|
Jewish World Review Sept. 9, 2000/ 8 Elul, 5760
Marianne M. Jennings
bother me none
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
THIS YEAR'S presidential election, in addition to its focus on wet kiss
records, appears to be taking on a class warfare theme. If media folklore is
correct, nasty rich people are getting away with murder under the tax code
and Al Gore will rescue the poor from capital gains oppression once he
unloads his $500,000 of Occidental Petroleum stock. George W. , urban legend
has it, labors mightily to protect the beluga caviar crowd from taxes upon
demise and demise by increased marginal rates.
I have never quite worked up a good passionate disdain for rich folks.
My lack of fervor for bad-mouthing the titans of industry and finance and
fine diners everywhere stems from studies of non-capitalist systems. Check
out Miguel Gonzalez's hovel. Rest areas on our interstates are nicer than the
home of one of Cuba's high earners. The per capita income in China won't buy
you Saturday night at the movies if you spring for popcorn. The Soviets
trained some of the world's finest scientists and raced for space but haven't
brought one scientific invention to world markets. There's not even a
fruit-flavored cereal out of Minsk.
Russians are bright, capable folks with no incentives. Imagine an economy
without stock options. Imagine an economy without white bread. Investment
and its returns lose their charms when the government takes it all anyway.
Small wonder Vodka remains Russia's one great product.
Rich folks are the risk takers who put themselves, their money and their
lives on the line in investments and new businesses. They keep plowing the
system for more. I love rich people for that. I love that they have the
guts to make a payroll. I love that they seize the next great opportunity.
I love that they turn around and give money to charity. Capitalism gives
them the incentive and tax codes motivate to do more, more, more.
That more, more, more tempts and irritates liberal ideologues who want to
tax, tax, tax to remedy economic injustice. The root of all evil is not
money, but envy. Politicians tap into it to whip folks into a class warfare
frenzy. Self-interest is not a sin if you understand Adam Smith outcomes.
Ronald Reagan's supply side economics and unwavering tax cuts produced this
hummer of an economy that has broken down class lines so dramatically that
they are as passé as the mood ring and other bourgeoisie junk.
Economic justice is right before our eyes. There has not been a trickle down
effect; there has been a redistribution of wealth like no socialist nation
has ever seen. The economic quintiles are blending. In 1998, those in the
bottom fifth for absolute income (does not include food stamps, government
subsidies and is before taxes) dropped to 3.6%. Those whose income grew
most: blacks, women and married households. Those in the lowest quintile
now enjoy the highest level of income (adjusted for inflation) since the U.S.
Census Bureau began keeping the data in 1967. Nearly 100% have a color TV
and ¾ own a VCR. Some have nots.
The lines between corporate America, the wealthy and the proletarian masses
have never been so blurred. There is a Millionaire Next Door who got there
riding on the coat tails of Wall Street giants. In 1983, there were 2.4
million households worth $1 million or more. In 1998, there were 4.8 million
such households. Sixty percent of Americans own stock. We have met
corporate America and it is us.
Anecdotally, the blurring looks even better. The Hamptons, sporting New
York's richest and official cash depository for Clinton campaigns, has a
construction boom, driven by the wealthy looking for second homes, with
contractors backed up, prices on homes doubled, and construction workers
earning $15 - $25 per hour. Miguel Velasquez, a Salvadoran immigrant, sums
it all up, "There is just too much work." Mr. Velasquez, who works 12 hours
per day, seven days per week, earns $23 per hour. For those of you keeping
score, Mr. Velasquez's gross income will approach six figures this year and
he continued to turn down work until his sons joined him in business. A
generation of immigrants and their children are thriving among the Hamptons'
rich.
The Democrats' class warfare theme, complete with the Bill Bradley hunger sob
story at their convention, seems contrived. It is. The former senator
relayed, courtesy of Senator Paul Wellstone, the story of a Wisconsin child
who told a teacher that she had not had breakfast that morning because, "It
was not my turn to eat." Contact with Senator Wellstone's office for
confirmation brought an acknowledgment that he did not witness the hunger nor
could he name said school or teacher.
Cuts in taxes across the board bring the most return from the rich
because they put money to work, whether on homes in the Hamptons or in www.
coms. In Germany, to jump-start a too-regulated economy, left-leaning
chancellor, Gerard Schroeder, cut corporate and the top marginal tax rates.
The German stock market is cooking.
I love the rich and all they do. Many of my students surpass my annual
income just in stock option bonuses for signing with a company. I love them
for that. I love them for taking the plunge into the wondrous world of
business. I love that they will grow companies, build houses, hire the
Velasquezes, and, at some point, return with generous donations for the alma
mater that taught them how to negotiate options and the importance of
noblesse oblige. I wish them wealth untold.
Long live the
08/28/00: Survival of the not-so-fit but conniving
|