Two Americas , by Lou Holtz

The Democrats are right, there are two Americas . The America that works and the America that
doesn't. The America that contributes and the America that doesn't. It's not the haves and the have not's, it's the doos and the don'ts. Some people do their duty as Americans, obey the law, support themselves, contribute to society,
and others don't. That's the divide in America .

It's not about income inequality, it's about civic irresponsibility. It's
about a political party that preaches class warfare, greed and victimization in order to win
elective office. It's about a political party that loves power more than it loves its country.

That's not invective, that's truth, and it's about time someone said it.

The politics of envy were on proud display when President Obama pledged the rest of his term to fighting
"income inequality." He noted that some people make more than others,
that some people have higher incomes than others, and he says: that's not
fair or just. That is the rationale of thievery.

The other guy has it, you want it, and Obama will take it for you. Vote Democrat. That is
the philosophy that produced Detroit .

It is an electoral philosophy that is destroying America . It conceals a fundamental deviation from American
values and common sense because it ends up not benefiting the people who support it, but betraying them.

The Democrats have not empowered their followers; they have enslaved them in a culture of dependence and
entitlement, of victim-hood and anger instead of ability and hope. The president's
premise: "that you reduce income inequality by debasing the
successful"; seeks to deny the successful the consequences of their choices and spare the
unsuccessful the consequences of their choices. Because, by and
large, income variations in society are a result of different choices leading to
different consequences. Those who choose wisely and responsibility have a far
greater likelihood of success, while those who choose foolishly and
irresponsibly have a far greater likelihood of failure. Success and failure usually
manifest themselves in personal and family income. You choose to drop out
of high school or to skip college - and you are apt to have a different outcome
than someone who gets a diploma and pushes on with purposeful
education. You have your children out of wedlock and life is apt to take one course; you
have them within a marriage and life is apt to take another course. You
choose to gamble, drink excessively there are financial
consequences. You choose to eat excessively there are
health and financial consequences. You purchase things
you really can't afford yet on credit there are future
financial consequences that reduce your wealth later in
life. The same with those who choose to save and/or
invest some of their income instead of spending all of
it every month. Most often in life our destination is determined by the course we take, the
choices we make. We are free to make those choices,
but before Obama we enjoyed the consequences of our
choices.
My doctor, for example, makes far more than I do. There is significant
income inequality between us. Our lives have had an inequality of outcome,
but, our lives also have had an in equality of effort. While my doctor
went to college and then devoted his young adulthood to medical school and
residency, I got a job in a restaurant. He made a choice, I made a choice,
and our choices led us to different outcomes. His outcome pays a lot
better than mine. Does that mean he cheated and Barack Obama needs to take away
his wealth? No, it means we are both free men in a free society where free
choices lead to different outcomes.

It is not inequality Barack Obama intends to take away, it is freedom. The freedom to succeed and the
freedom to fail. There is no true option for success, if there is no true option for
failure. The pursuit of happiness means a whole lot less when you face the
punitive hand of government if your pursuit brings you more happiness than
the other guy. Even though the other guy sat on his arse and did nothing. Even though the other guy made a lifetime's
worth of asinine and short sighted decisions. When government attempts to
equalize bad choices results, it is eliminating the
incentive to make good choices.

Barack Obama and the Democrats preach equality of outcome as a right, while completely ignoring inequality
of effort.

The simple Law of the Harvest - as ye sow, so shall ye reap -
is sometimes applied as, "The harder you work, the more you get."

Obama would turn that upside down. Those who achieve are to be punished as
enemies of society and those who fail are to be rewarded as wards of society.
Entitlement will replace effort as the key to upward mobility in American
society if Barack Obama gets his way. He seeks a lowest common denominator
society in which the government besieges the successful and productive to
foster equality through mediocrity. He and his party speak of two Americas , and
their grip on power is based on using the votes of one to sap the productivity
of the other. America is not divided by the differences in our out
comes, it is divided by the differences in our efforts.

It is a false philosophy (an outrageous and obscene
? ?
lie) to say one man's success comes about unavoidably as the
result of another man's victimization.

What Obama offered was not a solution, but separatism. He fomented division and strife, pitted one set of
Americans against another for his own political benefit. That's what
socialists offer. Marxist class warfare wrapped up with a bow. Two
Americas , coming closer each day to proving the truth to Lincoln 's
maxim that a house divided against itself cannot stand.

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it."

Lou Holtz

Leo "Lou" Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is a retired American
football coach, and active sportscaster, author, and motivational speaker. Very
profound observations.