Quote Originally Posted by higher4hockey
when you see how bad others have it, it makes you realize that we don't have it that bad at all.
that seems to be precisely the point made by so many of those who espouse the tenets of socialism, that we have it too good and don't deserve our wealth.

in the course of a little over two centuries the "cult of the individual" has created more wealth for more people than any other philosophy. it has improved the standard of living, not just here but around the world. it has provided a medium that has allowed for the development ever greater numbers of life and labor saving technologies and grown an environment where even the poor can take advantage of the fruits of those labors.

it has not abolished all the inequities of our society and that seems to be what sticks in the craw of its opponents. they seem to think that because poverty and degradation still exist, we must be doing something wrong. this sort of childish impatience and small minded greed has always been what keeps us from fulfilling our potential. that some should attain wealth before others always seems unfair to those who have to do without and they always seem to feel that they too deserve an immediate slice of that pie. they forget that wealth is not natural and that ease is something that must be worked for, even if it may always be just out of reach.