Recently, there has been a number of articles on the Occupy Movement and the greater issue of income inequality in our country.

We agree that the decline in the American middle class is a threat both to our nation’s economic system and to our democracy, but we often disagree on how to reverse it.

The most common solution offered is the vilification of a certain subset of our society. This response is natural and tempting in a nation where the rich just seem to keep getting richer. When the lower and middle classes are burdened by a poor economy, it is easy to envy those with the security of wealth. But, creating an environment where we attack our fellow Americans only creates an ideology of envy that actually destroys the hope that is so enticing about America.

When my parents came to America in the 1970s, my father built his business from the ground up, knowing that he had the opportunity through hard work to improve his fortune and provide a better life for our family. Many of America’s wealthy have similar stories, building their careers from nothing and providing the world with valuable products, services and jobs in the process.

Some believe that if the top 1 percent of American wage earners gave more, it would solve all our problems. Should those people pay taxes and contribute to society? Absolutely. Can they single-handedly save the other 99 percent? No. Some want them to pay off student loans or mortgages and help increase government services for society. But then what? If we take too much from our businesses and top wage earners, what incentive will they have to build a stronger America and create jobs for our middle and lower classes?

As a West Point graduate, I cheer every year for our football team. Unfortunately, Navy has beaten us the last 10 years in a row! It’s frustrating, but if tomorrow the NCAA came in and said they were going to redistribute all of Navy’s wins and allow Army to automatically win half of all games, I’d be furious. Most sports fans would tell you that if the game is rigged, there’s no longer any reason to participate. It’s human nature to want competition, and economics is no different. If America is going to stay competitive in the global economy, we cannot simply redistribute wealth and eliminate competition. Instead, we need to help the middle and lower classes remain competitive so they can produce wealth, too.

Keeping the middle and lower classes competitive means leveling the playing field so that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. We can accomplish these goals through tax reforms like closing loopholes and lowering the overall tax burden. We can ensure that tax increases on the middle and lower classes, like increases in the general excise tax or a pension tax, don’t become law. We can foster a pro-job and pro-growth environment instead of creating overly bureaucratic and regulated systems. We can strengthen our education system where our keiki have the tools necessary for future prosperity. We can do all of this together, without pitting one part of society against another.

It may be enticing to redistribute wealth and take from one group to give to another, but in the long run, everyone will be worse off. America’s prosperity and world-changing innovations, such as our medical and technological advancements, may have never been achieved if we had penalized our visionaries. As a country, we have always fought for equality of opportunity, where anyone, regardless of their current lot, can benefit from their successes.