Eat the rich, take 700

I have a dragnet out for reasonable people describing the complaints and goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement. If you know of such, or can provide such yourself, please fire away.

I have so far concluded that it’s run-of-the-mill, predictably-stoked wealth envy and class warfare. (When The Nation is calling it the most important thing happening in the world, you can be pretty certain it’s receiving some heavy-duty PUUUUUUUUUSH from the clowns to the left of you.) Our esteemed president has signaled that he intends to attempt to smear Romney with it. (I am shocked that a hard-left ideologue would try to use class warfare as a political weapon, aren’t you?) Finally, it seems pretty clear to me that they’re considerably more vulgar and enamored of much less personal hygiene than your typical Tea Party crowd.

Well, they are filthy hippies. I kid, I kid! You know, mostly.

Here’s the thing, folks. You can throw all of the endlessly fascinating charts showing supposedly grave inequalities at me that you want. You can find heart-rending anecdote after heart-rending anecdote allegedly illustrating that decent, solid people with good work ethics can’t get ahead because the deck is so stacked against them. I shall continue to calmly maintain that the most reliable path to a comfortable living is a willingness to work hard.

That’s the truth most of the time.

Consequently, to the extent that I believe the government should be involved in legislating here at all, it should be with that at the forefront. Consequently, to the extent that I believe the government should be involved in educating here at all, it should be with that at the forefront.

Consequently, it’s tough for me to discern anything truly resonant with thinking, reasonable people in the rhetoric I’ve encountered, so far, of the average “Occupier.”

Now I certainly did not grow up rich, but some good things happened to me by the grace of God. I have never disputed that. I am highly intelligent, and I had a conscientious mother and father who recognized that and nurtured it. I had a father who made the tough call to move our family to northern Alabama right before my junior year in high school, and increased opportunity for me and his stepchildren was a significant factor in his thinking.

I was making $6 an hour at a bookstore when I moved into my first apartment, and things were tight. More than once, I had a weekly food budget of $10 or so. But I don’t pretend I was ever truly poor, because had I ever been in imminent danger of being hungry or cold, my father would have helped me. I’m glad he never had to, but I don’t minimize the confidence boost that knowledge gave me.

(I also had a father who worked his ass off and didn’t teach me to resent rich people, by the way.)

I’m confident that a lot of these malcontents squatting at these gatherings can tell similar stories, if not better ones. To anyone who had it significantly worse, I offer that our government has never in history offered more legs up—from student grants to small business loans—to anyone willing to pull a load. If you want a better life, for the most part, it’s out there to get.

If you work.

For those of you working and making a good living, isn’t it nice? Want more? Work harder. Take risks. Sacrifice. Did you know that’s what most rich people really do? (You know, as opposed to sitting around lighting Cohibas with $100 bills, swilling 20-year-old Scotch, and thinking up ways to screw poor people?)

That’s the truth most of the time.

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