The United States has long been known as the land of opportunity.

It is the one country in the world where, no matter where you came from or what means you were born into, success is always possible. The only constraints on how far you could go were the constraints you put on yourself.

Our country’s history is rife with stories of people who went from “rags to riches” in one generation. This is the American dream. I have lived this dream and am eternally grateful to the nation that gave me this opportunity, which is why I chose to serve in the military after college.

One would think our political elites would celebrate these success stories. But the Left seems hellbent on punishing success at every turn.

Take the federal income tax, for example. Democratic leaders are fond of saying that the rich must pay their “fair share.” Yet, they never define what that magic number might be. In 2020, the top 1% of taxpayers earned 22.2% of America’s reported income yet paid 42.3% of federal income taxes. The top 50% of all taxpayers paid 97.7% of all federal individual income taxes, with the bottom 50% paying only the remaining 2.3%, per the Tax Foundation . So, what is the “fair share?”

It doesn’t stop with taxes. The Biden administration is implementing a rule next week that will force home buyers with good credit, regardless of income, to pay more for their mortgages to subsidize loans to higher-risk borrowers. Under this new rule, “consumers with lower credit ratings and less money for a down payment would qualify for better mortgage rates than they otherwise would have … experts believe that borrowers with a credit score of about 680 would pay around $40 more per month on a $400,000 mortgage,” according to Yahoo .

Did we learn nothing from the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007?

In California , utility companies are proposing to charge consumers a monthly fee based on income, with the lowest earners paying $15 per month and the highest earner paying $85 per month. It is unclear how California utility companies plan to obtain the financial information of their customers. Will the government provide them with copies of tax returns? Will they rely on self-reported income? Regardless, this type of class warfare only serves to drive people apart and create resentment.

I do not know when the land of opportunity became the land of punishment, division, and class warfare, but it has.

The political elite seems to be doing everything they can to create a divide among Americans, creating division between the so-called “haves” and “have-nots.” At what point will the public decide they’ve had enough?

Jim Nelles is a supply chain consultant based in Chicago. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.