"This is America, not Mexico"

This is a response to a friends comment on my status on Facebook:

I'm suprised I haven't heard from you earlier Ali. :) You are right... this is America, not Mexico.. which is why people are trying so desperately to cross our borders legally or not. You are also right that we have redistribution of wealth, although not as you suggest... It's called welfare, unemployment, medicade, social security, minimum wage mandates, etc, etc.

Prosperity comes from a free market. If you tax the hell out of those that create the jobs, that supply the medical insurance, that create the products.... what choice do they have but to cut jobs, cut benefits, cut production. Then more people NEED welfare, NEED benefits, NEED stuff. History has shown that when you cut tax rates, the amount of taxes collected increases. http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm327.cfm
Democrats curse the "rich" for having more than they "need". They demand them to spread it around. Well, here's a thought... since our tax code is so confusing and full of loop holes, tax them more..they HIDE more! You can't demand fairness. In a free market, you get a porportionate amount of the wealth you have created.

Let's take an easy example, Michael Jordan. Does a ball player deserve to make the insane amount of money he made just for throwing a ball into a basket???? If thinking like a Democrat, we would say it's unfair. You would never see a woman basketball star making that much! Sexist! Unfair! He makes too much! Don't you know there are poor people that could use that money?!

But rationally, how much wealth has that man created for other people? He wasn't just making a grundle of money for himself. His existance as one of the most phenomenal basketball players EVER, created money for a lot of other people also. There are plenty arguments out there that claim that there was no wealth creation, just a redistribution of discretionary spending. But the fact remains that if you were a smart marketer you could have jumped on the Michael train and gotten a piece of the pie.

This is my point about America and a free market system. I, unlike John Locke, do not believe in a completely free market. There needs to be some regulation and oversight, or we end up with situations such as the market meltdown just a few weeks ago. There are plenty of people out there that will steal others money, just to get a bigger piece of the pie. In America, everyone has a chance to go after those same dollars. Everyone has the chance to create their own wealth. Is it easier for some? You bet. It's a whole lot easier to make money when you have a little. As a business owner, I know that one first hand. But, once you start mandating fairness (redistribution of wealth, tax the rich to give to the poor) people start to become selfish. They hide more, they try to keep more of that which is rightfully theirs.

If a person doesn't create much value (i.e. wealth), they don't make much. If I served hamburgers all day, I don't deserve to make more than $7/hr. If I make choices that keep me there... so be it. That doesn't mean that I have a right to the franchise developers money. I have a right to save my own money and develop a competing franchise and run him out of business, but I do not have a right to more wages, just because things are getting more expensive. The only right we have is the right to compete for the same dollars that get spent.

I personally find it interesting that the very thing that the Dems rail against.... unfairness in income that they find to be "stealing" from the poor.... is the very thing they want to do... "steal" from others that make more than the average Joe. There is NO way to eliminate the division of rich and poor.... unless EVERYONE is poor. Look to every socialistic country for examples of how it works. The only way to create a level playing field is to realize that everyone can compete for the same dollars... and here in America, we can. We can join the upper ranks, thanks to capitalism and with that being said, I need to go create some wealth.

Here is a little video for your entertainment:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvc0tYG_YpA