Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A line of thinking I don't understand...
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The recent political buzzword is socialism *gasp* - I can't figure out the line of reasoning (or lack thereof) that I've heard thrown around lately:
Barack Obama plans to tax higher income citizens more than lower income - we've all heard it: Everyone making less than $250,000 would get a tax break, and businesses and individuals above that line would make up the difference, thereby "spreading the wealth." McCain is using this language as an attack against Obama - and I'm not really sure I get exactly why "spreading the wealth" is a bad thing.
As an American, I've paid taxes since I started working as a teen. I get a lot of them back because I make so little, but I understand that I pay a lot of money into a big pool, and other people decide how to best use that money for the good of all Americans. We have to have taxes, and we have to rely upon a redistribution of tax money. The issue (as I understand it) is where the bulk of the tax burden falls - upon the lower, middle, or upper class. The tax laws are written and re-written to favor some over others with the supposed purpose of benefiting as many Americans as possible.
What I hear people saying is that they are upset that more of their money will be taken away to pay for the needs of people who pay less. The reason (I think) is that it is assumed that people who make more money have worked harder and longer to make a lot of money, and deserve to keep it. While those who are making less money either haven't put in their time yet and will eventually get to the top, or that they are simply lazy and are "mooching" off of the system.
Again, as an American, this really bothers me, for several reasons - but I'll only offer one for now. In general, our country enjoys greater wealth and success than any other country in history. And yet the sentiment I hear expressed is that we want more, and we are worried that excessive luxuries we have and we think we deserve will be taken away. The result is an ever more apparent equity gap. Brian McLaren briefly describes this exponential increase of the equity gap in his book "Everything Must Change" - "If you take the top 20% of [U.S.] wage-earners and compare them to the bottom 20%, the ratio jumped from 18:1 in 1990 to 24:1 in 2000." (pg. 234) The statistics are even more sickening when considered on a global scale.
The more I consider the statements and policies of John McCain and others in his party, the more I am convinced that they are selfish, greed-driven, big-dollar-CEO-style politics that will only continue to make the rich insanely more rich, and hinder more people who are in genuine need from being able to receive assistance. In my opinion, this is fundamentally un-American.
Although this post is already (really) long, I have to address the same issue from a Christian standpoint. The mindset (again, as I understand it) that says, "I deserve to keep my riches and I am not interested in helping those below me who are in need," is clearly unbiblical. From the Hebrew laws of the Jubilee years (Lev. 25) to the first Christian communities sharing "everything in common...giving to anyone as he had need," the indisputably clear Christian attitude is showing mercy to the poor and in need by helping in real, practical ways. The minor prophets (often forgotten in modern Evangelicalism) repeatedly show God's heart for the poor and judgement against the unmerciful rich. For example, read Amos 5:11-24, "You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them...For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins..." (v. 11-12).
As I read and reflect on these verses, I am personally humbled and embarressed, and I am in awe of modern American Christianity. How have we forgotten God's heart for the poor, the needy, the sick, the stranger? (see Matt. 25) As Christians we should always be challenging our government to do more for the poor in our country, to close the equity gap, to bring greater prosperity to all people, even if that might mean a greater financial burden for those of us who can afford it.
There is clearly so much more that could be said about this - so what do you think? And by the way, if you made it to the end of this post, you will be glad to know that the above picture was taken today at the church just down the street from our house in Grove City. If you know me at all, you know how I love church signs!!!
The recent political buzzword is socialism *gasp* - I can't figure out the line of reasoning (or lack thereof) that I've heard thrown around lately:Barack Obama plans to tax higher income citizens more than lower income - we've all heard it: Everyone making less than $250,000 would get a tax break, and businesses and individuals above that line would make up the difference, thereby "spreading the wealth." McCain is using this language as an attack against Obama - and I'm not really sure I get exactly why "spreading the wealth" is a bad thing.
As an American, I've paid taxes since I started working as a teen. I get a lot of them back because I make so little, but I understand that I pay a lot of money into a big pool, and other people decide how to best use that money for the good of all Americans. We have to have taxes, and we have to rely upon a redistribution of tax money. The issue (as I understand it) is where the bulk of the tax burden falls - upon the lower, middle, or upper class. The tax laws are written and re-written to favor some over others with the supposed purpose of benefiting as many Americans as possible.
What I hear people saying is that they are upset that more of their money will be taken away to pay for the needs of people who pay less. The reason (I think) is that it is assumed that people who make more money have worked harder and longer to make a lot of money, and deserve to keep it. While those who are making less money either haven't put in their time yet and will eventually get to the top, or that they are simply lazy and are "mooching" off of the system.
Again, as an American, this really bothers me, for several reasons - but I'll only offer one for now. In general, our country enjoys greater wealth and success than any other country in history. And yet the sentiment I hear expressed is that we want more, and we are worried that excessive luxuries we have and we think we deserve will be taken away. The result is an ever more apparent equity gap. Brian McLaren briefly describes this exponential increase of the equity gap in his book "Everything Must Change" - "If you take the top 20% of [U.S.] wage-earners and compare them to the bottom 20%, the ratio jumped from 18:1 in 1990 to 24:1 in 2000." (pg. 234) The statistics are even more sickening when considered on a global scale.
The more I consider the statements and policies of John McCain and others in his party, the more I am convinced that they are selfish, greed-driven, big-dollar-CEO-style politics that will only continue to make the rich insanely more rich, and hinder more people who are in genuine need from being able to receive assistance. In my opinion, this is fundamentally un-American.
Although this post is already (really) long, I have to address the same issue from a Christian standpoint. The mindset (again, as I understand it) that says, "I deserve to keep my riches and I am not interested in helping those below me who are in need," is clearly unbiblical. From the Hebrew laws of the Jubilee years (Lev. 25) to the first Christian communities sharing "everything in common...giving to anyone as he had need," the indisputably clear Christian attitude is showing mercy to the poor and in need by helping in real, practical ways. The minor prophets (often forgotten in modern Evangelicalism) repeatedly show God's heart for the poor and judgement against the unmerciful rich. For example, read Amos 5:11-24, "You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them...For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins..." (v. 11-12).
As I read and reflect on these verses, I am personally humbled and embarressed, and I am in awe of modern American Christianity. How have we forgotten God's heart for the poor, the needy, the sick, the stranger? (see Matt. 25) As Christians we should always be challenging our government to do more for the poor in our country, to close the equity gap, to bring greater prosperity to all people, even if that might mean a greater financial burden for those of us who can afford it.
There is clearly so much more that could be said about this - so what do you think? And by the way, if you made it to the end of this post, you will be glad to know that the above picture was taken today at the church just down the street from our house in Grove City. If you know me at all, you know how I love church signs!!!
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1 comment:
Watching Tuesday's Colbert Report last night (he interviewed the actual Socialist nominee for president), I turned to my wife and said, "you know, I don't get why people are all up in arms about the possibility of Obama having socialist leanings, because, you know, socialism is kind of a good idea." Problem is, people also tend to think that decent democratic socialism is too slippery an animal, and maybe they're right; I'm no economist, after all. Still, it seems slightly unfair to throw the term around as accusatory, if only because FDR was attacked similarly and is now widely regarded as one of our greatest presidents.
Plus, I'm no economist, but as you said, if he wants to "spread the wealth", I'm not sure that'd be such a terrible thing.
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