Op-Ed: Successful and unsuccessful, a re-frame in our divisive times

Current American populism dictates that the rich are to blame for the woes of everybody else. This haves versus have-nots thinking is inaccurate. Why the lines are drawn between definitions of success.

It is inevitable that - of those readers following this piece through - a majority will come away with a bad taste, one that crawls along on the border of disdain. It is the easier course, this coming away from words in a post and this tethering a callousness to a voice. It is more comfortable to consider the voice as something outside of one's immediate community - an outer voice that is abstract and harmful. The voice can then be heartless and the words can then have little meaning. However, this ease will not move the foundation of the world's current financial crisis. And in this regard, it is not easy at all. It is the nature of populism to reject what I write here - because what I write here is not popular. It is more important to retain hope and notions of safety and of self-worth. These are difficult concepts to embody, particularly in an American society where projections are more important than reality. But here it is. Two distinct groups have emerged from the populist notion that "the rich" are to blame for every personal and professional woe that exists on whatever list that the infinite victims may have cobbled together over the past year or so. The acceptable equation in this populist scenario is: RICH / EVERYONE ELSE. But there are limits to being perpetual victims. This equation would likely be more accurate if re-framed as SUCCESSFUL / UNSUCCESSFUL. This is a difficult equation to process because it triggers a very basic question. Am I successful or unsuccessful? And then secondary questions emerge: If I am unsuccessful, should I blame myself or should I turn to abstractions like "the government" or "Wall Street" or "greedy people" or "Corporate America" and so on? If I am unsuccessful, have I challenged myself? Have I learned something new? If I am successful, how did I get there? Can I do it again? Is it sustainable? It is important to understand this - because the Obama Administration and the Democratic leadership are doing everything they can to tax the successful. They are doing this in an abstract and poorly-considered support of the ruined machinations that the unsuccessful - through overwhelming bad decisions - have unleashed. This is a tough medicine to swallow. So, squeeze your eyes shut and hold your nose and open your throat - because here it comes: America is where it is because of the uneducated financial decisions of marginally-successful (and largely unsuccessful) populations. The world's financial crisis is not the stuff of Wall Street, but is instead the direct descendant of bad decisions from a broad population of American consumers that simply could not afford their own investments. It is the kind of problem that has a painful depth, and the depth requires a self-assessment that is uncomfortable. If someone earns $30,000/year, can one afford a $300,000 house? These are simple mathematical questions. It is difficult to face failure or even the recognition of mild success. But populist meanderings and legislation are not going to change the status of the above-mentioned equation. This can only be affected by self-motivation and an educational investment in the fundamentals of personal finance. If one is unsuccessful, one needs to do what one can to become successful. It is tough for people to read this. We want to be proud. We want to have nice things. We want to show others what we have achieved. It is communal human nature. We do not want to think about a hole - or even consider the possibility of a hole. We do not want to study reflections, because the image cast back is without shape and without structure. It is a liquid vagary - rippled and moving and unclear and without form. But the crisis we are in today is not vague. It is directly related to the purchasing decisions of large populations - and these populations have contended that they were victimized by the nuances of the English language and by the complexities of a simple household calculator. The separations that the Obama Administration wishes to inscribe are inked on this line between the successful and the unsuccessful. It is a mistake to believe that this is a fracture between the haves and the have-nots - as these two groups will always exist together. Success is often found in a sound state of mind. Confidence cannot be taxed. Determination cannot be criminalized. Responsibility cannot be held in contempt. Success finds its way and erodes - like moving water.