"Makers" And "Takers" Misses Creating Value

Wrote about this faulty conservative populism yesterday. Then saw this post on Andrew Sullivan from one of his readers:

"I'm a professor at a state university. My education was paid for by the government, my salary comes from the government, and most likely I'll retire on a government pension. I guess that means that I primarily rely on government to get me through my life, putting me solidly on the "taker" side of the ledger. If the shoe fits I'm willing to wear it, but I can't see how the world would be a better place if I moved to the private sector. Through my government funded research and the government subsidized training I give my students, I believe I support the long-term health of our economy much more than I could as a scientist in private industry focused on product development and short-term profits.

Everyone takes something from the government, and everyone makes something for society. To pretend that's not true by setting up a simplistic divide between makers and takers just obscures the real questions we should be addressing."

With all the Madoff-style frauds, paper profits of the finance world and Wall St. scams, there is a difference between producing "wealth" and producing "something of value."

There are quite a few more letters on his site, I suggest checking the link below.

Source: Andrew Sullivan