Big and Rich = Bad?

The media and pop culture have succeeded in convincing us that since America's the biggest kid on the playground, and the richest, we're bad; we should feel guilty.  It's not "fair."  We also translate this notion to an individual level.  "The big guy's got it out for the little guy."  "Small businesses we may be able to tolerate, but big businesses (Michael Medved makes the case for big business in his book, "The 10 big lies about America") are evil."  I believe some individuals of means in our country actually feel bad about having more than others; as if having what they have takes something away from someone who has less.

We've been conditioned to root for the little guy.  On one hand, it's inspiring to see someone struggle from rags to riches.  On the other hand, too often, the bad guy in a given movie, against whom the hero must struggle from rags to riches, is almost always someone hugely successful- big and rich.  One example of this in a movie is Secretariat.  I love the movie.  I willingly root for the underdog against the big, established companies.  I'm just saying it gives me pause the way the big and rich are portrayed in much of our media.

This leads me to another observation.  How do you know if someone's good; if someone's done any good in the world?  What evidence of good deeds is detectable in a man?

Two things come to mind: happiness and money.  And money is more objectively, more easily observed.  Remember, a rich man got his money the same way you get yours; by serving others.  The more and better you serve others and the greater the number of others you serve, the more money you make.  Yet these great servants are looked upon as pariahs, as "the man," as the bad guy who must be beaten in order for the little gut to succeed.

These accepted notions are also applied to America.  "America is imperialistic."  Well, America has done more in the world and been paid less for it than any nation in history.  We don't go around taking over other countries, though we could.  We're the big kid on the playground, but instead of being a bully ourselves, we're the world's bodyguard against the world's bullies.  But as the big and rich, we're hated instead of thanked.

I'm dedicated to the idea of reuniting the "rich" and the "poor" in our great nation.  Evil, conspiring men have long sought to divide and conquer us.  But don't you see?  We're the same.  We've both earned what we have.  Maybe the rich have has more opportunities.  But let's preserve (restore) those opportunities for everyone, rather than taking them away from anyone.  There is "enough and to spare."  That someone has more takes nothing away from you; just as the fact that you have more than many people takes nothing away from them.

Speaking of big and rich, the biggest and richest guy I know created this earth.