US vs. Them

I'm reminded of a conversation I once had with Bridget, one New Year's Eve at Heidi and John's. They were talking about how, given a hypothetical proposal where the rich would be taxed at a hire rate to provide benefits for the poor, in Canada people would vote in favor of the proposal, thinking "The poor receive benefits, I might be poor some day. If I am, I'd want this help." In the U.S., the same thought process would be, "The rich are taxed more heavily. I could be rich some day. If I am, I wouldn't want this new tax burden," and vote against the proposal.

The irony is that most of those Americans won't end up being the "rich" affected by the "burden."