by Josh Tolley
We have been privileged to live in the wealthiest nation the world has ever known. For the past few decades we have had a mostly growing demographic of wealth and we have been addressing the issue of poverty in a manner akin to spaying and neutering a cat. Something to care about, but nothing we generally lose sleep over.
This has to change. The economic mess the world finds itself in today is projected, by many experts, to deepen in 10 to 15 years. We can no longer run the course we have ran to address poverty and that has been to treat it like a skin condition. Offering comfort to those afflicted, saying that we sympathize with their plight, and offering “after the fact” care, all while pretending to be concerned. This will not prevent the growth of poverty any longer. It is time for real answers, real leaders.
We need to stop treating poverty and start spreading prosperity.
We have seen politicians smile as they open yet another community center, playground, or shelter in a poor neighborhood. While those things are nice, they do absolutely nothing to lift those people out of poverty. Matter of fact, all those treatments only make poverty more bearable. This sounds like nothing more than, “giving a man to a fish” to me. Now, I ask you, if you know how to fish and instead of teaching me, you give me a fish, should I look upon your gift to me as kind, thoughtful and caring? NO, rather I look at it as an evil, selfish, and soulless act by a person who would rather prop themselves up on the shattered dreams and untapped potential of someone they supposedly care about.
If you must open a community center, teach a course on entrepreneurship there. If you feel the need to give a stump speech in a poor area, talk about how it is important to lower tax rates for the poor and the rich alike while reminding your audience that they too can become wealthy in this wonderful nation.
Oh, we don’t see that, though, do we? No, our crooked politicians know that if you knew how to fish you would no longer be dependent on them to feed you. They essentially treat poor people like a hungry horse pulling a carrot cart; yet only keep a single carrot on a stick in front of the poor horse, to maintain control. Oh, if the horse only knew. Keeping the horse hungry and the poor poor, allows the cowards who toss us crumbs to maintain control of us.
ENOUGH!
I’m here to tell you, we all can be wealthy. The economy is not a limited pie that we all must share with some among us being pigs. The economy is an ever-expandable tool, not a weapon that politicians have used to keep us at bay.
To use this tool we need to elect leaders who want to empower us to use everything the world has to offer, not keep us locked away in community centers and welfare lines.
Lowering taxes, fair tax, flat tax. The Heritage Foundation, Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity, Tea Party, and Chamber of Commerce are just some of the issues and organizations that you should look into. Support those issues and organizations that empower you and politicians who vow to do the same. Start your own business, learn solid personal economic strategy, eliminate debt, and take control of your life. If we all do these things, it will be astounding which politicians and entire political parties will no longer carry any relevance.
Realize that prosperity should not be a partisan issue.
Most importantly though… dream again. America is a realized dream, and if it is to make it back from this dark time, it will be through the pursuit of dreams by people just like you and me. Not only can each of us accomplish anything, but when we pursue our collective-independent ambitions we will naturally purge our nation from the wicked leaders who we will no longer need to depend on.