What happened to the notion of shared responsibility; common decency; and the very idea of “one nation”?
An observation worth noting … and pondering, from President Barack Obama [State of the Union address 2012]
When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it’s not because they envy the rich. It’s because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don’t need and the country can’t afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference – like a senior on a fixed income;
or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet.
That’s not right. Americans know it’s not right.
They know that this generation’s success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility to each other, and to their country’s future, and they know our way of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared responsibility.
Is there something wrong with this perspective? Is the math too complicated?
When citizens rail at the demonized federal government and urge their conservative leaders to trim back spending or to deny additional benefits [mostly directed to the middle and lower class], when do they start to recognize and understand that their leaders will do so at their long-term expense as well?
What pixie dust is being sprinkled over the masses to keep them from recognizing the myriad benefits which are supported and supplied by the government? Highways, for instance. Our court system, for another. Regulations protecting the food we eat. Education (if that still matters). Medicare. There’s a long list….
It’s all fine and well to argue that we should reap what we sow, and that in the end we are each responsible for what we do and do not achieve or attain. I don’t disagree with the principle.
The problem is that in a world of such inordinate complexity, the principle collides with too many realities creating decidedly uneven playing fields. So when cuts are imposed on the “takers”, we inflict only more hardships on those who were already burdened with challenges and barriers not of their making.
This is honorable? This is the American “spirit?” It is not that difficult to understand that continuing to allow the 1% to gain even greater advantages as time passes means that much less for the rest of us. What happens down the road?
What happened to the notion of shared responsibility; common decency; and the very idea of “one nation”?
How do we explain to our children that we chose to honor the few at the expense of the many, and that while many of us enjoyed some measure of prosperity and success in our time, we unfortunately cannot pass those same opportunities on to them because … why, exactly?
Who wins? Who loses?
It might be a good idea to ask those two questions when ideologies serve as the foundation for policy proposals. Answers might be enlightening.
(Adapted from a recent blog post of mine)
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