A DIFFERENT SET OF RULES

Got into a discussion yesterday with some who claimed that the "privileged class live by a different set of rules than the ones we are forced to adhere to." When I asked what the different rules were being forced on us, I was told I was one of the privileged and out of touch.

I think you all might find my reply interesting:

My issue is with this notion, which the President is exploiting that if you work hard and become very successful thorough your sacrifice and efforts you should be denigrated rather than celebrated for your achievement. That just isn't the American way.  We should all be celebrating success. Pushing and prodding each other to be the best we can be and to gain as much success as we are able to achieve. This idea that we don't build the companies we sacrifice and work

 15 hour days to grow is just a load of crap as far as I'm concerned. I build companies from scratch. I put my personal capital at risk. I sign on the dotted line for the loans and place my personal assets up as collateral. I am the one who meets with the investment groups and gives up pieces of my success in order that the business can grow and hire more people. When the vendors don't pay on time, I write the checks to my staff from my personal accounts. I work alongside the staff doing the same job, but I don't leave at the end of the day.  I am the one who doesn't get paid when the money doesn't come in on time.  I always have to pay my taxes up front whether I make a profit or not and I am the one who has to negotiate the labyrinth of regulatory minions and pay the cost of conforming to regulations even the bureaucrats don't understand just so I can keep the doors open.  It is my responsibility to pay the cost of insuring the business against even the slightest regulatory infraction just so we can continue to operate. Yet, I'm always the last in line to receive any compensation.

So when I hear this foolish rhetoric that I don't pay my fair share, that I didn't build my company, that it wasn't through my efforts that the staff was hired and are gainfully employed I say BULLSHIT to you Mr. President and to anyone else who thinks I am wrong. It was my idea, it is through my creativity that the company began, I did build it, I do operate it and I do deserve all the success and profit which comes as a result of my doing so. 

And the different rules? Let's think of the different set of rules that the successful people live by: up at 5:30 a.m., put in a 15 hour day without complaint, on call all the time because the product never sleeps, wealth is opportunity so don't consume it, don't spend it on the frivolous, the business requires reinvestment. They delay gratification, saving and scrimping so they can hire one more worker because that's how the business will grow, that's how a new branch can get opened in a new city. NO TV, NO online games, never a drink during a weekday, seldom on a weekend (on call) - set aside eating at a sit-down restaurant today, regardless of working 20 hours straight after a 3 a.m., discussion about a distribution problem: one of the new hires has a little son who got injured during a little league game - discuss this because it takes priority and that's how you can make the new hire take a second look at you and feel like they can trust the vision of this company.  Yeah, some rich people live by a different set of rules and they never pay "their fair share".

And guess what, if there weren't a lot of people like me all across the country willing to do the same thing, America wouldn't exist. We are what America is all about,  we are proud of our accomplishments and we won't apologize for our success regardless of what you laggards may think.

Any comments?