Monday, February 9, 2009

Slumdogs Unite

For full disclosure, I am a big fan of Frank Rich. I especially loved his op ed in the Sunday NY Times yesterday, Slumdogs Unite

To quote Rich, "The public's revulsion isn't mindless class hatred. As Obama said on Wednesday of his fellow citizens, 'We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success.' But we do know that the system has been fixed for too long."

I don't know anyone who begrudges success or the wealth that can accompany it. That's the American Dream... that anything is possible for everyone.

If you happen to be in your garage right now developing a personal wind turbine the size of a small garbage can that I can soon buy at Home Depot, my hat is off to you. In five years time you'll be the new Bill Gates. We will all be laughing at the way we use to pay per kilowatt for electricity like we joke now about how we use to pay per minute to use the internet.

And everyone with the foresight to buy stock in your "garbage can/wind turbine"  company when it goes public, again I say congratulations. Reward for innovation and betting on our future success is as American as capitalism and free markets.

My populist outrage swells when I see financial reward for failure, and financial reward for insider connections, and financial reward for class.

Lets take this swell of outrage, this swell of energy and turn it into a march for fairness. Instead of pushing against those who have arrogantly taken advantage of an unjust system, let's  work together to lay claim to something new: opportunity for all.

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