6. Does Freedom Work (Part II)?

If you are a constitutional conservative, you believe freedom works.  You believe in free enterprise.  This is simply the notion that people have the right to their own stuff - be they part of the 99% or the 1%.  You believe that unless they are forced, defrauded or victimized by a monopoly, free people do not give up their stuff unless someone provides them value in return.  If you want to get rich in a society of free people, you spend a great deal of time figuring out how to provide other people with value.  You don't really care about their pigment, their genital configuration, their accent or what they do behind closed doors.  If you want to be rich, you need to get their stuff.  In the form of money.  In exchange for value.  Lots of value.

In such a world, consequently, we admire the 1%.  We do not envy them, hate them, or try to get their stuff.  Nor do we make ridiculous statements such as Mr. Obama did when he said "I do think at a certain point, you've made enough money."  If I make my money by selling a free people something valuable at a good price such as a computer that helps them learn and grow, at what point, Mr. Obama, have I made enough money?  To whom should I not sell a computer?  Maybe that inner city kid.  After all, I've made enough money.

If I make my money by hiring people who would otherwise not be employed, enabling them to provide for their families and send their children to college, at what point, Mr. Obama, have I made enough money?  Whom should I not hire?  Maybe that inner city father.  After all, I've made enough money.

If I make my money by providing investors with a just return that enables them to stay retired, to provide their children with an inheritance, to live with dignity in their elder years, at what point, Mr. Obama, have I made enough money?  Whom should I deprive of a return on their hard earned investment capital?  Maybe that grandmother who inched her way out of the inner city through a lifetime of hard work.  After all, I've made enough money.

People who believe freedom works and see the government's key role as a conservator of that freedom do not make such statements.  Mr. Obama did.  It is not an American statement.  It is not a statement that a free people should expect from their president and it should disturb them.  How much we make isn't his business.  Neither is it his money.