The rich get what they deserve

Unfortunately, all the good feelings I get from reading stories about rich, intellectually elite people losing all of their money in Ponzi schemes are tempered by the damage done to our economy, our free market system and our struggling democracy.

Today, Bernard Madoff just admitted to swindling the super wealthy out of $50 billion. Read about it here. 

The same feelings I have toward Bernard Madoff are the feelings I have with owners of credit card companies receiving adulation for the philanthropic investments in Sioux Falls that were usuriously taken from people that shouldn't have been spending money in the first place. Watching people blindly suck up to the super rich that have earned money by taking advantage of people makes me ill.

Reading a story about elite rich people getting taken advantage of seems like blind justice.

The same feelings I have toward Madoff are the same ones I have with allowing people to vote who are unable to show proper identification; allowing people to endlessly cross our border, then shipping 5% of those that are caught back, only to watch them do it again; allowing businesses to write off health care expenses while self employed people like me pay 100% of our medical bills; allowing unions to force businesses to pay indefinitely for "workers" who are no longer working for auto companies; allowing politicians to get off the hook for responsibility of this economic crisis and getting away with blaming everybody else but them; allowing people to think it is against the law to destroy an eagle egg, but not an unborn child; allowing a politician to claim there is a lock box for Social Security, but not telling people it is simply filled with IOU's. I am further annoyed that people say we are the richest country in the world, when, in truth, we are $60 trillion in debt and are adding trillions every month.

I am particularly annoyed at people who will be mad at Madoff for running a Ponzi scheme, but are perfectly willing to allow government to run the greatest Ponzi scheme around. The only difference between Madoff and the government is that he took money from new investors and gave it to old investors while government just prints money and gives it to other people.

My fear about this story is that it will open up opportunity to turn this country even more socialist--meaning that money will no longer be the property of the people that make it, but rather owned by government.

The underlying principle of democracy is that with freedom comes responsibility. This is a principle I will address in the next post.