Mistaking Wealth with Virtue

Elberon, NJ June 14, 2000 Aaron H. Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
"MISTAKING WEALTH WITH VIRTUE"

I probably am confused in the same way as others who mistake wealth with
virtue. You can't help admiring the wealthy individual who sits on
corporation boards, runs for office and is chosen to lead one important
civic drive or another. We often do not notice if the individual has
reached his or her economic level through his or her own efforts or through
the shrewd choice of ancestors. We do equate monetary success with brains.

I am at the point where my impact on the world of work or thought will be
reduced considerably. I will, however, also be at the point where my
wherewithal will have amassed a respectable mass. This was not through my
efforts but because of an economy that has loved investors of any size - my
11 1/2 D (shoe size) included. And, because there is a small, but
respectable inheritance waiting my heirs, should I be sought out in the
mistaken, but welcome, conclusion that I am more virtuous than the ordinary
run of citizen? Should I be assessed as virtuous as the multi-$$$aire who
wears a lesser size shoe?

Weather or not my money counts is not important. The counters of wealth in
our legislative branch want to give a "break" to the amassers of huge
amounts of wealth in the pretext of easing the burden of small farmers and
small business owners. This has always been puzzling to me. Our late 19th
Century framers of economic policy believed in a system that progressively
taxed the incomes of all Americans - the more you made the higher the tax
you paid. This idea reeked with "Socialistic" ravings and over the years
there was a concerted effort to "level the field" in taxation so that
everyone, rich or poor paid the same percent.

It is clear that rich or poor it is nice to have money. Our social
planners tried to make the rich (simply because they ARE rich) pay more in
taxes than the poor who have no money to pay taxes. The rich have as
advocates the Republican Party that is not in the least embarrassed to be
advocates for easing the tax burden on the vastly rich. But, hold on; just
like everyone else, I want to get mine, too. Carol's Evaluation: out of 10