One of my all time favorite Dr. Seuss stories is Yertle the Turtle. It is the story of greed and power in governance and the ultimate harvest of such perverted agendas. Here in the U.S. we seem to have a serious problem. It's not just a turtle in the present circumstance but rather a herd of jackasses. A recent post on an NPR blog reveals how the Republican House released a proposed budget to cut billions from the federal budget-- $6 billion of which would be taken from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and another $8 billion which would be taken from programs related to the new healthcare law.
These are terrible times in this country, a country that has exemplified the wisdom and good to be gained from hard work, unity and working toward the common good. These proposed cuts are nothing more than an obscene gesture flipped at the ever growing mass of Americans who belong to that swelling mass of "have nots." The number of those in this country who previously occupied the middle class-- that working class socioeconomic hallmark of democratic well-being, and who now find themselves "has beens" and "have nots"-- that number is exploding.
The argument that we can stimulate broad social and economic well-being by further eliminating or reducing taxes to accommodate business and the "job creators" is improbable, historically inaccurate and entirely self-serving to a socioeconomic minority. It's akin to asking one to buy more chickens because there's a problem with foxes. This isn't just the fox in the hen house. This is the fox in the hen house demanding the farmer buy more chickens. Anyone who honestly believes that lowering taxes and greasing the wheels of industry will lead to a better world for all Americans needs to visit Mr. Peabody: Set the Way-back Machine to the year 1898, Sherman.
I can only hope that somehow, someway, and someday soon, people will become wise to the fact that arguing against taxes and some degree of redistribution of wealth is suicide to a democracy. It is the road to social ruin and, ultimately, a failed society. Especially in these difficult times after the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs shipped overseas in deference to corporate profit. Especially in these difficult times when job growth is in entry-level service and retail positions that offer limited potential for growth and no significant benefits. Especially in these difficult times when the tax contributions of corporations and the wealthiest citizens are relatively meager or absent altogether.
To be sure, other steps need to be taken. The era of entitlement must come to a close. Everybody in this country needs to be doing something to contribute. Sitting home collecting welfare and disability payments without obligation is every bit as detrimental to the longterm health and welfare of our society. But slamming the door on fingers and toes, and leaving half your population out to freeze in the cold is not the way to achieve a balanced and healthy social order. Neither an economically lopsided society nor a welfare society can thrive for more than a few decades in modern times-- and their failures have often been bloody, the victory often pyrrhic: Everybody loses.
It's mostly for selfish reasons I get so angry about this. I don't especially want my children to grow up in a society that is spiraling into a late 19th century model of social stratification. I want what my generation's parents wanted for us: A good life with others enjoying a good life. Not extreme wealth. Not extravagance. Just educated, employed, and well cared for. Apparently we are coming to a time when that is simply asking for too much.
Proposing cuts to education, labor, healthcare and social services is just a blatant declaration on the part of the House majority saying, "That's it! We're tired of carrying you, you losers!" It's not jobs they're trying to create, it's profit and wealth.
With any luck at all, the collective American "Mack" will burp this November and Yertle will tumble.
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