The Sage Observer

Bottom Feeders and Top Feeders

There are bottom feeders and there are top feeders. They will always be with us. With neither dignity nor bluster, the bottom feeders go about their day, gleaning for whatever will sustain them. Some very few lie, cheat, and steal; others work at very low paying jobs (many work more than one–just to get by); many (very many) are unemployed; and, yet others, are forced to rely on the charity of the community–they are disabled in one way or another. On the other hand, there are the top feeders. In terms of numbers, there are a lot less of them than the bottom feeders; they are but a very tiny minority; but, in terms of their consumption of society’s total productivity, they are the greatest. Day after day, they lie, cheat, and steal, hiding behind the trappings of dignity, power, and prestige, and slowly sap the strength of our economy far beyond their real contribution to its productivity, ever increasing the gap between them and the lesser of us, with no regard for morality, the sanctity of life, the environment, or our nation. You hear it said every day, “The rich are getting richer, and the poor are becoming poorer”.

Now why would I write this? What I have said is obviously controversial, argumentative, and divisive. My answer is that, once again, I find myself disappointed and impatient with the single-mindedness of so many. Every day, we talk about welfare–a really serious issue within our nation which we surely must resolve; but we always discuss it in terms of the poor, the unemployed, and the needy; and our viewpoint or context in the discussion is almost always in the negative, focusing only on the cheaters as opposed to concentrating on the truly needy among them. Those lowlifes are always on the take–why don’t they find a job and go to work? How many times have you heard that kind of talk? Our emphasis is effectively focused on how those on welfare are leaches on the productivity of others. I’ll write more on this aspect of today’s posting at another date under the title of “The Underclass”; but, for now, I wish to discuss another aspect of welfare–the top feeders.

I don’t have the specific statistics on this. I confess. So, please permit me to generalize, and you can form your own viewpoint. Generally speaking, welfare is negative productivity. I have to believe we can all agree on that much. However, welfare can and does come in many forms. If income is equated to productivity (and it usually is), are not taxes from which welfare is paid, negative productivity? In this same vein, are not favorable tax rates allotted to favored companies or individuals tantamount to welfare? Are not special tax loopholes welfare, also? How about wages paid to top corporate management, bankers, educators, etc.? Within the past twenty or twenty-five years, salaries of top managers, as a percentage of the average income of the workforce within their companies, has increased 400% (or something like that). From where did this increase in worthiness come? What created it? Did their productivity really increase that much in that relatively short period of time as compared to the average worker in their company? Is not that a form of welfare, also? I submit that it is. They really got something for nothing, and they weren’t even hungry. They had food on their table. Their efficiency and/or productivity didn’t increase any more than yours–yet they take home millions. One, it was reported, had $4,000 shower curtains in his bathroom, yet they complain about someone in need getting $100 in food stamps. I tell you. God will deal with people like that one day.

Let us look at wages, income, and wealth in our nation. It is a well known fact: the rapid disparity in the distribution of productivity and wealth in our country has literally exploded in the past thirty-plus years. Why? How did it all get from you and me to someone else–that fast? I personally believe that all real wealth either came from the ground or was produced from the blood, sweat, and tears of the people. I submit to you that a large part of your productivity got to someone else via welfare–welfare to the top feeders; and, in the final analysis, that welfare, by far, is significantly greater than any other that dribbled down to those at the bottom.

It is unquestionable truth that the rich and elite among us contribute immensely to our economy and to the world. We need them. We need them mightily (and they know it). We need their gifts of intelligence, skills, and leadership. We also need them to be an example which we can all look up to and follow–an example of integrity, truthfulness, and veracity. This is imperative for the good of our people and our country. Accordingly, they should receive benefits and remuneration commensurate to their contribution–much more than the lesser of us. I don’t think anyone disputes that; but, also, we the people–everyone–need and deserve our fair share of the pie. 

In conjunction with this, it is absolutely imperative that everyone carry their fair share of the load in conducting the affairs of our great nation according to their abilities, including their ability to pay–our rich do not need to be on welfare. They should be American. The United States of America and its people should and must be the first priority of everyone from top down and bottom up–all should contribute and all should participate. This is not just about any one of us. If we don’t, I’ll just say this; throughout history there have been those who have created wealth by “bloodsucking” the productivity of slavery. Is this what we want? Is such to be our ultimate destiny? Are we to become slaves? The decision is ours. What's your decision?

Ronald Miller

mtss86@bellsouth.net