Other People's Money

This is intended to make you mad.  This is intended to give you permission to feel morally superior while giving full vent to your envy and greed.  This is intended to convey the message that Ann Romney is spoiled, selfish and clueless; that not only has stay-at-home-Ann "never worked a day in her life", but that she fritters away her time and money on something as elitist and unnecessary as horses.  Dressage horses, no less. How could she?

We are to despise her for staying home to raise her five boys.  We are to hate her for having the means to indulge in horses.  An indulgence, I might point out, that began as a method of therapy for the symptoms of MS, from which she suffers. But the real message here is that we are to despise her and hate her for simply having the means....period.  The real  message here is not that she spends her money on horses, but that she has any money to spend at all.

For a visceral and negligently superficial image like this to resonate, you must hold certain assumptions.

1. You must believe that private property is theft and that no one has any inherent "right" to what they have.  That others' judgment as to how much you have or what you do with it is the determining factor in whether you are a decent person, whether you are owed respect, or whether you should even be allowed to keep your property.  "I think at some point, that you've made enough money."
2. You must believe that it is immoral for someone to follow the tax laws of this country. 
3. You must believe that the women's movement didn't give women the opportunity to choose work; it gave them the DUTY to do so.
4. You must believe that money made in the private sector is evidence of greed and selfishness - or dumb luck.  You either stole it or fell into it.  
5. You must believe that support for legalized theft is evidence of your generosity. "I believe that if you spread the wealth around, it's good for everyone."  
6. You must  believe that only those people who hold the "correct" positions politically should be allowed to indulge their hobbies or interests...or vacations.
7. You must believe that the amount someone writes off on their taxes is damning and conclusive evidence of insensitive disregard for others, while ignoring what they actually PAID in taxes.  Or what they gave to charity, for that matter.
8. You must believe that no good comes from the creation of wealth, such as producing jobs, improving people's lifestyles, or realizing dreams achieved through work - it is all raping, robbing and pillaging.  This one is easy as it relates back to 1. and 4. All wealth is accumulated through theft.  There is no creation of wealth.  
9. You must believe that anyone who does what they want because it pleases them or is in line with their personal morals, is a threat to the power of the group. 
10. You must believe that is it morally superior to be more offended by how a private citizen spends their own money than it is to be offended at all by an elected politician who dispenses money from the public treasury to buy power and repay favors.

You must be a complete and utter idiot.

Having said that, Colbert does a hilarious bit on this.  Hi-freaking-larious.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Mitt Romney's Champion Horse & Stephen's Dressage Contribution
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He gets it right, too. Except for the pronunciation...and the hat and crop at the end. One doesn't wear a hunt cap at the Grand Prix level, and one NEVER carries a riding crop. Dressage whips are altogether different. But he gets close enough for a pass.