Christopher Hitchens once said, “I have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement [Libertarians] in the US that thinks Americans are not yet selfish enough.” Was he right? Are Americans selfish? One statistic could be used as a strong argument that they are not. Americans donate a higher percentage of GDP to charities than any other nationality. But that is misleading.
America has some of the lowest tax rates among industrial countries. And those industrial countries rely on the public purse to pay for universal healthcare, parental leave, the social safety net, etc. You will not find Germans, Swedes, or Canadians relying on Go Fund Me drives to cover medical costs. Yet given their druthers Republicans would cut taxes even more. And this while fighting the Medicaid expansion.
Also, in the US 100% of your charitable giving is usually tax-deductible - which is rarely the case in other countries. There the tax code allows only a fraction of charitable donations to be written off. Or it limits deductibility to only certain charities. Or it strictly limits the amount you can donate before you lose your tax benefit.
Americans are also very generous tippers. But that points to another inequality. In other industrial countries, restaurant workers and the like earn a decent wage. So wait-staff do not have to rely upon the kindness of strangers.
Add to that, despite the fact the US is the wealthiest country on the planet, the American minimum wage lags behind many developed countries. One might argue that has nothing to do with individual selfishness. However, voters pick politicians who promise not to raise the minimum wage. This means the consumer pays less for goods and services because workers do not earn a living wage.
And then there is the non-monetary selfishness. The inspiration for this diary was a pair of parents who sent their child to elementary school for a week after that child was diagnosed with Covid. I don’t know why they did. But any way you slice it, it is an incredibly selfish act. It served whatever their purpose was while upending many lives. Thanksgiving plans had to be changed as 75 students had to quarantine. Plus, you have 60 million Americans who refuse to get vaccinated — allowing COVID-19 to maintain a foothold and mutate, possibly defeating existing vaccines. And most of those refusing vaccination don’t wear masks. To them, their personal liberty is sacrosanct. The fact they may infect a fellow citizen with a potentially fatal disease is of no consequence to them.
In fairness, the US is not alone in vaccine-hesitancy. It is not the only country where a vocal minority of the population puts the majority at risk. France, for instance, has rioters taking to the streets to protest sensible anti-COVID-19 measures. But the French, of course, riot over everything.
The anti-LGBTQ+ movement is selfish. Why do others have to honor your moral code? Sexual orientation and gender identity are not crimes. Bigots might think that being gay is a choice. It’s not — but even if it were, so what? To deny others the rights you enjoy is not the act of a generous person. As Thomas Jefferson said,
“It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
And no one is injured by their neighbor’s sexuality or by which gender they identify.
Anti-choice is selfish. A woman’s body is not your property. Leave it alone. Racism is selfish. We may no longer have Jim Crow laws, but red state governments are working hard to disenfranchise minority voters. The whole concept that America was founded as a white Christian nation and thus non-whites and non-Christians are not entitled to a piece of the pie is selfish.
All politically successful countries have governments based on compromise. Lack of compromise leads to fascism, totalitarianism, and tyranny whether it be on the left or the right. Two very different political leaders know this.
A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.’ ~ Barack Obama
“The ability to compromise is not a diplomatic politeness toward a partner but rather taking into account and respecting your partner's legitimate interests. ~ ”Vladimir Putin
Let’s note that It’s probably true to say that Obama was too quick to compromise — often seemingly negotiating with himself rather than the GOP. And most people would realize that, while Putin may know the definition of compromise, he’s not someone who practices it. And instead would be an example of the uncompromising nature of totalitarianism.
In modern American politics, one political party has turned its back on compromise. No doubt some progressives are absolutists. But the entire GOP is now the party of ‘my way or the highway’. Or ‘what is yours is mine and what is mine is mine’. The far right-wing of the GOP won’t even compromise with the merely right-wing of the GOP. They are like spoiled little kids who think they get to have all the toys and nobody else gets to play with anything.
Evangelical conservatives constantly bang on about values. Well, here’s their book outlining some of these values. But I doubt the hypocrites will pay them any attention.
“It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.” ~ Proverbs 14:21
“No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” ~ 1 Corinthians 10:24
“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” ~ Exodus 23:9