Prager University: Do the Rich Pay Their Fair Share

"We teach what isn't taught." - Dennis Prager

I am not rich.  I am firmly entrenched in the Middle Class.  I would like to be rich, but the reality is unless I win the Power Ball I will never be rich...And I'll likely have to work until the day I die to stay in the Middle Class.

That said, I don't hold any grudges against people who are rich, and do not think they should be persecuted (over taxed) or made to pay for those who have less.

Lets look at how most of the people in this country who are 'rich' have become 'rich.'  Most have done so by having an advanced skill-set (doctors, entertainers, athletes, etc.), creating things people want (Facebook, computers, electricity, etc.) or by being risk-taking entrepreneurs (financial wizards, wealth managers, etc.)...I (and 99% of the population) do not have the physical make up or the professional discipline it takes to be Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, or even the doctors I work for.  Other than producing children, I (and 99% of the population) have never created anything of value (things people want).  I (and 99% of the population) could never run the operations and make good on the risks pursued by people like Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon.

There's a reason the 'truly rich' are 'rich,' and it is almost always because they can do things 99% of the population cannot do.  Do I wish I could do some of these things?  Sure.  Am I jealous of them?  No!

I am very afraid of one glossed over issue in the video below, and that is 'however you might define the rich'...At this time we (actually, the politicians, who need to take our money to pay for the entitlements they've created but can't afford) define 'rich' as the top 10%, or 5%, or 1%.  Obviously, these people don't have enough money to pay for the entitlement state our politicians have created (not even the mega billionairres).  Which means someday the politicians will have to redefine what it means to be 'rich' in order to go after a much greater amount of money - and when that day comes (and it will come!) none of us should be surprised when we are defined as being rich.  Even those who barely think of themselves as Middle Class.

This semester of Prager University is presented by:  Lee Ohanian

"[T]o say 'the rich,' however you might define them, 'don't pay their fair share,' is simply wrong." - L.O.

"It may feel good to take even more money from the top ten percent, but it doesn't do good, and it sure isn't fair." - L.O.