It's not so black and white

A FB friend posted a link to an article written by Ed Will. She found it "interesting" but made no comment on Will's statements. So, I thought about how I might engage Mr. Will if I were talking with him about his points, and figured my thoughts would go something like this:

According to Will (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150422574527734&set=a.98301942733.92939.541152733&type=1&theater):

“1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.”

My thought: No wealthy person is in danger of being legislated out of existence, but the poor often need protective legislation so they can survive. The wealthy receive many hidden and explicit benefits unavailable to the poor. If their gratitude for those benefits was passed along in the form of jobs, etc. there would be no need for protective legislation. As Henry Ford noted, “There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.” He recognized the success of his business depended upon a population earning enough to be able to purchase his products (even if all his business ventures were not so noble).

“2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.”

My thought: This statement contains the assumption that only those who work give, and only those who do not work receive. I have worked beside migrant laborers who put me to shame with their industry. They would never be anything but poor regardless of how many hours of back-breaking work they were willing to do each day. And most of them were paid so poorly they qualified for government assistance. I’ve also worked beside those who had been given the best education, the best opportunities, and put in the least amount of effort to have lives of wealth beyond my imagination. It takes more than a single broad brush to paint a masterpiece.

“3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.”

My thought: This statement implies only the “haves” are being cheated. Michele Bachman expressed this idea more explicitly when she said, “Part of the problem is today, only 53% pay any federal income tax at all; 47% pay nothing.” (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/08/17/gop-candidates-too-many-americans-pay-no-taxes/) What is not usually noted is that more than 80% of those who pay no taxes live in poverty. They are among the poorest in our nation, and it’s unlikely that any tax required of them would come close to what would be paid by the 3.2% in the two highest earning categories … if they paid any taxes at all. (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?DocID=3057)

A much greater concern should be the many wasteful and immoral areas of spending by our governments, federal, state, and local, that are gifted to various regions and programs based not on need but on greed. I am an American, and I support our government, so I am willing to pay my fair share even when I do not believe the funds are being used properly. As long as I have a home and food and the amazingly comfortable life that I have, I would rather be found guilty of giving too much rather than too little.

“4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!”

My thought: This statement makes little sense. Our nation is not about “multiplying wealth.” It is, however, based on a concept of fairness that extends even to the realm of opportunity. Those who have been blessed to receive a great deal should be willing to share accordingly; their blessings do not always come because of their hard work any more than a really hard working person is always assured of achieving monetary success.

“5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.”

My thought: This is an unfair characterization that half our nation worked hard to earn its wealth and the other half is lazy and sucking the lifeblood of those who have earned what they have. The truth is there are some taking advantage of the system to get government handouts, but the wealthy are as likely as the poor to be in that category. The difference is we call handouts to the poor “welfare” but handouts to the rich “subsidies.”

About 8% of the population received ANY sort of welfare assistance, but only 1.7% received more than 50% of its income from welfare. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_people_in_US_are_on_welfare).

btw, in my opinion there is NO person who can possibly be worth the average $31,232 per DAY 299 CEOs of S&P 500 companies get. And, if one limits their work week to 5 days, that average jumps to $43,846 per DAY. (http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/)

I am deeply disturbed by the course of our nation. We seem to be marching headlong into behaviors and attitudes I find inconsistent with the life I want to live. It's harder and harder to focus on compassion and service when the national focus seems to be more on individual materialism and power consolidation, and I see that as a problem of all political groups. We are less and less willing to see the world from the other person's point of view, and that makes us less and less willing to compromise (not on principles but on actions and directions).