It makes a difference when you use the false idea that the majority of the "wealthy" inherit their wealth as a way to drive animosity and push tax increases that dont effect the majority of the country. It also serves to dismiss your hopes that those struggling for hope may have and may very well lead to people not trying bc they believe it doesnt matter....with a lie might I add.
I agree with you for the most part on the belief part, I think you should work hard no matter what you do. I could have ended up being a janitor or something if I had made different decisions in my life but I would have been the best damn janitor there was. No matter what your station in life you should work hard and look for opportunities to improve if youre not satisfied. By virtue of the way economics works though if many of the people struggling for hope want to be "wealthy" they are going to be disappointed...just the way it works, not everyone can be successful.
I guess it makes a difference if one is inclined to feel animosity toward the wealthy regardless of how they achieved their wealth, which certainly does not describe me.
As for tax increases, which is really a whole other issue, my opinion is that everyone should be taxed the same, meaning the same percentage of their gross income, regardless of whether they are dead broke of incredibly rich. I believe this is known as a true flat tax. Like most folks, I take advantage of any deductions allowed me within the tax codes. With a true flat tax, there are no deductions, regardless of how rich or poor you are.
Believe it or not, there are many ways that people both honestly and dishonestly reduce their gross income which subsequently reduces their taxes. My stepdad was self-employed. Knowing that there was no way the government could track his income aside from looking at his lifestyle verses what he claimed to earn which would not have begun to support the lifestyle he, my mom and I enjoyed.
One of my best friends, a staunch Republican, owned her own business before she sold it and retired. She'd often complained about having to pay around $10,000 in quarterly taxes. It made me laugh. If she was paying $40,000 a year in taxes, imagine how much money she was making? It was really hard to feel sorry for her. Most of her work time consisted of schmoosing her clientele on the golf course, with expensive business lunches, or tickets to expensive venues. It "hard work" if you can get it. She is still a great friend, although her retirement isn't as flush as mine and I made nowhere near what she made when we worked. Funny how that works out sometimes.
