OPEN LETTER FROM A BUSINESS OWNER TO THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT

     I am a small business owner and I hear the terms "Fair Share" and "Equal Pay" thrown around a lot with no real clear definition of what that means.
     Am I not entitled to keep the money I have earned? If I decide to give it away, shouldn't it be my decision as to how much and to whom? Maybe I want to reward some great efforts by my employees? Perhaps I could start a Foundation for school kids in Uganda? Heck, maybe I just want to keep it all, throw it in my pool and swim in my money! In any case, what is your "Fair Share" of my money?

       And there lies the big problem. People always want to be "Equal" to the guy or girl when they are on top. But when I first started my company, and had to pay a fee to the State just for the "right" to sell my services, who wanted to be "Equal" then?
       When I labored tirelessly in my basement, working late nights, weekends and even holidays to build a humble client base, who wanted a "fair share" of my workload? When i maxed out all my credit cards just trying to buy enough gear and supplies to run a company, who wanted their "Fair Share" of my debts? When I was finally able to save enough pennies to buy a small office, which one of you Progressives wanted to "share" in making my down payment? Every month when I pay the mortgage, pay the electricity, the internet bill, the State and Federal taxes, pay for my own health insurance, pay the Book keeper, the Accountant, Pay my vendors and my employees ... all before I see a single dime in my pocket ... where are the Social Justice Warriors pitching in to make sure I can pay all those people?
       If after all that, paying all the bills, working all the hours, missing all the kids activities, I still can't make it work; where are all the people wanting to be "equal" with me with no unemployment insurance to soften the blow if I fail? The SBA states that 66 percent of new businesses fail within their first two years ... where are all the people clamoring to be like those people?
       If I somehow defy the odds though, if I can make my business turn a profit after paying the utilities, the banks, the taxes, the salaries, the vendors, the accountants and everyone else with a hand out ... NOW you want to know where your "Fair Share" is? If you don't share in any of the pain, why on earth do you feel entitled to any of the profit? I am a generous man, and help my community where I can, but the idea that I am some sort of villain for wanting to keep the money I have  gone through hell and back to earn is insulting.
      "Oh, we don't mean you ... we mean Big companies like Wal-Mart and McDonalds." Ok, fine, answer me this then Progressive Left ... when in your mind is the turning point? When does a small business turn evil? When it helps provide jobs for ten employees? 100 employees? 1000? Seriously, I want an answer ... I need to know when my humble endeavor is going to become an evil empire. Wal-Mart employees over 2 MILLION people! That is 2 million people who have money in their pocket every week because small businessman Sam Walton worked his ass off to build something. No one at Wal-Mart works there at gun point. Every person who has ever gotten a job at Wal-Mart did so knowing what the job paid. So tell me, when does a company, that voluntarily hires people at an agreed upon wage, become an evil corporation? We're waiting ...