(Here's a pithy email we received in response to my recent column, “Hooray for the Death Tax!”)
Dear Larry,
Your article is interesting and illuminating.
I am considered one of those “rich” people in my small Southern town, and I'm bewildered by the class envy I encounter.
I was born to a poor family not far from where I now live, and my husband and I have EARNED every dime we have.
We live in a Southern mansion we re-built ourselves (I climbed on the roof to put on shingles), but the residents of our town have forgotten that, and just seem to be blinded by the fact that we now have something they don't.
We have a gate on our driveway, but I drew the plans for it and contracted a welder (a community business man)to create it. My husband and I took OUR tractor and mounted it. He did the wiring. But people only see the gate.
I feel so like the Little Red Hen.
No one is here when we do the work to make our lives better, but they see the result of our labor and resent our self-created wealth.
We do community service projects to better the lives of others, and we give HEAVILY to charity. We are also taxed heavily. These funds go to the government, who in turn help the poor, who resent us for having enough to give something to others.
I guess it's so much easier to sit and curse the dark than to get up and light a candle.
I've bent your ear enough. I enjoyed the article.
Thank you.
Claire
