We live in a capitalist society that has done well for us since our founding. Those who choose to make a deal out of the rich, and the inequity of people's living conditions, are not looking at the big picture in my opinion.
The truth about our economic structure is that everyone who comes to this country and has inspiration, a good work ethic, and will take the risk to do something better with his life, will have the opportunity to earn money and provide for the future for himself and his family. Hard work is rewarded by good pay. If a person does not like his job, he has the freedom to try and better himself through education and a better job. No one in our society is stuck. There are many possibilities and many opportunities for those who really want them.
This is money which is hard-earned, and well deserved. Income tax in its current form is a socialist scheme. It is designed to punish those who earn more by taking more and more money away from those who have worked to earn it themselves. If this money was only being used on programs all Americans can use, like defense, national infrastructure and etc., then it would be easier to stomach. In reality, these monies are also being used to pay for welfare and a host of other pork projects used to reward those who sit at home and do nothing but have more babies to take more from the system. Of course, I have mentioned only one of several examples, but I hope I have made my point.
Those desiring to spread the wealth by making everyone "equal" are nothing more than socialists. By nature, Socialism does nothing but reward those who have grasped power, while fostering an environment in which there is no hope, no reward, and no incentive for doing groundbreaking work to move the society and economy forward.
Take it all with a grain of salt. This is only how I see things.
I had a personal run in with socialism... I lived in a fraternatiy house, and there was a vote that we'd all contribute funds to the kitchen, so they could buy in bulk, and it would be cheaper than each of us buying our own food. For instance, instead of having 6 containers of milk in the fridge, there would be just 2 or 3 gallon jugs of milk... Instead of lots of jars of condiments, there would be some "giant, economy size" containers. Everything would be good with the world! It would be a "team building experience," they said...
Well, what I learned was that I was paying almost the same amount of money to the "fund" that I spent myself, but the quantity simply wasn't anywhere near what I had before, we were constantly out of milk and miracle whip, and they constantly made food that I simply didn't like (although I have to say, that one day then did bring in some boxes of Quisp cereal, which was something I loved as a child!).
Typical socialist experience... Everyone shall be equal (at the bottom)... Equally misrable. We later found out that the people in charge of buying the food had been pocketing quite a bit of the money...
Mark