Opinion: Don’t blame the rich, take responsibility for yourself
1) The rich did not take your money away. You gave it to them. You gave it to them by buying stuff you don’t need but want. No one made you buy a house that’s too big for you, and beyond your budget. No one needs to go on vacations they can’t afford. No one needs more gadgets. No one needs to go clothes shopping every time they are bored. No one needs a new car when they haven’t finished paying for the old one…etc. You choose how to spend your money, and my guess is that your money habits have a lot more to do with where your money went than the top 1% in America.
I came to this country with $450 in my pocket more than 20 years ago. I am still here and sitting comfortably in my own house, with retirement savings, a nice income, and education. If I can do it, you sure can do it too. Most of you were born here and you didn’t have to learn the language. But you do have to learn how to take responsibility for your own financial situation, work hard, and stop complaining.
2) Socialism sucks. How do I know that? I grew up in it. I grew up looking forward to a future of nothing. The same kind of nothing we all equally had, except of course, our beloved Socialist leaders. They had stuff like limousines when the rest of the country drove cars one step above a horse cart. They had caviar when the rest of us stood on line for endless hours just to buy one loaf of bread, or one bottle of milk. People all got paid the same no matter the quality of their work, or even if they actually worked. Education was free but very few people chose to go further than high school. Because higher education was free, only a few people could be admitted. We had to take exams to qualify and most of the candidates were disqualified. But why bother with higher education at all. Your education level did not increase your earning potential. Why spend any more time sitting behind a school desk when you can get a job immediately and start earning peanuts for work you didn’t give a damn about in first place. We all had the same three styles of living room furniture, wore the same school uniforms, had a choice of the same 5 styles of shoes, and that’s why a lot of people learned how to make their own clothes, including me. I started sewing when i was in 7 grade. There were no fresh fruits and veggies in the stores in the winter, so most families had small family farms to produce and can what they needed for the winter. Money was in short supply, so people learned to get around through their connections. We lived in a world of barter, and favors. Tit for tat went a long way.
Socialism breeds complacency. After 40 years of that, most Bulgarians still hope that someone, like the government, should do something for them, and sit on ass expecting a handout. In two generations people learned that they don’t own anything, and stopped carrying. The result of this complacency is the near death of innovation and progress. Also, a major compensation mechanism – people wear their wealth on their bodies. Even if they can’t afford to pay their electrical bill, they are buying the next pair of jeans. Imagine living in a twisted world of feeling like you are nothing and trying to look like you are something – a vortex of low self-esteem and hopelessness. That’s the result of 40 years of socialism!
There’s a difference between having a healthy capitalism with a good social safety net and an actual socialism. Guess what, nothing is free. Someone’s paying for it, one way or another. You have no right to demand that someone else pays for your shit. Period! If you think I’m wrong, then I demand of you to pay for my next trip to Thailand because I feel like I am entitled to a nice vacation and I’d rather you pay for it than me.
3) Everyone can get rich with enough gumption, ingenuity, and focus. People get rich every day. But in this country, the poor people who win the lottery and get rich overnight, or inherit some money, win a settlement, etc., still manage to mess things up. They still manage to end up poor 10, 20, 30 years later. What’s that telling you? It tells me that if you are not rich, or as wealthy as you think you should be, it’s probably because you’re not doing things right. It’s better to roll up your sleeves, examine your life, your habits, your motivation, learn skills you need, invest in your development, and then you stand a chance of making it above the bottom 10%. But if your entire energy is focused on vilifying someone else, blaming someone else, and complaining while playing all day long, well, you deserve your financial situation, just the way it is.
4) I love America. And I hate all Americans who hate America. There are almost 200 other countries out there. All who don’t like America and are constantly complaining about your miserable lives in America – please, pack your bags and try your luck somewhere else. This is not to say that America is perfect. There are a lot of things we can do better and we should hurry up and do them. But, we can’t do things better with massive amounts of people sitting around and wallowing in their entitlement woes.
My house rules should be this country’s rules: Contribute or get out! Don’t complain about something not being done – do it. Clean up your mess. Do your own laundry. Pay your bills.
Valentina Petrova is a personal coach and consultant. She lives in Morro Bay.
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Great letter.
Well said
Great job, Valentina. My mother's family immigrated from Poland. We grew up poor, but we learned to brew the coffee grounds more than once. It just made me more determined.
Great article.
Great read and article!!!
Right on, sista!
Interesting how the negative comments from yesterday on this rant have disappeared.
Hey Shelley. We haven’t removed any comments from this story. There are a number of comments posted on the Facebook post as well: https://www.facebook.com/PasoRoblesDailyNews/
God Bless you!
I worked with a lot of Russians and Armenians that all say the EXACT same thing you just wrote.
The generation behind mine was never taught about how great this country is. This is why we still have Democrats in our country today.
Thanks again for your beautiful letter.
Steve Alaimo
Great point!
And why is this hateful woman allowed to abuse her freedom of speech by spewing evil lies about the social justice benefits of socialism? Is she an elitist who dispises the very concept of equality for all? Why hasn't she been extradited back to Bulgaria where she can be re-educated in the glorious benefits of the freedoms she reject?
Great! Not a one-sided opinion either! Thank you Ms Petrova! Now if only "the give me what I deserve" people would read it and let it sink in!
PS: Yes, sarcasm.
There are way too many Americans out there who have seen way to many comments similar to the above post that were not posted sarcastically, and way too many more who would agree with them as statements of "actual fact".
This is excellent! thank you for writing this.
Well said!
I am a first generation American. My father came to the US, not from Bulgaria, but from Western Europe as a young man. At that point in history his country was struggling to rebuild after the ravages of WW2. He made a career of being an analyst, working for large corporations, within state government, and also for himself as he analyzed financial markets and became a successful stock investor and financial consultant to others. He benefitted greatly from capitalism. And yet, he always reminded me that his proud Dutch heritage included socialism, and that that was a good thing, the right thing in fact, in terms of a truly civilized society being willing and able to take care of its people. He also pointed out to me how most Americans have no reference point for being able to distinguish between socialism and communism. Unfortunately, they assume the two are synonymous, and that the severe forms of communist-style 'socialism' practiced in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are the only kinds. Not all socialism is bad. Not all capitalism is good. This is common sense. A successful country has a healthy combination of both in its make up. The recent national debate stems from needs not well met: healthcare, infrastructure, affordable higher education, a decent wage for those who work. We are the richest nation on earth. We do cumulatively have the resources to fix these problems, an WE should. These are NOT pull yourself up by your own bootstraps problems. (I'm very tired of that argument.) I rest on my father's wisdom.
Bulgaria's form of socialism was a single party political system that was born out of the Stalin-Lenin communist movements in the mid 1900s (1940s-1990s). If your point is to say that the movement coming from the Bernie Sanders campaign is the same kind of socialism that developed during WWII, then you're unfamiliar with the principles of a socialism born out of the democratic spirit (i.e. Social Democracy). I agree that people need to live within their means, but you're not being fair to people who want to implement a social democracy.
Also, social democracy isn't against capitalism. It just emphasizes fair trade as well as free trade policies.
Good article. No matter how people spin it, Marxism is moral bull crap.
Raymond Perrier I said in my piece: There’s a difference between having a healthy capitalism with a good social safety net and an actual socialism." Also, what some people call "social democracy" is actually socialism, unfortunately, because they don't know the difference.
Great letter.
Well said
Great job, Valentina. My mother's family immigrated from Poland. We grew up poor, but we learned to brew the coffee grounds more than once. It just made me more determined.
Great article.
Great read and article!!!
Right on, sista!
Interesting how the negative comments from yesterday on this rant have disappeared.
Hey Shelley. We haven’t removed any comments from this story. There are a number of comments posted on the Facebook post as well: https://www.facebook.com/PasoRoblesDailyNews/
God Bless you!
I worked with a lot of Russians and Armenians that all say the EXACT same thing you just wrote.
The generation behind mine was never taught about how great this country is. This is why we still have Democrats in our country today.
Thanks again for your beautiful letter.
Steve Alaimo
Great point!
And why is this hateful woman allowed to abuse her freedom of speech by spewing evil lies about the social justice benefits of socialism? Is she an elitist who dispises the very concept of equality for all? Why hasn't she been extradited back to Bulgaria where she can be re-educated in the glorious benefits of the freedoms she reject?
Great! Not a one-sided opinion either! Thank you Ms Petrova! Now if only "the give me what I deserve" people would read it and let it sink in!
PS: Yes, sarcasm.
There are way too many Americans out there who have seen way to many comments similar to the above post that were not posted sarcastically, and way too many more who would agree with them as statements of "actual fact".
This is excellent! thank you for writing this.
Well said!
I am a first generation American. My father came to the US, not from Bulgaria, but from Western Europe as a young man. At that point in history his country was struggling to rebuild after the ravages of WW2. He made a career of being an analyst, working for large corporations, within state government, and also for himself as he analyzed financial markets and became a successful stock investor and financial consultant to others. He benefitted greatly from capitalism. And yet, he always reminded me that his proud Dutch heritage included socialism, and that that was a good thing, the right thing in fact, in terms of a truly civilized society being willing and able to take care of its people. He also pointed out to me how most Americans have no reference point for being able to distinguish between socialism and communism. Unfortunately, they assume the two are synonymous, and that the severe forms of communist-style 'socialism' practiced in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are the only kinds. Not all socialism is bad. Not all capitalism is good. This is common sense. A successful country has a healthy combination of both in its make up. The recent national debate stems from needs not well met: healthcare, infrastructure, affordable higher education, a decent wage for those who work. We are the richest nation on earth. We do cumulatively have the resources to fix these problems, an WE should. These are NOT pull yourself up by your own bootstraps problems. (I'm very tired of that argument.) I rest on my father's wisdom.
Bulgaria's form of socialism was a single party political system that was born out of the Stalin-Lenin communist movements in the mid 1900s (1940s-1990s). If your point is to say that the movement coming from the Bernie Sanders campaign is the same kind of socialism that developed during WWII, then you're unfamiliar with the principles of a socialism born out of the democratic spirit (i.e. Social Democracy). I agree that people need to live within their means, but you're not being fair to people who want to implement a social democracy.
Also, social democracy isn't against capitalism. It just emphasizes fair trade as well as free trade policies.
Good article. No matter how people spin it, Marxism is moral bull crap.
Raymond Perrier I said in my piece: There’s a difference between having a healthy capitalism with a good social safety net and an actual socialism." Also, what some people call "social democracy" is actually socialism, unfortunately, because they don't know the difference.