A Nation of Fools
By Peary Perry

In November of 1989, I was in Germany when the Berlin Wall started to come down. My friend and I drove to the border where we could see East Germany. Parts of the wall were already destroyed and I brought back two bricks. Later that evening, my friend took me to dinner at his parents’ house where I met his sister and brother-in-law. His brother worked for Volkswagen in Germany and seemed a affable sort of fellow. During the dinner, the conversation turned to politics and it was apparent very early that he believed in a socialistic society. His concept was that no one should earn or receive more than 3,500 marks (before the Euro) per month, no matter what their job was or what they did for a living.

Having been in business for myself virtually all of my adult life, I took exception to this idea and told him it would destroy the concept of entrepreneurialism in any economy. He strongly disagreed and said that his plan would give everyone the same advantages and would be fair to all. This would eliminate class distinctions.

Then I asked him if he thought it would be fair for someone, like a doctor to have gone to school for eight or ten years or a attorney, should they be limited to only 3,500 marks per month as well?

“Yes, they should” was his answer and he was sincere.

Then I asked why anyone would want to go to school, or work twelve and fifteen hours a day to get a business up and going if their income was going to be the same as someone who didn’t have an education or who didn’t want to work. Who would want to do this?

He said that everyone would want to do so. If you had a good work ethic, then you wouldn’t mind working harder so that others could have a better lifestyle. It was your patriotic duty to do so.

I sat there in amazement at one of the most absurd things I have heard come out of anyone’s mouth in all of my years. The sad thing was he wasn’t kidding. He was dead serious.

These past few weeks have been tough on all of us. I have been hearing people say they are disgusted and want to quit, that their vote isn’t going to count, and that they believe our American way of life is over and done for.

We cannot afford to quit. We must not allow socialism to take over our country. We cannot allow the individual spirit of the entrepreneur to be destroyed. We have heard from the Democrats and Obama and he truly believes in ‘spreading the wealth’ from those who have it to those who don’t. If this isn’t the same philosophy as what the guy in Germany was telling me, I don’t know what is.

The current proposition to give 95% of Americans a tax break is only so much bull. First off, we have about 30% or more in this country who don’t pay any tax except for payroll tax. Now, the Democrats want to issue a refund for even a part of this. So, the Social Security system, which is already on the verge of a meltdown, is now going to have even more revenue taken away from it if the Democrats have their way. What and how will the difference be made up? I’ll bet you can guess.

Let me tell you folks, I’ve been in business for over forty years. Even if, I repeat even if, the business or corporation pays zero corporate income tax; the corporation pays a lot of other tax in various forms. You pay payroll tax, property tax, gasoline tax, sales tax as well as state and federal unemployment tax. How many people reading this column have ever collected federal unemployment compensation? I’d bet none of you have, so where does this tax go? What will happen in this economy if there is a redistribution of wealth by taxing those of us with anything to give to those who don’t have anything? I’ll bet that business owners will pull back from expansion and will not risk expanding their operations, at least not in this country. Who wants to be penalized for success?

Who wants to take a successful business and expand it only to pay more to the government so that they can dole out more to individuals who choose not to work or get an education and make a contribution to our society? What is the incentive for anyone, I repeat anyone to want to do more to make a better life for themselves and their families if the more they succeed, the more they suffer?

I hear from people all of the time who tell me that they are tired and discouraged and don’t think they can do anything and I say to them and to you…get up, and get going.

Write letters to your congressman or congresswoman….regularly. Write letters to your paper. Write letters on the internet. Talk to people, learn the facts, check out rumors, don’t pass along things you ‘think’ are true…take a few moments to investigate and see if there is any validity to whatever is being said. But the point is you must do something.

YOU MUST VOTE.

We cannot afford to go down the path of socialism in this great country of ours. Obama may be loved by the rest of the world, but I for one do not think we should ask France, Germany, Italy and others if and when we should do something. I don’t think we need their advice. We need to reawake our citizens and let them think, really think about what will happen if we destroy the business environment and spirit of this great nation.

You cannot stop, you cannot believe the polls and you certainly cannot believe the media. They have an agenda of their own and it certainly is not ours. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

Thanks for listening, stay tuned, I’m not going anywhere.