As a liberal democrat, I am getting tired of hearing how my party wants to make the tax system fair. This letter is in response to a fair tax system.
Dear 1%,
I don’t know you. I don’t know any rich people. Rather, I don’t know if any of the people I do know are rich. I have met several people who have more money than me, but at the moment that isn’t saying much. I meet them mostly at charity events and different fund raisers, so I know how generous these folks, folks like you, are. The willingness to give, it seems, is like death: it crosses economic boundaries. Death crosses all boundaries. Death is fair that way. Life is not. Anyone who has spent time listening to their grandmother knows: Life is not fair. Never has been; never will be. And, it isn’t meant to be.
No. Life is not fair, which is okay. Life doesn’t need fair. The only people I’ve ever heard talk about fair as if it is necessary are football coaches and politicians. (Baseball managers worry more about pitching than they do about fairness: their reaction to the steroid scandal was to find better pitching; it was Congress, the politicians, who conducted an investigation.)
Life isn’t supposed to be about fair. Read the Bible; or, the Koran. Neither mentions fair. Both mention justice; and compassion; and ability. Both mention sacrifice. There is a great deal of sacrifice in both.
Which brings me to the point of this essay: taxes and fairness.
President Obama and the Republican candidates who wish to replace him spend a great amount of time and energy telling us what is fair when it comes to our nation’s economic situation, its budget deficit, and its debt.
I say to them all: STOP!
It isn’t about what is fair. It’s about who can make a difference.
Our nation has never acted fairly. Ask the Indians. Ask the Japanese-Americans from World War II. Ask our military. Even in war-time, our nation does not act fairly. The draft wasn’t fair: only males between the ages of 18 and 35 (depending on the conflict) were eligible. And, an all-volunteer army is certainly not fair. But, it is effective. Thank you to all who serve, and have served. Military service is and always has been based on a person’s ability to contribute: to make a difference. Military service is based on a person’s sense of justice: we want our soldiers to kill, but not to commit murder. Military service is based on sacrifice – always on a willingness to sacrifice. America’s military, our military, is based on ability, justice, honor, and a willingness to sacrifice - most everything but fairness. And that is the way it should be. Our military doesn’t want everyone; just those who can.
I say to the President and to those who would be President, it is time to ask a segment of our society to step-up – to make a difference. Because they can. It isn’t fair, I know, because it isn’t Death. And maybe it isn’t just, but who else is in a position to make a difference? What it is, is sacrifice. Not the ultimate sacrifice: we still reserve that for our soldiers. Only a certain segment of our society is in a position to make a difference – to lead the way. Since the politicians don’t seem to have the backbone to ask you, I will:
America needs you. You have the ability to create wealth, and you’ve been hard at work to do so. Our country is being diminished economically. It makes no matter who is at fault: both sides; neither side. Those sides don’t make a difference, anyway. In the last two years my family has learned to live on less than twenty thousand dollars a year. I still have hope that one day the amount will increase. But until it does, I and thousands of Americans worse off than me need your sacrifice. Can’t you learn to live off less? Won’t you pay a higher percentage of taxes?
I know what I’m asking isn’t fair. But, I don’t have the resources to sacrifice and you do. And, when our country is diminished, we both loose.
Sincerely and Respectfully,
A member of the 99%