With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned-
Albeit laboring for a scanty band
Of white-robed Scholars only-this immense
And glorious Work of fine intelligence!
Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more;
So deemed the man who fashioned for the sense
These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof
Self-poised, and scooped into ten thousand cells,
Where light and shade repose, where music dwells
Lingering-and wandering on as loath to die;
Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof
That they were born for immortality.
Inside of King's College Chapel, Cambridge
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I spent all of yesterday seething at comments from President Obama that sounded like typical sour grapes from people that haven't made it as far as they wanted in life but place none of the blame on themselves. Rather they have a litany of excuses that finally go as far as to dismiss the success of others. I grew up with people like this, as I'm sure everyone has. I have no sympathy for such talk because I know how hard it is to be extraordinary in life, and none of the people I've heard echo such sentiment that the rich haven't earned it ever stepped up to the plate.
When I say step up to the plate, I mean every single day putting in extra effort, getting up before the rest of the world, going to sleep after the rest of the world, and always thinking and putting it all on the line. I find such talk despicable. For the President of the United States to take a swipe at successful people by belittling or demeaning their life stokes broader jealousy that divides people but never helps those that don't have the proper work ethic to begin with. And, I'm not talking about the person that works nine to five, then works overtime once in a while and thinks they've made a serious sacrifice.
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If President Obama thinks successful people only got that way because of paved roads and the Internet, how come everyone isn't successful?
All of this to justify massive tax hikes on households earning more than $250,000 is poorly planned thinking. Maybe it is the true feelings of someone that has always resented capitalism and how it rewards those that really work hard - years without vacations, nights without sleep, days of anxiety, wrecked personal relationships, and tons of elbow grease.
Even people whose businesses sell to government wouldn't say their success came because of government. That is so demeaning and ignorant. Yes, great teachers along the way help, and for me, Ms. Flood and Mr. Austin played pivotal roles. God, my mother and my children rank really high as motivating reasons for going the distance and believing when nobody else believed. Not wanting to let employees and customers down also motivates. This kind of talk is ugly, foolhardy, and backwards. When the most powerful man in the world tells hardworking people their success isn't their own and hints its part of the public domain, a lot of nine-to-fivers and people that aren't hard workers may rejoice out of pure envy, but the guts of the nation mourns.
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Tax not the successful with hateful taxes for in the end it will end the nation's immortality.
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