JoeClarke.Net

Now, over 14% of America's GDP is spent on poverty programs. Dividing the estimated GDP of $14,000,000,000,000 by 50,000,000 "poor" Americans equates to each poor American receiving some sort of welfare in the amount of $280,000 per person. Don't ask me how its disbursed, because there are so many overlapping federal, state, and local entitlements that, I would guess, no one knows how the money is spent, excepting that the middle man - Uncle Sam - is paid quite a chunk to "administer" the funds.

In addition to the "regular" poor, whom tax paying Americans must support, a family of four with income under $44,000 (twice the poverty income level) is also eligible for many government bennies.

For all the ranting of those Occupying Wall Street and other streets across the nation, demanding that the rich pay more taxes, which will make little difference in denting the national debt, 50% of Americans pay no federal income tax.

America's poor is 2400% wealthier than the Democratic Country Of The Congo according to International Purchasing Power scales and wealthier, by far, than most every other country in the world, but for how long at these rates of increasing indebtedness? Not long.

All the above number crunching has only been revealed to explain how spurious it is for the Millennial student protesters to call for more taxation on the rich, who are mainly rich because the American middle class and poor have been satisfied with the economic status quo which pays so much in various benefits. Why would a public or private union member, or teacher desire to acquire some Yankee Ingenuity and risk starting a business which would could eventually advance them into the richer realms of life? Why should any American strive for a better American Dream life, when there is no need to dream?

I, of course, am speaking of physical riches which by no means offer a really abundant life as promised by Christ who taught that the poor can actually (and do) experience a better life according to Biblical standards. However, if the poor are covetous of the rich folks' riches, then they can plan for a life of self induced poverty - if only for wanting OP, other people's money.

My baby boomer generation is somewhat responsible for the Wall Street Occupation, because we set up the attitude for the youth to expect everything, while paying for nothing. We sent our children to public schools which taught them not to judge themselves through the Self Esteem movement. We allowed our children to graduate from high school not proficient in reading, writing, or arithmetic. Most are barely literate. We threw tons of government loan money at them for college tuition, all the while college expenses increased exponentially - as the funding increased.

One point for the Occupy Wall Steeters is that when all that TARP and Bailout money was helicoptered to the banking and finance industry, the danger of Moral Hazard was activated. If we bailout only those who "are too big to fail," then why cannot those who are small, and fail, receive similar benefits? Now we see the Democrats who ignited the housing loan crisis by guaranteeing housing to constituents who had no job, no down payment, and a bad credit rating, supporting the anti capitalist youth protesting on Wall Street.

As long as America's very wealthy "poor" are lusting for other people's money by demanding higher taxes for the rich, they will never break out of their cycle of poverty.

Its a universal law and it works in the physical as well as the spiritual: "For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance, but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has."