Where We Stand Today
Statism, Taxation and Education
A theme that seems to be taken for granted in America today is that we supposedly all want the same things. The essential idea that many people hold here is that the majority of the United States population has common interests; therefore, taxation is effective because it expresses the will of the majority. This is a Utopian (or perhaps fascistic) aspiration for society that has not yet been achieved. First, we must take into account how the poor, middle, and elite classes are extended the opportunity to get educated. Second, we must address what the different WE's want to do with tax dollars in our local communities, states and countries.
The opportunity to become a taxpaying citizen is not equally distributed in any society. Yes, Horatio Alger’s stories are moving, but there are Mexican day laborers who work harder than most Americans and make less than minimum wage. This makes the opportunity to pay for one's own healthcare very difficult. It appears once we make some coin, WE don't want to share revenue with others in the form of taxes for Education and Healthcare....well, fine. Create a fool proof system that guarantees everyone is contributing to the economic pie, and then pay for these essential needs. I am certain this will involve taking away some freedom of choice and liberty; all you have to do is look towards practical, real life examples of communism or fascism in the 20th century to understand this fact.
Often there exists a class of people (generally the ones with the power and wealth) that don't want to allow others to become well educated. This class often ends up keeping all the wealth and opportunities to themselves.
You will have a fight on your hands.
What will you do with that group, their political influence, and the power behind their wealth?
Education in many forms is necessary in order to compete for wealth creation opportunities. Unfortunately, when one becomes wealthy it is natural to become headstrong, conservative, protective, and over confident about how they created personal wealth.
Men kept women from education and wealth creation opportunities, Whites did this to Minorities and Jews, and the Upper class has done it to the lower classes since the beginning of time, and everyone has exercised their supposed inherent authority over youth in some manner or another.
Can we uncover this practice today? You have to dig deep into the legal framework of most societies to uncover institutionalized systemic practices that deny opportunities to others. Overt discrimination is no longer acceptable. Most developed societies can cover up systems that deny opportunity to groups with propaganda and anger over issues like illegal immigration. It is common to scapegoat a group and cover up the real truth. The wealthy can use their wealth to steer contracts and business opportunities in their direction and better educate their offspring to perpetuate a closed system. Often these people know exactly what they are doing, but the offspring have no clue until it is too late. Well...knowledge is power, and it is never too late to share.
Are we sharing with lazy people who are not contributing to the economic pie? This seems to be the dilemma we have with ourselves over issues like Healthcare. To calm the poorly informed citizenry, academics should get out of their Ivory Towers perhaps they can uncover who is contributing and who is undeserving of Healthcare from tax dollars.
The practice of financial aid is a perfect example of a way to reverse the continuation of a systemic practice that allows the wealthy to keep more of the wealth in the hands of a few families, as is affirmative action. While affirmative action may irritate some minority geniuses and conservative thinkers, it will produce people who can be voices for the problems in the system, i.e. a voice for the lack of opportunity in the system from education to job creation and in the work force. Financial aid gives opportunities to the less fortunate in education and brings fresh eyes into a system that has previously excluded them. It is not just about tax dollars, healthcare and education, but it is a fresh perspective on various unresolved issues.
Taxation originated as a process whereby the government would step in and redistribute money from the rich to the poor, as well as collecting a communal pot that could be used towards fulfilling societal desires. However, this money can get tied up or redirected by clever politicians and business leaders, and never fulfill its intended purpose: to create more opportunity for all citizens.
At some point back in history someone created the foundation that allows a family’s wealth to be created; this foundation may have been legal or illegal (whether it is via the free market and trade, slavery, or warfare). Once established their process of building wealth can be considered legitimate by the government for many years and generations. With this historical framework in mind, to take a snapshot today of and create policy that will affect future generations is irresponsible. It is not impossible to find many people from lower incomes with 4.0 GPA's, who have worked harder in school but will only make half as much at their job as you or I will someday.
Please feel free to comment below, but remember to be thoughtful and respectful.
(Because getting two points on a 10th grade extra credit blog assignment simply isn’t worth anyone’s time if you aren’t willing to sit down for a while, and think.)
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