It's impossible, for starters.
Think you can control outcomes? Hardly. While one's environment certainly has major effects on how one behaves, there seems to be plenty of evidence to suggest that two different human beings will experience two different outcomes (arising from different sets of choices) given the same exact starting point and environment.
But, is that REALLY what the vast majority of liberals in America want?
I don't think so..it's not what I'm looking for (for others), nor do I believe it is what the majority of others of my political persuasion are, either.
So, I respond to David Limbaugh and Neal Boortz.
David Limbaugh, in another one of his high n' mighty articles, claims that liberals really want "equality of outcome" instead of "equality of opportunity". One of the prevailing reason we "hate" "capitalism" is because it does not guarantee equality of outcome...and it's not like good Amurrican conservatives like himself want "economic anarchy" or no laws governing economic activity (because those damn pot stores in SF are ILLEGAL.)
I was listening to Neal Boortz yesterday while at lunch, and he was on a righteous rant about "wealth envy": that those who have succeeded and are now comfortable/well-off/rich/wealthy have all started from scratch, built their way up by working 70-hours a week and either being noticed or growing their skills, and therefore anyone who wants to tax those individuals more are really just wealth envious and don't work as hard (you can get the podcast at NealBoortz.com).
Before you ask, this is why I do it:
"Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster." - Sun Tzu
So, here ya go, David and Neal. I would wager you or someone working for you scans Dkos daily, so I hope you/they see this.
It's not about equality of outcome. Equality of outcome is impossible, because we're human...we have genetic predispositions, and will make different choices given the same set of circumstances. Even if the state controlled every aspect of economic status and reward within our society, some of us would be loved more, hated more, respected more, ignored more. It just is what it is.
It is about expectation, however. It's even about expectation of outcome. But it's not about expecting the same outcome for everyone regardless..no sir....it's about the expectation of a MINIMUM outcome per WORK/EFFORT performed.
What do liberals like me expect?
We expect that if we DO work our asses off, that we'll be paid above poverty wages.
We expect that if we send out 1,000 job applications, some business out there will be going well enough to hire us.
We expect that the employers out there will not be so burdened with taking care of our own personal health, that they can function profitably.
It's also not about wealth envy. "Envy" is jealousy. Sure, there are absolutely some, as Neal went on about, that do 40 hours a week in their cubicle, do just enough to satisfy quotas or expectations, and then go home, and judge the guy driving next to them on the freeway in a BMW as greedy, or a trust-fund baby, or a criminal. However, even the most liberal among us know that, for the majority of folks driving on the freeways with the rest of us, none of the above is true.
It's not envy when our car is repossed and we cannot get to work. It's need.
It's not envy when we can't feed our kids...it's necessity and emergency.
It's not envy when you I wonder why you can make so much clicking a few times on a computer that's hooked up to the stock exchange...it's morbid curiosity as to why I cannot do the same working 65 hours a week making things that are supporting that stock you're trading.
So really, why not look me up next time you've got a righteous rant, David and Neal?
