A column in The New York Times today by Selena Roberts pointed out the huge difference between the fat cats attending the Superbowl and poor Americans who live in Miami, the nation's third poorest city. Ms. Roberts described the Super Bowl spectacle as decadent. And there's no question that some of the Super Bowl displays are decadent. There's no shortage of people showing off their money.
But this has been going on since 1776. America's a capitalistic country. — That means some people will get very rich and some people will be poor.
Now there are two ways to get rich in America: You can get educated, work hard, and be kind of lucky like me. Or you can steal stuff like some of those criminal CEOs who have gone to prison.
For my money, pardon the pun, capitalism is a good thing. It gives opportunity to people like me who started with zero money to work our way up. And sometimes you can hit it big, no matter what your background. —That's impossible in many other countries.
On the downside, if you don't get educated, if you don't work hard, capitalism's brutal. Poverty is a terrible thing.
The left believes the government should redistribute income; it should make sure everybody has a decent standard of living. Republicans generally believe you should work for what you get and not take other people's money.
"Talking Points" thinks capitalism must be controlled by oversight. That is, people must not be allowed to break the law. But there's nothing wrong with achievement. I wouldn't do it, but if people make a lot of money and they want to flaunt it at the Super Bowl, well, Selena Roberts shouldn't be hammering them. They earned it, they can spend it the way they want.
As for the poor, all the stats show the same thing. If girls have babies in their teens, they're likely to be poor. If kids drop out of high school, they're likely to be poor. If people get addicted, they're likely to be poor. If you commit crimes not only will you be poor, you'll be poor in jail.
That is our system. And the Super Bowl spotlights capitalism in a very vivid way. You make the call.
And that's "The Memo."
Most Ridiculous Item
Georgia State Representative, Clay Cox, has revived a bill that would prevent school boards and government agencies from prohibiting expressions such as merry Christmas or happy Hanukah. As you know, this kind of nutty stuff occasionally happens in secular areas.
Well, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an SP journal is outraged by Mr. Cox's action. It says, "Lawmakers such as Cox are wasting their time — and taxpayers' money — on nonexistent problems."
That of course, is the far left mantra. There is no attempt to diminish Christmas, oh, no. Meantime, the Supreme Court is deliberating on a case in New York City where the public school system there has banned expressions of Christmas.
Somebody tell The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they are ridiculous.
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