The press surrounding President Obama’s recent speech in Roanoke,VA irked me to delve into the matter a bit further. I always like to go directly to the source to double check things before sharing my opinion because I was really suspect of the validity of his recent speech being spread around the internet (I really didn’t think it could be true). It is somewhat scary and disgusting the way the words just roll off his lips in the video below:
Here is a copy of the transcript as well:
There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.
OBVIOUSLY successful people encounter people along their way to success that help them out in some form or another. President Obama obviously had some help on his way to the White House and getting elected. I am really confused by his message here, is he really trying to justify that successful people should be taxed just because “they didn’t get their on their own”. Should successful people in our country be responsible for helping some lazy ass unemployed person get a job and support his family b/c they don’t have the motivation to go work and earn a living – Would Obama simply surmise that “they didn’t get their on their own”? (because they are too lazy to work??)
No one is simply successful solely on their own right, but to become super successful that individual must overcome a tremendous number of obstacles. They must be dedicated to their task at hand, work their ass off, exhaust their network, take advantage of opportunities, make sound decisions, and get a little lucky I suppose. Not everyone is entitled to be successful, but those successful people shouldn’t be responsible for funding some lazy ass person just because they worked their way to the top on their own merit.
As an entrepreneur and self-starter who works my ass off everyday, this absolutely infuriates me beyond belief. I am sure other small business owners out there would feel the same way. Do you think you should owe something back to those who aren’t successful just because they don’t work as hard as you do or become as successful as you??
LIFE ISN’T FAIR. Get over it.
- Sam
