Michael Moore’s hypocrisy

Michael Moore says the top 400 richest Americans’ wealth now exceeds the
cumulative affluence of the bottom 50 percent of the American
population, 155 million people.

For all of Michael Moore’s faults, this statement is true. However, the
message he attempts to make is impotent due to his own hypocrisy and his
shallow understanding of why the wealthy are prosperous.

What strikes about Michael Moore is that he is a man who rails against
capitalism and recently said rich people’s money “is not theirs, that’s a
national resource, that’s ours. We all have this — we all benefit from
this or we all suffer as a result of not having it.”

For those who don’t know, Michael Moore is worth over $50 million. He
made that fortune in our capitalist system by being a capitalist
himself. I don’t see him rushing to give away his millions to the bottom
50 percent of income earners, nor have I heard that he voluntarily
donated millions to the federal government.
 
So the hypocrite, Michael Moore, also commented on the poor state of affluence in the African-American community, basically laying the blame for their economic plight at the feet of the wealthy. What he fails to do is look at the root causes of the African-American poverty, causes that are true of the impoverished of every demographic.
 
The first reason is the decline of the African-American family, reflected by low rates of marriage and high rate of out-of-wedlock births, approaching 80 percent. Next is the lack of business and entrepreneurial culture that encourages savings and creates wealth. There is also an over-dependence on government programs, which discourage savings because the government will bail you out. Finally is the prevalence of the “victim mentality,” which says it is not worth pursuing the American Dream because of racism.
 
If Michael Moore is correct, then it’s a reasonable guesstimate that the top 20 wealthiest Americans’ wealth exceeds the combined wealth of the entire African-American population. This assumes cumulative wealth of the top 20 of only $400 billion (Gates and Buffett are $100 billion combined) and it assumes average wealth among 40 million African-Americans of $10,000 per capita, which is very high.
 
It’s not a surprise that the top 400 wealthiest Americans own more than the bottom 50 percent combined. These individuals continue to exemplify superior financial stewardship, which embodies the wise us of the resources they continue to multiply.

This is a result of values that include a clear culture of entrepreneurship. Remember, 75 percent of the people in the Forbes 400 were not on this list 25 years ago. This reminds us that the top 80 percent of the wealth earners are self-made … just like Michael Moore.

 
Read more of Armstrong Williams’s content at www.rightsidewire.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/arightside.