "humble beginnings" and achieve dreams. The
thing is, this only makes sense if A. you're not afraid of hard (damn hard) work, and B. you're prepared to accept that failure is an option.
Education is also a big factor, but see below for more on that.

I am not however, opposed to all "socialistic" programs
and policies. I benefited from a federal Pell grant to help
pay my way through school the first time. Seeing as how
I consider education to be the ultimate "equalizier" or
"enabler," I tend to support government programs to subsidize
education and make it available to the less fortunate.

Also, I keep using the term "success" in this message, from
the perspective of "financial success." I'm not really that shallow.
Success can obviously mean many different things to many people...
I'm just using what is a somewhat "standard" metric for the
sake of argument.


TTYL,

Phil
--
Vote Badnarik for President 2004
www.badnarik.org

FREE AMERICA
Vote Libertarian
www.lp.org




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