Tag: Inequality

Inequality

“Patriotism is loyalty to the country always; loyalty to the government when it deserves it.”[1]

In these times of coronavirus, disrespect for science, economic instability, cases of police brutality, and poplar uprisings against bigotry, we need a functioning government worthy of respect and loyalty. The underlying causes of these events have been simmering largely unrecognized for decades. One way to approach a partial understanding of them is to briefly examine bigotry.

The Unites States is one of few governments on the face of Earth that has erected monuments celebrating traitors against the government. A traitor is “a person who betrays his or her country; one guilty of treason or treachery.”[2] Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution declares treason consists in levying war against the U. S.; every confederate General and soldier is a traitor guilty of treason; this is true regardless of how the war ended. Our soldiers in the American Revolution were traitors in England but that struggle was successful, as a result we are one separate and free country. Declaration of war by southern states against the national government was an act of treason; those participating in this treason are traitors. They did not declare war on the north because it was not a separate political entity; war could only be declared on the national government. Currently there are even military bases on American soil named after traitors; these bases house brave, loyal American soldiers; a travesty.

When I moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania in the late 1960’s, I had no concept of southern history. I subsequently bought a house near Summerville and began my working life. Later I took walks through the subdivision where I lived and noticed the names of various streets. It was many years before I realized the significance of these names. Most of them were named after confederate generals. One general, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, was celebrated by four streets; I lived on Toutant Court. One street was named Longstreet; naively I assumed this was because it was a long street but General James Longstreet was General Lee’s principal subordinate. Another street I walked on was Ruffin; I remember at the time having a creepy feeling about that name but only now do I realize its significance, forty years later. Edmund Ruffin was a Virginia land owner and political activist advocating slavery and states’ rights; after the war he committed suicide so he would not have to endure Yankee rule. I would not want to live on a street celebrating such a cowardly individual.

This is only one small subdivision near one moderate sized town in one state in the south; however, this state was the first to secede from the United States in December 1860. It offers an idea of how deeply bigotry permeates southern life. White society is largely oblivious, while human beings subjected to bigotry have been powerless for more than three hundred years. Bigotry has been an integral part of southern society, even global society, for so long eradicating it will be difficult. The only way to accomplish this is to help our sisters and brothers become more aware of spiritual truths, revealed in teachings of The Urantia Book.

Among these is the truth every thinking human being on the face of Earth has within them a spark of God.[3] God is truly “no respecter of persons;”[4] He respects everyone equally, no exceptions. When will those who pretend to follow teachings in the Bible realize this?

Black lives matter; brown lives matter; LGBTQ lives matter. That is a truism. It is heartening to witness sisters and brothers of all colors and orientations marching in solidarity with this realization. These demonstrations are taking place in many lands.

Any nation cannot function efficiently if a portion of that nation is systematically marginalized, disenfranchised, put down. Each citizen of every nation must become empowered to become the best they can be and contribute to society; only then can society continue smoothly into the future. Our society is not even close to approaching this moral goal.

Other trends also contribute to current events; one is oppressive materialism which contributes to inequality. With materialism there is generally no consideration of the rights and needs of others, its goal is to increase one’s own wealth.

Current economic policy is built largely on “trickle down” economics where government assistance is donated to the wealthy in the hope they will trickle part of this upon those in need. Instead of “trickle down,” why not “growing up?” Instead of giving wealth to those who already have wealth, hoping some of this might be “trickled down” upon the rest of humanity, why not give assistance to those truly in need? Unlike the wealthy, those in need do not have the luxury of “options.” The wealthy have many options to place wealth they receive, and out of this multitude only one is to bestow, or trickle down, their largess upon those requiring assistance. “Growing up” would involve giving assistance to those in need (what a radical concept!) with the knowledge they have a very limited set of options. Most of these options are concerned with protection of life itself: feed the children, pay the rent, buy clothes for the children, pay for needed medication, transportation to work, child care expenses, and so much more. There might also be an occasional bottle of something to ease their pains and bring relaxation, good for them. The wealthy have options while those in poverty have very few. Most of the funds they receive will quickly be put into circulation. In this case, to receive funds, the wealthy would actually need to do something, such as provide services which needy persons could now afford; they would actually need to put forth effort to receive wealth the same as everybody else.

Seeking to remedy this situation, radical proposals have been made by politicians who care about assisting the disadvantaged. These proposals have not received wide-spread support because paying for them would be difficult. This funding would not be such a problem if welfare for the wealthy were replaced with “growing up,” assisting those in poverty. Politicians should also consider there are several orders of magnitude more needy individuals than there are wealthy welfare recipients, and they would certainly vote their thanksgiving, if given assistance.

How do we get from here to there?

There are proposals for doing this; one of them states: “White Supremacy, a political economy based on the disenfranchisement of people of color and concentrating wealth among the white population, is the foundation and on-going pre-existing condition that brings disproportionate harm to communities of color in crisis after crisis from Katrina to COVID.”[5] Institutionalized economic inequality and racism are intimately interconnected. This structure of society has been in place for so long there appears to be no hope in overthrowing it; however, with a strong motivating force these radical proposals could become reality. The vital element is a strong, faith based, desire to make a difference in the world; a desire to enlarge the concept of the brotherhood of all humans so it truly includes all humanity.

This proposal involves three phases; Phase one is Emergency Measures. This would start with improved data collection on racial inequality; changes cannot be made without proper data. Using this data, proposed recovery plans would be audited with respect to their effect on racial inequality. There would be income support that transitions into a guaranteed income. This report also suggests expanding the Postal System to include banking; this would allow the disadvantaged to gain access to financial products they currently cannot obtain.

Phase two is Emerging from Recession, the first element of which is Medicare for all. “The racial disparities in Covid-19 mortality dramatize the moral necessity to have a system that boosts overall health equity and wellness.”[6] The next proposal would promote equitable home ownership and housing. There would also be a federal jobs guarantee with a living wage; these may be public service jobs with the government being the employer of last resort. Finally there would be Baby Bonds given to every newborn, they would be managed by the government and be available for home purchasing and other investments when adulthood is reached.

Phase three is Interrupting Inequality, which has several tax reform proposals aimed at reducing inequality.

Proposals for making society more equitable for every mortal are out there waiting to be implemented; we must have the will to fully realize them. Each one of our sisters and brothers has within them a spark of God; society must act on this truth because its future is at risk.

  1. There are a few versions of this attributed to Mark Twain. ↑

  2. Third College Edition Webster’s New World Dictionary of American English, Victoria Neufeldt and David B. Guralnik eds., Webster’s New World, Cleveland and New York, 1988, p 1418. ↑

  3. Bible, I Corinthians 3:16 ↑

  4. Bible, Acts 10:34 ↑

  5. “White supremacy is the pre-existing condition: eight solutions to ensure economic recovery reduces the racial divide” by Darrick Hamilton, Preface, Co-authors Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins and Omar Ocampo, downloaded 7/2/20 from https://ips-dc.org/white-supremacy-preexisting-condition-eight-solutions-economic-recovery-racial-wealth-divide/, p 2. ↑

  6. Hamilton et.al p 4. ↑