Part 2 - The Introduction

“The real grievance of the worker is the insecurity of his existence; he is not sure that he will always have work, he is not sure that he will always be healthy, and he foresees that he will one day be old and unfit to work. If he falls into poverty, even if only through a prolonged illness, he is then completely helpless, left to his own devices, and society does not currently recognize any real obligation towards him beyond the usual help for the poor, even if he has been working all the time ever so faithfully and diligently. The usual help for the poor, however, leaves a lot to be desired, especially in large cities, where it is very much worse than in the country.”

-Otto von Bismarck, 1884 

 

[This is the second part in a series.  The first part can be found here:http://rakestrawjeff.blogspot.com/2017/05/part-1-preface.html?m=1]

Our story begins in the early 1800’s, but we have some things to go over before we begin that story.

First of all, we should acknowledge that we share a set of end goals, even if we disagree on how to reach them.  When I think about the kind of society I would like to see for my grandson and his grandchildren, I suspect it is a vision that Pope Francis would approve of. 

I also think we share a set of concerns about the present.  Crime and poverty and war and injustice are problems we all want to address.  Each human has the same fears; what will happen to me if I have an accident or have an illness?  What if I am a victim of thieves or war or a natural disaster?  What if I lose my job?  What will happen to me when I get old and can no longer work?  What will happen to my family if I should die?

These questions have always mattered, and they still do.  You and I and our families and neighbors all have these concerns, and they are quite real.  Any one of us, even if we are well prepared, can be devastated should one of these catastrophes occur.  No amount of preparation can take away the pain caused by cancer or the death of a loved one.  Hurricanes and tornadoes and floods don’t care about your net worth; if you are in their path you will feel the pain that they bring.

Those are the really bad things, but some concerns are more subtle.  Will I have enough money to send my kids to college or to retire with dignity?  What will I do if my company downsizes and I have to find a new job?  What if I don’t get that degree or can’t pay my mortgage like I thought? 

Dave Ramsey is always lecturing people about the need for basic common sense actions like buying life insurance and having a will.  And yet, people don’t do what they should.  He talks about putting away a few dollars every month into an emergency fund but if we are to believe news reports most people have done little preparation for the rainy day that we all know will come eventually.  Even the smartest of people can fail to do simple things.

There was an article recently that pointed out that all of us today are materially wealthier than John D Rockefeller was, by any objective standard.  Despise his relative wealth he did not enjoy the quality of food or health care that we do.  He could not travel like we can.  He did not have the entertainment or communication options that we have.  In many ways most of us in the United States are wealthy by that standard, and yet we are loaded with anxiety and we don’t feel as fortunate as we are.

If we sit down and think about the kind of society that we want for our grandchildren, there are certain characteristics that transcend our particular point in history.  For example, I would like my grandson to live in a peaceful society where crime is minimal.  The absence of conflict in our lives is a goal worth working toward.  And peace is not just the absence of violence; the Koreans have not engaged in violence for decades but the threat of violence hangs over them constantly.  That is not true peace.

I would like to see him live in a society that values equality.  We cannot and should not try to make everyone the same but everyone should have the same rights.  We should all be treated with the same dignity.  I want to see fairness, meaning that the rules of society apply equally to everyone regardless of their individual circumstances.  A just society should be blind to individual differences.

I want to see a society where everyone is free.  Liberty gives one the freedom to act as one chooses, so long as the rights of others are also protected.  But liberty cannot free one from the consequences of bad decisions.  You have the freedom to fight the bear or grab the snake or walk off the cliff but each of these comes with natural consequences.  Likewise, if you decide to gamble or drink or invest your money foolishly those things also come with consequences, and in a free society people must face the consequences of their actions.

I would envision a society where there are no poor, but as Jesus pointed out, the poor will always be with us.  But a charitable society would have compassion on the poor, and provide charity to those in need.  Sometimes people are poor because of natural disasters or illness or the death of a parent.  Although those things are not your neighbor’s fault, a compassionate neighbor will lend assistance when a calamity occurs.

A trickier question comes when someone has made bad decisions that caused their misfortune.  Even then, a compassionate neighbor may lend a hand to help but there may be a need to provide guidance with regard to any future poking of bears.  In the case of an alcoholic who needs money for another drink, enabling bad behavior is not compassion.

A truly great society would have plenty of opportunity for everyone to engage in productive work, and there would be ample opportunities for learning and development of skills.  On the other hand, we can all recognize that human nature being what it is some humans are going to have more skill than others and some are going to put forth more effort than others.  And this is going to lead to unequal outcomes, both today and in our hypothetical world of the future.

Pope Francis is concerned with unequal distribution of both wealth and income.  So am I.  In the world I envision for my grandson the monetary reward for productive work would more closely correlate with the value of that work than they do today.  Our system is not fair.  Although we agree on this point we may not agree about the cause of that inequality or the remedy for it.  But for now we can simply agree that it needs to be improved.

As we move forward on this journey we will need to discuss the reasons for some of the dysfunction in the world today, and we will need to talk about how to get to the society that we envision for our grandchildren.  But for now, we can simply agree that there are things that need to change.

If you think about it, this is not really much of a revelation.  If you look at the polarized sides of societies throughout the world today none of them seem particularly happy with the status quo.  None of the opposing sides of the protests in the US or around the world want to keep things the way they are.  And although they disagree vehemently on principle I suspect they could agree broadly on general goals for society.

While I am at it, I need to point out that there are not just two sides.  That is one of the fallacies that we all need to get beyond.  It is tempting to look at issues as being left versus right, but that is both misleading and dangerous.  As we will see from history there are multiple sides in any conflict and more often than not people who disagree on fundamental principles will form alliances for pragmatic reasons.

Nobody envisions a world for their grandchildren with more wars and crime and poverty.  But when we square off against each other you will invariably hear such nonsense.  Nobody is endorsing slavery or tyranny or a world filled with sin.  But often if you use words like liberty or equality people will hear those words and react impulsively by thinking of you as an enemy.  Pope Francis is not my enemy.  We share common goals, and it is important for us to talk about not just our differences but our commonality.  

It is also important to understand the other person’s background, which necessarily colors each of our perspectives.  Taking the time to understand the background of a Catholic priest from Argentina or a blogger from Missouri will help each to more easily find common ground.

Perhaps just as important would be to examine our own background and inherent biases, so we know what baggage we bring to the table as well.  We can never fully erase our heritage or eliminate our biases, and we should not have that expectation.  But we can be honest about them and be aware that they color our thinking.

This is Part 2 – The Introduction.  Next up will be Part 3 – In the Beginning.