How many times have you heard some adult say they had no idea they were poor when they were young? They knew the poor existed, but that term described someone else. It’s only in adulthood that they can see that the poor they heard so much about included them.
Well, I have a feeling that today’s children are more likely to claim they had no idea they were rich when they were young. They’ll grow up, get a degree, take an entry level job and move into an apartment. Then for the first time, they’ll be living on a salary that barely covers the rent and car payment, let alone all the luxuries they enjoyed while living with mom and dad. Suddenly, they’ll realize that when they heard all this talk about the wealthy in the U.S., they were hearing about their own parents.
So is it any wonder that there are such misperceptions about the wealthy, when even those who are counted among their ranks don’t realize it?
But misperceptions, there are.
Ask my friends on the left about the wealthy, and you’ll hear that they are robber barons who maintain their wealth only by keeping the poor down. Their world view is that of a zero-sum game where one only wins if another loses.
But it is not a zero-sum game. Wealth is created, not stolen. Henry Ford was an average man who changed the world with the mass-produced automobile. Not only did he create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, he opened the world to the masses in a way that only the automobile could. And he became wealthy as a result.
That is how one becomes wealthy – by providing something of value to others. It is not done by stealing. Nor is it attained by keeping others down. Just look at household computer usage. The poor are the least likely to have a computer in the home because they are least able to afford one. So wouldn’t Bill Gates be even wealthier if everyone could afford a computer? Of course he would. Thus, he has no interest in keeping anyone poor – he wants everyone to be able to buy a computer.
If that’s the case, why do some insist that wealth is attained only through nefarious means? Because it is the necessary counter-balance to the view that the poor are the victims of an oppressive system. If there are to be oppressed, then there must be oppressors. The wealthy serve to fill that role.
But if the wealthy are not the ones keeping the poor down, then what is the cause of poverty? Some of my conservative friends will argue it’s the poor’s own fault – a failure to be disciplined in going to school, getting up for work and doing the best job possible.
Yet just as some liberals have a misguided view of the wealthy, this portrait of the poor is too simplistic. Yes, each person has the power within themselves to become the best that they can be. But too few believe that to be the case and even fewer know how to put that power to use. We can say it’s their fault for not doing what they need to do, but is it their fault that they don’t know how?
If there is an oppressive system to be blamed, it is a system where our blame is misplaced. Instead of blaming the wealthy, we should learn from them. Instead of blaming the poor, we should teach them. Blaming the wealthy only serves to give others an excuse for their circumstances, while blaming the poor does nothing to improve their lot. And if all the energy spent pointing fingers were instead focused on showing the less fortunate the way, we might actually make some headway in the fight on poverty.
And everyone would be all the richer for it.
