Let’s see.  Back in days of BC (Before Clinton), being “rich” was defined as earning at least a million dollars a year.  During the actual epoch of the “Man from Hope,” it went down to $500K or so.  During the OC (Obama Campaign) it was variously $250K, $200K or thereabouts.  Now, so I’ve heard, it’s around $170K.  I suppose before long, if the current trend of European style socialism continues, it will be $50K or less.

Now, it’s a funny thing.  The gubmint has also been defining poverty up in the last several years.  When I was a boy (not that long ago), one needed to live in a tar paper shack, take the bus, work two jobs and  barely make ends meet before one was considered poor.  Before long, one could have a car, a single job and plenty of food to eat and still qualify for “poverty” status.  These days, I see people with a pack a day cigarette habit, a six pack a day beer habit, talking on cell phones, watching big screen cable TV, eating out in restaurants, staying in subsidized housing and working no job and still be considered living “below the poverty line.”

My question is this; when does the downward line graphing “the rich” intersect with the upward line representing “the poor” and what will it mean for all of us?  Wait.  I know.  It will be UTOPIA!  We will all, finally be EQUAL!  Equally poor (or rich, depending on how you look at it), equally mediocre, equally dumb (thank you NEA and AFT!), equally miserable and equally living in squalor.  Why will anyone want to work, produce, or take risks when someone else reaps the fruits of their labor?  And the army of loafers, who haven’t been gainfully employed in years, certainly won’t suddenly decide that now is the time for industry, initiative and thrift.  No, they will holla the louder because they ain’t gittin’ what they used to — sorry, there really isn’t enough for everyone to live on the dole in style.    

Also, it will probably involve nationalized health care, which really means rationed health care.  Those unfortunate folks over 55 years of age will not be deemed worthy for the state to spend money on such things as dialysis, organ transplants, lifesaving surgeries and etc. (see Theodore Darymple on the British healthcare system)  In other words, only the young and healthy will have access to healthcare when, surprise, it’s generally older folks who need it.  (Indeed, the vast majority of the “millions of uninsured” Brian Williams is always carping about are young people who have chosen to forego health insurance in order to swing wave runners, motorcycles, fancy cars, and so on.)  But in the brave new world, they will have it all — of course until that fateful day when they turn 55.  And, BTW, when the two lines meet, will any doctors be left?  That is, will anyone still be willing to endure 10 grueling years of med school so they can make $50K a year, most of which will be taxed to pay for the room and board of their own patients?  Somehow I doubt it, but let’s keep a good thought.  After all, we may get lucky on Ophra’s Big GiveAway and win a trip to, well, where ever private, that is, exceptional, medical care is still practised.  The Caymans, perhaps? 

Yes, it will be a brave new Obama World when the two lines meet.  Remember, though, all is not doom and gloom.  There will be a few who have cleverly been salting away nuts for the winter.  There will be a coterie of the power elite who have positioned themselves so that they are the beneficiaries of a big chunk of confiscatory tax receipts.  Remember the old Soviet Union?  Party members had nice houses and cars, plenty of food and other luxuries while the proletariat stood in bread lines.  Yes, Komrades Bill and Hillary will still be living high on the hog.  Komrade Nancy P. will still be jetting around to exotic locales on “fact finding” trips at the expense of the great unwashed.  And, speaking of the unwashed, Prince Harry Reid will no longer be forced to endure the malodorous stench of teeming throngs of mere citizens trying to catch a glimpse of what their hard work has wrought, being that the capital will long since have become an armed camp.  Oh wait, that’s already happened.  Dang, one can no longer write a satirical look at the future of American Obamaism before actual facts catch up to your blog.  Drats!

Oh well.  I’m satisfied.  I’m looking forward to being “rich” in the not too distant future without any further exertion on my part.  And to think, I wasted all that time living in dumps, working three jobs, going to night school, saving and scrimping, skipping luxuries, delaying gratification, etc, etc…

Of course,