To the Editor:
We have no control of where and to whom we are born; it is an accident of nature. Some are born into better situations than others. Some fall into the trappings of assumed preferential entitlement because of their wealth and others drop into the abyss of self-pity entitlement because of their poverty.
How does one climb down from a perch of inherited wealth to understand the accident of birth and their good fortune? How does one climb up from the depths of inherited poverty to understand the accident of birth is not always fair; to persevere?
What happens if the motivation is not at home and a child is not raised to understand responsibility or understand their good fortune? A child has no control over the family setting they are born into. In turn they may need help or course correction when they become adults. At that point it becomes increasingly difficult as one gets older.
No one wants to be poor. We all rationalize actions to satisfy physical cravings of food, drink, shelter and sex; emotional yearnings of recognition, validation. Our actions vary based on intellectual and emotional abilities, principles and character. Whether our actions are considered morally or ethically acceptable is based on individual and societal, experience and perception.
When someone makes improper use of a safety net many of those viewing this behavior feel they’ve had their noses rubbed in it. They’ve experienced first-hand the touch, smell, and appearance of the cracks in the welfare system. It is disgusting, it is vile, and no doubt unbearable at times, not letting such experiences build into deep seeded anger and outrage.
Yet why isn’t the same outrage and anger occur when someone reads about the 80 largest corporations in America receiving “corporate welfare” in the form of a total taxpayer bailout of more than $2.5 trillion. Where is the disgust of those companies having avoided at least $34.5 billion in taxes by setting up more than 600 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and other offshore tax havens since 2008?
Where is the anger when a dozen of these companies paid no corporate income taxes in at least one year since 2008, while receiving more than $6.4 billion in tax refunds from the IRS? Haven’t the individuals and smaller corporations paying taxes had their noses rubbed in it? (http://www.sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/102512%20-%20JobDestroyers3.pdf)
Is it disgusting, is it vile? It depends. Ironic, those individuals’ “working” the cracks in the welfare system are considered lazy, cheats, crooks; while corporations “working” the cracks in our tax system, cracks they created through lobbying efforts, are often considered shrewd, hard-working, and savvy.
Who has the more significant economic impact on the greater good, the individual or the corporate welfare abuser? Unless someone can show me data that demonstrates individual welfare abuse exceeds the abuse documented above, corporate welfare abusers have had the greatest negative economic impact on society.
Society has been manipulated to focus on the individual welfare abuser through our emotions fueled by our senses. Isn’t it ironic that jails are filled with so many petty criminals, while the real bad-guys, the real welfare abusers are the corporations running the government?
