Every day my conservative co-host on my radio show reminds of the conservative belief system - low taxes, small government, strong military. What does the kos community think of my reply?
Every day my conservative co-host on my radio showreminds of the conservative belief system - low taxes, small government, strong military. I get the exact same line from every conservative guest I have on the show. I have been mentally testing a progressive bumper sticker mantra to insert into the conversation with same speed, simplicity and immediate understanding of the conservative bumper sticker. I would like comments on it and suggestions. My progressive bumper sticker is:
Fair taxes - Right sized government - Real security
What this means...first draft of thinking that led here.
Right-size government
Enough government to do what we want; the right government to know what that is.
Government exists to serve the needs of the citizens. Security, fulfillment, recreation, education, hope for the future. Some things it should provide, others it should create an environment in which citizens – either singly, or in informal groups or artificial constructs like corporations or non profits - provide. The government should be big enough to provide these things quickly, easily, professionally and efficiently, but not so big that government becomes a goal in itself, bent on its own growth. The ultimate goal is to create a secure, prosperous environment in which all citizens can achieve their goals.
To accomplish this, government must have a way to determine what the needs of citizens are and what the environment is that will enable them to reach their goals. In the American context, this is democracy. In other places it is a visionary, a benign dictator or a collective government or even a religion. But here, for us, it is democracy. The ultimate measure of a nation's success is hope for the future and personal growth for all residents. For Americans, and much of the rest of the world, it is some combination of democracy and capitalism. Democracy tells the government what services the people want and what they are willing to pay for them. Capitalism provides most, but not all of what they need.
Fair taxes
The people have told their government through the democratic process that they want a rational, progressive tax system. Progressive in that it requires people and institutions to contribute more of what they earn to the common good as they grow in wealth. It has also decided that taxes apply to corporations although they are not people and the people who work in them and own them also pay taxes. This is not double taxation – corporations use tangible resources (like roads) and intangible services (like laws) of government to make money. Because capitalism is the foundation of the American economy and corporations are the dominent players in the capitalist marketplace, corporation taxation must be robust enough to capture the cost of the services used by corporations - including social and environmental - and more for the common good, but not so large that it impedes competition, innovation and the jobs people rely on.
The goals and form of taxation have been set through the democratic process; they are policy choices and they could be different if the people had demanded it. We could adopt a regressive system; we could exempt corporations or tax them at close to 100%; we could tax assets or asset growth instead of focusing on income, but we did not. It is a democratic decision and we have made it for a progressive system based on fairness - the idea that it is fair for those who have much and use much to pay more.
Real security
The world is violent, aggressive and predatory. There are many nations and non national groups who want to do harm to the US and to one another. The nation needs to be protected against them. But the impact of the violent world has little impact on the daily lives of ordinary citizens. More than ten time more people die in car accidents every year than died in 9/11. In 2008, 2% of Americans were victimized through larceny, almost 5 of 100,000 Americans were murdered, 7 out of every 100,000 women were raped, almost 800 of every 100,000 people were burgled. For most Americans , the violent world is the world they live in is here and real security is local police, crime prevention programs, gang suppression programs, confiscation of illegal firearms, after school programs, efficient crime labs and courts.
Economic security is also important. Predatory banks that steal from people with high interest rates, false advertising, trick contracts destroy people’s security. Being victimized by corrupt employers who withhold pay, take away promised benefits, operate unsafe work places also destroy people’s security. Environmental security is important. Products and companies that poision and injure, destroy the people’s resources in parks and wildlands and the oceans take away that security. And health is the ultimate personal security. It requires a robust public health infrastructure and available, affordable health care
so in addition to a military that protects the sovereign, real security means a national infrastructure of police, courts, laboratories, regulatory agencies and public health organizations and universal health care are real security.