What To Do, What To Do?

What To Do, What To Do?

In anticipation of Forbes magazine’s updated list of the 400 Richest Americans, I have taken it upon myself to resolve a question that has become a nagging national issue.

What to do with the 1-percenters?

For those of us who follow economic trends, these past three years have yielded annual U.S. budget deficits in the range of about $1.3 trillion. Coincidentally, this number also approximates Forbe’s estimate of the net-worth of our richest patriots. As such, with recent manufacturing and employment data now suggesting that an economic slowdown may be at hand, politicians of all persuasions are left to wring their hands…

What to do, what to do?

Given this dreadful economic dribble and sour feelings that we Americans have toward another, it is time to stop talking and act. Yes, it appears that the time has come to strip the wealthiest Americans of all that they have and apply those riches to the annual budget deficit. By doing so, we will have continued our reliance upon short-term solutions by balancing the annual budget for one year. Secondly, we will have given the “rich” their just reward. For after having publicly tarnished them, they can now take their rightful place in the unemployment line.

In the end, based on the testimonies of five wealthy Americans, it appears that our actions won’t matter anyhow:

  • “I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness.” –John D. Rockefeller
  • “The care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it.” –W.H. Vanderbilt
  • “I am the most miserable man on earth.”–John Jacob Astor
  • “I was happier when doing a mechanic’s work.”–Henry Ford
  • “Millionaires seldom smile.”–Andrew Carnegie

To quote our capitalistic-minded friends at Nike, “Just do it.” But once we do, a question we might consider is who will be left to fill the next budget hole?

According to Heritage Foundation researchers Bill Beach and Patrick Tyrrell, “the percentage of people who do not pay federal income taxes, and who are not claimed as dependents by someone who does pay them, jumped from 14.8 percent in 1984 to 49.5 percent in 2009.”

And now, with 148,000,000 Americans receiving some sort of federal assistance, the U.S. Treasury appears to have exhausted it’s ability to provide “treasure.” But despite this reality, some pundits proudly proclaim that our economic path should include more of the same. After all, “calamity will surely not settle here.”

Nevertheless, in the distance, the Proverbs of Solomon may be heard…

“Does not wisdom call, does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, in the paths she takes her stand: beside the gates in front of the town.” (Prov 8:1-3)

What to do?

Written by
Deacon Kurt Godfryd

Menu