I find it necessary to respond to Paula Bossert's letter stating that the "haves" in our country are "dangerous" and that the government needs to interfere to "act fairly to all" through what I assume would be more redistributive policies ("'Haves' becoming too dangerous," Sept. 3).
I must admit that I am one of the "haves" in America. I have things because I have been working hard for the last 30 years to get these things. I have a nice home, a nice car, and I try to give my daughter the things that she needs to have a happy life. I did not get these things. I earned them. I worked for them.
It flies in the face of everything that America stands for when people like Ms. Bossert think these things should be forcibly taken from me and given to people who choose not to work hard. Our country was founded on the principle of equal opportunity, not equal outcome.
Ms. Bossert also wants more social justice programs. Do you know why we are against social justice programs? They take the rewards of people's hard work and give them to people who did not work for, or earn, them. It is not the government's job to decide what is fair and who deserves what.
If someone wants to give away his/her money, he/she is free to do so. I will fight to keep every penny that I work for, and I will decide who becomes the recipient of my charity and generosity. That is my right as an American, and I fought for that right for four years in the U.S. Army.
Michael Brown
Colonie