At my job, I’m the type of worker who likes to stay on the peripheral of most conversations, especially when they involve subjects that can be controversial. So, many times I will hang around, listening and nodding, when discussions such as these are taking place, but I rarely delve into them. It’s not that I don’t have opinions, I just don’t want our workplace to devolve into a pointing-and-yelling-and-name-calling Fox News-style “debate.”
Yesterday I was sitting at my cube, minding my own business, when three of my closer co-workers got into an animated discussion involving health care and the plan that has been proposed by the current administration. Two of the men (W and S) took the position against the plan while the third (C) was in favor of it. It went something like this:
C: Something needs to be done. The current system is failing millions of people.
S: But we really don’t need Obama’s Marxist plan. He’s a Socialist.
W: Yeah, Socialism is bad.
C: But, it’s not Socialism. It’s…
S: Look, he’s a Socialist and that’s all there is to it. He’s going to make you use his plan and you’ll have to wait months before you go to the doctor like they do in Canada and then the government is going to kill you when you get old. Is that what you want?
Needless to say, I find it pointless to engage people like this, so I kept to myself, listening to the same talking points repeated over and over. That is, I kept to myself until this point was brought out:
S: And, if they do pass this plan, who would want to be a doctor if they can’t make as much money as they do now? Nobody is going to choose to be a doctor if they can’t make a lot of money.
So, finally I broke my silence.
Matt: Really, you think that doctors only do their job for the money? You don’t think they could possibly have some desire to help others, to make a difference, that is greater than their paycheck?
S: Yeah, I’m sure that they like to help people, but if they aren’t getting paid for it what’s the point?
Matt: Do you not think that most people would choose to do the right thing because it is right, rather than for what they will get out of it?
S: I know I wouldn’t. Why would I go to school for all of those years if I can’t get rich?
I’m no expert on the subject of the economy by any stretch of the imagination. At the same time, I feel that it can be safely assumed that most most of those who regularly throw around accusations of socialism at our governmental leaders are no less ignorant than myself. So, I found this Newsweek article to be very interesting in its look at the shift in American economic thinking. What do you think about it? Are we becoming more European? Is that not such a bad thing?
I have several friends and acquaintances that were ardently in support of John McCain during the election cycle. Their reasons given for this presidential choice covered the spectrum from incredibly ignorant and false accusations (Obama is a terrorist-loving, homosexual, baby-eating, Black Panther Nazi) to reasonable concerns (will my taxes go up?). I’ve spent a lot of time making fun of the first group, but not as much on the second, whose feelings I would like to assuage a bit at this time.
Obama has stated repeatedly that taxes would not increase for those making less than $250,000 per year and, in addition to that, many small businesses exceeding that amount would also be exempt from the increase. While I have not read the president-elect’s (doesn’t it feel good to say that?) economic plan, nor would I most likely understand it if I did read it, I am prone to believe that it is his intention. Now the question must be asked, is it feasible to not increase taxes beyond that amount?
Today our national debt stands at $10.5 Trillion, a number that is nearly double what it was in 2000. Over the past eight years, we have fought (and are still fighting) two wars, during which taxes have been cut more than once. So, by increasing spending (and I realize that there are more issues than just the wars involved here) while decreasing income, our country has obviously dug the hole in which we now stand. Something must be done. Cutting wasteful spending will certainly be needed, but a plan like McCain’s that centered around the $18 Billion worth of earmarks would be like facing the eighth plague with a fly swatter. If Obama’s calculations are correct and the combination of ending the wars and increasing taxes on the wealthy will do it, then more power to him. If not, then I won’t be particularly surprised either and the need to cut back on the frivolous pleasures of life seems to be a small price to pay to help advance the common good.
The past few weeks of the presidential campaign were replete with accusations toward our new president, but perhaps none were as often repeated as that bane of all that is Republican, Socialism. Following Barack Obama’s comment to Joe the Plumber (sorry, Joe, the sixteenth minute has arrived), that we should, “spread the wealth,” the weeping and gnashing of teeth from the Right was nearly unbearable. But, what was president-elect Obama (it just sounds right, doesn’t it?) really meaning with that statement? Is he planning on taking away your hard earned money and giving it to lazy poor people as he was most blatantly alleged? Is his plan to really turn America into a Soviet-like Communist nation?
A trip deep into an American city may give you the answer for which you seek. Take a look at the substandard schools and crumbling infrastructure. Spreading the wealth may mean more than the assumed specter of Socialism. Maybe, just maybe, we should take some interest in the well-being of our fellow human beings and do what we can to help them achieve. It doesn’t need to be in the form of a welfare check (vulgarity of vulgarities!) as many of those on the Right of the spectrum often allege, rather, by spreading the wealth perhaps we could clean up the streets and improve schools and enhance the quality of health care for those less fortunate. It is time that we realize that empathy does not have to equal Socialism.
Then perhaps we will realize that spreading the wealth isn’t such a bad thing after all….
