Ed Konecnik, Contibutor, The American Dossier
During the Democratic presidential primary debate, I was struck by the disdain the candidates exhibited for our wealthy citizens by referring to them in terms imbued with scorn, derision and contempt as if their success and wealth was illegitimately obtained.
Every candidate proposed plans which included confiscating portions of the wealth of the “one percenters” as if they did not deserve it.
It is an incontrovertible truth that the top 1 percent of the income distribution provide about a third of all charitable dollars given in the U.S. When it comes to bequests, the rich are even more important: the wealthiest 1.4 percent of Americans are responsible for 86 percent of the charitable donations.
Capitalism generates wealth and creates an abundance of benevolence. Capitalists are benevolent because they seek to improve our lives with invention and innovation. Their accumulated wealth is the reward for creating products and services that enrich our lives and provide an incentive and motivate us.
The free market permits us to choose freely from many sources and thus improve our lives and support excellence. Only to a socialist, the appellation millionaire and billionaire are pejorative terms. John Steinbeck astutely observed that socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.
Edward Konecnik is a retired music teacher, musician and singer. He produced the original Value Music Video for the NY State Curriculum Guide, “Lessons In Values Education” and was awarded first place prize for his anti-drug value music video “Don’t Start” by Governor Mario Cuomo (1986).
Konecnik was invited to perform in Slovakia on TV and in festivals by the Slovak cultural agency, Matica Slovenska.
He is the first American artist invited to record in Slovakia for OPUS Records. “Prisiel som ja z Ameriky” Slovak folk songs. (1989) Instrumental accompaniments performed on synthesizer by Ed Konecnik “Lovely Lady Liberty” (1990).Slovak melodies with English lyrics in country style. He is also District 30 Media Center Director.
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