think about it by william e. kelly
RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, OUR ECONOMY AND GOVERNMENT IS A
PRODUCT OF THOSE IN POWER, THOSE WHO KEEP SAID PEOPLE IN POWER AND THOSE WHO SEEK TO DRIVE OTHERS FROM POWER.
salaries are not always aligned. Intrinsically, the dynamics of a democratic government, capitalism and the ongoing nature of a social and cultural evolutionary process, strive perpetually to find a mutually agreeable balance and alignment. Hence swings to the left and swings to the right seek balance, as surely as water seeks its own level. That said, rightly or wrongly, our economy and government is a product of those in power, those who keep said people in power and those who seek to drive others from power. We are a people who consist of those perceived as having more than enough of everything, those who have enough to maintain a reasonable and satisfying standard of living and those who struggle, to just keep a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs and clothing on their backs. Voters in the 2016 national elections will be challenged to understand the pros and cons of a single-payer “national healthcare” system, free college educations and a “fair” division/ distribution of the profits that investors and labor collectively generate. There are no clear, unblemished solutions. Because our citizenry is composed of many shades of gray, there is no easy guide to logically assessing the wisdom behind domestic proposals at play in choices we will make for 2016. In reality, it is not an outcome that one can unequivocally quantify. Nowhere, is there a definitive, agreed-upon standard for what that outcome should even be, or how it can be achieved to the mutual benefit of all. If we accept that democracy and free enterprise
EQUALITY:
Are we a nation where money and power determine who has access to healthcare, education, opportunity or higher
sustainable standards of living? Should we be skeptical of guaranteed national healthcare, education or profit sharing? While all are truly admirable goals, can these be realistically considered without examining the realities of the “naturally occurring” and “sometimes inescapable” inequalities of human life?
40 RAGE monthly | MARCH 2016 U.S. CITIZENSHIP: WHAT DOES OR DOESN’T IT GUARANTEE?
Our parenting, genetics, physical and mental abilities, the condition of the environments we were raised in and the experiences we have, are not and will never be 100 percent equal—or more precisely—identical. Therefore, the opportunities we have and the ability to recognize and take advantage of them will never be equal, either. For better and at times, for worse, our free market economy historically puts business owners and investors at odds with the work force that keeps the economic engines moving. The perceptions and expectations of “fair” returns and employee wages/
do not guarantee full equality in every aspect and variable of human life. Our laws provide only that we should expect and demand an equal opportunity to make the most of the cards dealt to the best of our individual and unequal abilities. None of us are guaranteed all the possible advantages or protec- tions, from all the possible disadvantages inherent in life. I dare say, that the ultimate question is this: What are our individual, societal and government’s responsibilities when it comes to caring for our less fortunate and/or disadvantaged? Do we as a society, have any obligation to those who do not have either the opportunity, or the ability, to care for themselves? Or, have we really just arrived at a more “sophisticated” model of that of our prehistoric ancestors, which dictates the survival of the most fit, most powerful and most dominant among us?
Just think about it!
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