My Daughter-in-Law

My newest daughter-in-law posted on Facebook a couple of days ago, saying she is getting fed up with the panhandlers she sees near the restaurant where she works hard to make a living for herself and my son. They are struggling financially as many young marrieds are and it infuriates her to see that some of the beggars are dressed better than she is, and seem to be prospering, taking advantage of the good-heartedness of others.

I share her frustration. It is maddening to think anyone would just make a choice to beg instead of working. We're in a tough economy now, to be sure, but begging should be a last resort, not a first one. (I'll set aside for today the question of substance abuse, emotional problems or mental issues that prompt many people who fall into this situation.)

What makes me much madder than the sight of someone standing around a highway junction asking for money is the television commercials that feature someone who says he owed the government ba-zillions of dollars in unpaid taxes, but with the help of the "Tax Cheaters Relief Company" settled his tax obligation for $2.95. There's never a suggestion that the tax obligation isn't legitimate or that the fellow who owed the money is being persecuted. Instead the whole theme of the ad is that the man got away with cheating on his taxes and the rest of us are just suckers for actually paying our taxes.

As aggravating as those people are, the much less visible but much more pernicious welfare system that has been constructed for parts of corporate America leaves me angry and bitter. For every dollar bilked from generous people by those who find it easier to panhandle than find honest work, there must be hundreds, probably thousands, of dollars that are embezzled, taken by fraud or financial manipulations by what are correctly called corporate pirates. How many investors were cheated by the Bernie Madofs of this world, or the Martha Stewarts for that matter? Madof is quite rightly serving a lengthy prison sentence and Martha Stewart also served time and paid a large fine, but they're the really just the tip of a very large iceberg that remains uncharged and thriving.

Well, that's enough for today. Be sure to tip your wait personnel generously.