Getting Wealthy

BERNIE SANDERS, it turns out, is a wealthy man. We had long known this, or suspected it; his tax returns, the last ten years of which he released, confirm it. Bernie Sanders, multi millionaire, a member of the one percent. And so, with a simple act of transparency, Senator Sanders, a democratic socialist who wants to be president, lays himself open to criticisms of being a hypocrite. The far tight is going to have a field day, and the fun has but barely begun. The capitalist who seeks personal wealth, while urging others to live in a socialist economy. Do as I say, not as I do. The possibilities are unlimited, and Sanders is going to have to deal with them all, from within his political party and from without. For me, this is all too familiar. Twenty five years ago, as a host of a Public Access television talk show, I advocated that society transform itself from an individual automotive to a mass transit culture, as a means of saving the planet. This was when climate change was still called global warming, and hardly anyone had heard about it. In those days, the early nineties, even I wasn't ranting about climate change, like I do now. Predictably, the phone started ringing on our call in talk show, and folks started asking me how I got to the studio. I had, I confessed, driven my pick up truck, with my German Shepherd in the bed. Instantly, I was vilified as a hypocrite. I, the mass transit man, driving a personal vehicle. My response was the same then as it is now, the same as Bernie Sander's should be now: I immediately accepted the description "hypocrite", I owned up to hypocrisy as one of my many personal character flaws, then asked: "Which is the more important topic of discussion; how to achieve a sustainable system of energy, transportation, and economy, or my being a hypocrite?" Just recently a man came and repaired my furnace, charged me over three hundred dollars for a good job, then got into an argument with me about climate change. He seemed to think that climate change is all a liberal hoax, a hoax intended to reduce everyone else to poverty while liberals live high on the hog. He pointed out that I live in a nice house, and drive a nice car, as if there is somehow something relevant about this. Should we be talking about how to make a better, healthier life for all of us, including our descendants, or about my personal character flaws? The answer, I should think, is obvious. I have long since become accustomed to being labeled a "hypocrite" by conservatives who seem to think that they have scored a knock out accomplishment by exposing my hypocrisy. So accustomed to it, that I immediately surrender, and sometimes I even begin listing my other flaws. I am a procrastinator, I drink coffee, I eat fast food, and I lust after women. Shame on me. Contrary to popular belief, socialists do not think there is anything wrong with making money. Among the many popular misconceptions about socialism is that it seeks to make everyone poor. Not at all. What socialism does say is that the more money you make, the more money you should pay in taxes, what is called "progressive taxation". Socialists believe in a large public, government run economic sector, with the tax code as a tool for creating greater economic equality by taking from the wealthy, and redistributing among the poor, and among the workers, who, in socialist systems, should be well paid. If Bernie Sanders is smart, he'll point all of this out, and he will show, using his tax returns, that he has paid what the law requires. Then, he'll take it one step further, that under his proposed tax system, he, Bernie Sanders, a self described socialist, would be, and will be paying a considerable amount ore in taxes, because he is wealthy, and can afford to do so, and should do so, for the benefit of society. When I am elected president, you can hear him now, in his Brooklyn accent, not only will I be paying much higher income and wealth taxes, so will all the other millionaires and billionaires in America. Famed capitalists Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and bill Clinton have said exactly the same thing; that the current system, which favors the wealthy, does not require them to pay enough taxes, but that it would, if they had their way. Bernie Sanders suggested that anyone wanting to become wealthy should write a best selling book. If he's smart, he will stop smarting off, and he will label himself a hypocrite, then get back on topic, the only topic that matters, the topic of everyone, the topic of society. So why not elect Bernie Sanders to the presidency, just to find out if he really is a hypocrite? After all, whether he is or isn't seems to be a pressing concern.