(RightWing.org) – Over the last four years, Democrats bought into Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) call to transform the US economy. If you listen to Sanders, or many others from the modern Democratic Party, you’ll hear that capitalism and greed broke America. Everything is too expensive, including drugs, health care, and energy, and big business is out to hurt the little guy. Yet, take a look at the countries they champion and ask yourself, how are they bamboozling Americans?
The core argument is that the sharp rise in income and wealth inequality requires a shift in society. The Left points to the government subsidies to Americans in 2020 as proof that big government works as its programs during the pandemic brought people out of poverty. Yet, they don’t say at what cost, nor if it’s temporary. In fact, it can’t be temporary – the government mustn’t let these people fall back where they were before the government handouts. The Left’s solution is always more government. Yet, they never stop to ask what’s really driving income inequality and whether the government plays a role in it.
Personal Choice Is the Driver of Income Inequality
If income inequality truly exists, it’s because the majority of people choose it. It’s not the Sanders myth that money-hungry big businesses are trapping people in a life of poverty. The truth is that income inequality is primarily a choice and not a circumstance.
American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Mark Perry analyzed the most recent statistics from the Census Bureau. His conclusions show there is a direct correlation between the rise of incomes and personal situations. For example, he noted that statistically, those who are more educated, married, and work full-time are likely to be in a higher income class. Lower-income households are more likely to be less educated, without a marketable skill or trade, work part-time, are under 35 years old or over 65-years-old, or live as single-parent or single-member households.
Much, though not all, of what drives income inequality is within our control. In today’s society, everyone can choose to graduate from high school, get a skill in the trades, earn a college degree, stay married, or work full-time. According to Perry, there are factors that one cannot always control, but the statistics don’t bear that out.
Finally, from youth to high income-producing years to retirement, Americans over their lifetime run the gamut on the income scale, which can give the appearance of an inflated income inequality gap.
Why It’s Difficult to Create a True Income Inequality Gap
According to Andy Serwer and Max Zahn at Yahoo! Finance, almost one-third of men are not working, and they aren’t looking for a job. That’s nearly 30 million Americans in a country of approximately 350 million people from the cradle to the grave. They note no one is sure what they are doing for money. According to the two editors, the workforce participation rate for men is only 67.7%. They point out their study isn’t about men who lost a job, but how they live without a “real income” that’s taxable.
They cite homelessness, those who retired early, and the millions of dads who choose to stay home while their spouses work. However, that doesn’t explain how men’s participation in the labor rate continues to drop decade after decade for the last 30 years. According to Serwer and Zahn, many men are creating their own economic opportunities through:
- Early retirement
- Pensions
- Disability
- Lawsuits
- Savings
- Trading stocks
- Cryptocurrency
- Working under the table
- Living off family
- Illegal work
- Living off the Land
Does income inequality exist? Yes, it does to some degree. However, people can take charge and change their circumstances over time. They can go to a trade school, college, join the military to acquire a marketable skill after four years or more of service, find an apprenticeship, start a gig business, or make small investments through various means.
The point is, the Democrats are overstating the problem for political gain, and many Americans are buying their false teaching. It’s a giant lie that appeals to people’s desire to have more and do less with immediate results. That’s not how life works. Instead of asking people to live off the government, perhaps politicians should inspire people to find ways to live independently. Instead of incentivizing people to do nothing, the government ought to make it possible for people to reach for the American dream and change their circumstances.
Unfortunately, too many bought Bernie Sanders’ argument that he’s been making for 40 years. His message never changes. Not in good times or bad times. It’s always the same. America is bad, Cuba is good – let’s be like them.
No, thank you. Let’s inspire people to be their best in the greatest country in the world!
Don Purdum, Independent Political Analyst
Copyright 2021, RightWing.org
