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The divisiveness of American politics has been much bemoaned as of late. Many people are tired of a government that doesn’t seem to get much accomplished and yearn for bipartisan cooperation in which elected officials from both parties come together and find common sense solutions for the good of our country.
I understand this urge, yet I believe the bipartisan spirit should extend beyond the political realm to society’s attitudes towards economic inequality. Far too often, labor unions, lawsuits and government programs are scapegoated for all of the woes of working-class Americans by a partisanship favoring the interests of big businesses.
At the beginning of the month, Exxon-Mobil reported record profits for the second year in a row, this time $40.6 billion for the fiscal year 2007. For those who don’t take time to consider the concept, profit is money made beyond the cost of doing business, which includes capital investments such as equipment and securing the stocks of shareholders.
The general response in our society to all calls for taxation and economic regulation – actions to provide for the worst-off Americans – seems to be a knee-jerk reaction that these steps will invariably hurt those same people. Modest and reasonable steps tend to be hastily poo-pooed due to big-business partisanship. These include moves such as allowing George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire, raising capital gains taxes (which cover money gained by investment) to their pre-Bush levels and using the revenue for programs like universal health care.
It is argued that the cost of capital gains taxes will be passed on to consumers through higher prices, as will those of increasing the highest income-tax bracket and regulation of industries – it costs money to reduce the environmental impact of doing business and conduct research so that products are not harmful to consumers. Some claim that money collected through taxes and spent on healthcare for everyone is money taken from corporate coffers, which also hurts the wages of workers.
Yet, what’s missing from this debate is personal responsibility. Business owners are treated as if they obey laws of nature – like gravity always acting upon the world – except with an unchangeable reflex to protect their own profits. This leaves consumers to foot the bill through unhealthy products, a deteriorating environment and an increasingly steep climb to the next rung of the economic ladder.
I attended the John F. Kennedy Elementary School as a child, and painted in large letters in our cafeteria were his famous words “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” I believe this statement rings most true for the wealthiest among us, as they have the greatest capacity to serve their country with the least effort, and have clearly benefited from the economic structure of our society more than everyone else.
John McCain has recently taken to saying on the campaign trail that a new generation of Americans need a cause greater than their own self-interests to serve. I absolutely agree, but I suspect the cause he wants them to serve has more to do with tours of duty in Iraq – where he says the U.S. may be for another 100 years – than giving a hand up to their fellow citizens.
Whoever the next president is, and regardless of where any coming elections lead our country, Americans should devote themselves to this worthy cause beyond their self interest, that of helping their fellow man.
Derek Dobachesky is a fourth-year political science major.
