I read an article in the Denver Post about the relativity of the term “rich”. It was in response to the Obama administration’s plan to increase taxes on people making above $250,000 a year. Some people who are in that bracket and above were complaining that the quarter-of-a-million figure no longer really constitutes being rich. Imagine that. Think about it. That’s $20,833.33 per month. With that income, even if you only netted around 12-13 thousand after all taxes (and people in that income range can usually afford experienced and creative tax attorneys to up that figure), it seems that you would still be able to pay your way quite nicely. You could also do so while enjoying the comforts and perks of the American faux upper-class status. What in the hell is rich? How much stuff does one need? How much power on paper does one need to wield? By the way, the estimate of how much each of these households would pay in increased taxes each year, as I recall, was in the neighborhood of $800. That’s about one twenty-sixth of one month’s salary. It’s also about $2.20 per day. To use the ever-popular cup-of-coffee analogy, you can’t get a grande Starbuck’s anything for that.

It’s self-evident that in order for someone to be rich, someone or more to the point, someones must be poor. That’s the way it works. The measure of wealth is completely relative. It is also the formula through which wealth is acquired. If you want to live in the house on the hill, you’ve got to find people who will drag all the bricks and mortar to the top, employees willing to work for the tiniest piece of the pie that you eat. Most of the pie for you? You are the rich guy. You can then tell the rest what to do. That’s the story of capitalism. It goes with Christianity the way chocolate goes with almonds. You’ve got to determine who is entitled to be wealthy, and there is Christianity, making it all so simple. Why, it’s those that God, in his infinite wisdom, has blessed with cleverness, guile, drive and the right genetics. Everybody else get out of the way. Remember, God has granted man dominion over every damned thing he put on the planet. It also affords the poor the comfort of the Sermon on the Mount. You might not have a pot to piss in, but Daddy loves you. What a religion!

The point? Creeping socialism had better break into a run if there is hope of avoiding the chaos and mayhem that this ever-expanding gulf between the classes will ultimately bring. There must be a fair and compassionate social contract to maintain social order. Ask Marie Antoinette. You poor pitiful over-taxed upper one percent of America could do worse than buying some schmuck a cup of coffee everyday.