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Sharing the Wealth

Entry 1443, on 2012-09-25 at 13:58:23 (Rating 4, Politics)

My waitress at lunch today was wearing an "I love Obama t-shirt.

I asked her if she could explain Obama's wealth distribution plan to me.

She said, "It means that he will tax the rich and give it to the poor like me."

I said, "No, it means … well, let me show you. Here is your tip. You worked for it - but I'm going to take it from you and give it to that sweet old woman over there to help pay for her lunch."

I got up and walked over to the sweet old lady, gave her the money and left.

The waitress' jaw was still hanging when I left.

How's that for sharing the wealth !!!

That was a story (I presume I wasn't expected to think it was real) I was sent from a "friend" who is a right-wing nut job. I don't use that term lightly, this person really is a nut. He thinks global warming is a conspiracy, he thinks Obama isn't an American, he thinks Obama is a socialist, all the standard drivel these half-wits seem to want to believe.

But is there a certain amount of truth in the story? Does it really represent the probable outcome of the Democrats' wealth redistribution ideas? I don't think so. Here's another story which I made up (just like they did) which might represent reality a little bit better...

My waitress at lunch today was wearing an "I love Romney t-shirt.

I asked her if she could explain Romney's wealth distribution plan to me.

She said, "It means he will tax everyone evenly. Those who work hard and make lots of money won't have to give it up to the rest."

I said, "No, it means … well, let me show you. Here is your tip. You worked for it - but I'm going to take it from you and give it to that fat middle aged man over there. Oh, and he doesn't even need to pay a tip because he worked harder than you for his money. Do you know how I know that? Because he's got more than you and if he's got lots of money he must have worked hard."

The waitress said, "But that's not fair, he's already got a lot more than I have."

I replied, "Maybe so, but he clearly deserves it. Can't you see that he makes a much greater contribution to society than you do? If we didn't give him extra money he would probably want to live somewhere else."

The waitress was surprised by this and said, "But he's a drug dealer, he has numerous pushers who work for him and he supplies half the addicts in this city. People who criticise him tend to disappear and if his dealers don't sell enough drugs they do too."

I said, "So he's an entrepreneur. He provides employment to many people and provides a service many people are prepared to pay for. He is perfectly within his rights to take reasonable action against those who don't perform, isn't he?"

I could see the waitress was beginning to see the point of my argument but she couldn't admit I was right yet. She argued, "He does nothing all day except direct his drug dealers and hit men to do his dirty work for him. Anyone who tries to set up in competition usually gets an offer they cannot refuse!"

"Ah excellent", I said, "that's the capitalist system operating efficiently in a free market with fair negotiation between parties. You don't want the government to come in and interfere with the enterprise he has set up using his own talent and money, do you? Or are you a... socialist!"

I could see she had no answer to this because no one wants to be a socialist. I took her tip and gave it to the fat man. He made a note and said he would expect regular payments from her in future. I think she finally saw how true business talent works!

The waitress' jaw was still hanging when I left.

How's that for sharing the wealth !!!

Comment 1 (3342) by Anonymous on 2012-09-27 at 17:10:58:

So you are saying that making up your own "crazy story" is the best way to refute another person's crazy story?

Comment 2 (3344) by OJB on 2012-09-28 at 15:53:10:

My "crazy story" was intended to show how easy it is to make up a story to illustrate any point you wish. It has no more or less validity than the original. Merely a rhetorical point.

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