The "Politics of Envy" and taxing the wealthy: What's your take?

Question

Dave Ramsey ranted a few weeks ago about the so-called "Politics of Envy" and the redistribution of wealth. I think he makes some very strong and valid points here, and in my humble opinion it's very difficult to argue against him here. You can read/listen to it here...

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/butt_scratching_and_bass_fishing_10192.htmlc?ictid=htlnk

What is everyone else's take on this?

Answer 1

Edited --

First of all the rich is not where the money is, when it comes to taxes, the middle class is where the money is. But you can't be a politician and go around saying I’m going to tax 70% of the voters to death.

So they call the upper class and even the upper middle class the "rich". Because very few people actually think they are rich.

The idea that "Henry" is some how a heartless jerk that doesn't pay his employees what they are worth and would lay them off without any severance is jump to a conclusion that isn't supported by any facts at hand. There are many wealthy people who also make their employee's wealthy, or at least treat them fairly.

Not to mention the fact that if something happens to Henry’s business, he will be the one that hurts more then anyone else, his employees are the ones who will simply be out of a job and can go find another job doing the same thing for someone else (They can also do this if the business is doing fine but Henry is paying them next to nothing). Or if they want to work really hard they can do exactly what Henry did and then they can make the big bucks.

Why on earth do they need a government benefit to get another job? They are adults they should be aware they could loose their job, so they should save money so if that happens they have something to live on while they find a new job.

Henry on the other hand will be out his life's work and the 70 hours a week he's spent building his business will be wasted.

But lets just say Henry really is the evil capitalist who only cares about his profits, when he gets a tax increase do you think he's going to say "well I guess that's my duty to pay the taxes and take that hit to my income." Or do you think being the selfish greedy guy he is he'll say “I can't take pay cut I guess I'll have to cut my employee's pay or lay someone off”? So in the end who does the tax actually hurt?

However if you give Henry a tax cut, being the greedy capitalist he is he will realize the greater net income he has now could be used to expand his business (which in the long run will make him richer) so he'll hire another employee to exploit.

Although we do know Henry does abuse his employees and take all the profits for himself so I’m sure his employees will be very happy to have been freed from the oppression of employment because their employer has been taxed so much it’s not worth it to stay in business any longer. And that HAVAC Tech who’s been out of work for the last 6 months and could have been hired by Henry if taxes weren’t so high will be happy he’s been spared the exploitation of employment.  

The major problem with this philosophy of taxing the "Henrys" and giving the money to people who are even much less hard working then the "johns". Is everyone will want to be Joe welfare who gets to stay home all day and collect his government entitlements. Why take out a mortgage on your house to invest in a small business and work 70 hours a week for 15 years when the governments just going to take a huge chunk of your profit? Once people realize it's not worth it and there won't be any more "Rich" people to tax and we'll all be wards of the state.

Money is not something that just falls out of the sky and lands in the lap of random people. You get money by being productive, whether you come up with a new idea that no one has thought of, work hard to provide HVAC service to people in your community, or entertain people most people who are wealthy in our country have done something to make a lot of peoples lives happier and/or better in some way. Why should we penalize that? Why should we even take away the natural rewards that come from that?

Shouldn’t we motivate that Johns to become the Henrys so more Johns have a place to work and they don’t become Joe Welfare. Or is it better to tax the Henry’s and give the money to Joe Welfare so Joe Welfare has no reason to overcome whatever adversity and become a productive member or society, like a john or a henry? At  the same time  Henry’s won’t want to be Henrys anymore.

No one needs motivation to come up with reason why they can't work and be productive, everyone needs motivation to reach thier full potential.

Answer 2

I think its great!

Dave Ramsey is one of the few guys I respect in this country.

He is completely right!

I dont make enough money sometimes but I in no way expect the doctor across the lake to buy me a house and groceries.

If I want those things then I have to earn them. Thats what my grandma taught me.

But this country has a fairness complex. Its not fair that one kid has a Ipod because his parents can afford it. We have to get the one who cant one too.

We make parents pay for sports in school but if you cant afford it you can play anyway. They will just raise the price for everyone else.

There is a doctor in my town that drives a jaguar. He has one and it is not fair for everyone else so we better all be receiving one from the government.

Its stupid.

People need to start using common sense.

EDIT

To all those on here who are going to say tax the rich because they have it....its a dumb idea.

Everyone needs to pay taxes. The same amount of taxes.

You can go out for dinner and make someone else pay for the bill.

Well I guess you can if you are on welfare.

Answer 3

I think it is an opinion column rant.  Not every poor person is lazy.  "Henry" survives by giving himself a raise and his employees nothing.  If "Henry's" business goes belly up, he'll be fine.  He will be employable, and his personal finances won't be touched, but his employees will not be paid and their families will need some benefit from the government to survive.

Answer 4

I don't call this envy. The rich have gotten richer by using the poor as stepping stones to their fortunes. Why shouldn't it be time for them to show some gratitude to those people, for all the blood and sweat they contributed to the cause? Mind you, I am not talking about those wealthy persons, who actually sweated their own blood to get where they are. Only those who got there, through the sacrifices of others.

Answer 5

Rather than attribute it to envy, we should tax the rich because THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS!  What-- would you tax the poor and give the rich a free ride?  Another reason to tax the rich is because they've enjoyed the benefits of America, and America helped them prosper, so in gratitude they should pay to keep America going.  Finally, they have more to protect, so they should cough up.