As we read the daily press
We can only guess
What motivates the crowd
That says nothing but says it loud
And lives to excoriate
While choosing to hate
Neighbors: you and me
For sharing the world we see
And the blessings and burdens therein
But where do we begin
When their credo is a sign
Screw you, Jack: I got mine
The commonwealth, or the “common good” is a concept that
goes back centuries into an England that had seen the power of the monarch as
much in abuse as in benefit of the citizenry and had worn weary of the lopsided
distribution of power. Not only
was there inequality in wealth and opportunity, but the rules (the
institutions) in force perpetuated the status quo. So you had a bad year and were hungry? Your duty is to give the first full
measures to your lord. This might
simply be the lord of the manor or perhaps to a tax collector who reported to
the king. The good of the realm
was measured as the pleasure of the lords therein. It is a step worse than our current far
right Libertarians, but a natural sibling of the logic. A Libertarian believes that the
individual is sacrosanct and should be able to trump the common good. If you would examine that a little more
deeply, you would see how that has a powerful gravitational pull, but is flawed
because what you may see as individual liberty, I might see as a threat to my
welfare. If you believe that you
have an absolute right to not get a flu shot, but expose me to the flu, then my
rights to life and liberty are diminished, especially if I am older or already
weakened by another issue. That is
but one example as we explore others to expose this Libertarian logic for what
it is instead of being swayed by the distortion of freedom into absolute and
chaotic liberty from common sense.
Very recently, the Senate refused to extend the payment of
unemployment benefits to workers who have ”run out” of their entitlements
although they still seek work (by filibuster). Some in the GOP want any expense there to be balanced by a
reduction in the budget somewhere else (food stamps again?). Those same conservative senators who
brought on the closure of government costing us all some $24 Billion did not
argue for making up that loss by reducing the budget dollar for dollar in some
category such as subsidy reduction.
Hmm. So it is OK to blow
big money without benefit and put our lives on hold, but that should not be
paid for by a common sense reduction in some subsidies, say in big oil or yacht
support? And tell me again how that
benefits the common good? I do not
remember that in any course in macro or even microeconomics. Then, perhaps it was a class in ethics,
where it is preferable to force a human being to grovel in order to provide
food for his/her family. Perhaps
it was in political science and civics where, if you do not get your way in an
election, you can resort to mass punishment of all the people to retaliate
against your political enemies as in New Jersey? Maybe in that Old Time Religion Course where the sins of the
fathers are visited upon the sons in perpetuity? “I am sorry, but you must bear the punishment of poverty
because you are not among the “Elect.”
Now the GOP is among the elect, so are they all to be saved (predestination by party?). Unfortunately, many of the workers who
were denied continuation of benefits were Republican, but poor Republicans
don’t count. Let us punish the poor and make them squirm for losing their jobs
caused by the Elect sending them to China so the elected might make a little more
money in business. Forget the
“common good” and let us reward the uncommonly good. Is that not what the trickle of trickle down is all about? If you make the working poor grovel and
frighten them enough, they will cry and perhaps pee their pants and demonstrate
the trickle down effect. If you
are good enough, maybe you can see them bleed while they plead. It is easier to face them than big oil
or yacht owners who might reduce their support of our political campaigns. “The people who support us are
uncommonly good and that is why we refer to them as people just as the Supreme
Court defined them.” Think Wal-Mart
or your own “favorite person” charity.
That department store provides employee benefits kits that include
instructions on claiming state and federal health and food stamp support
instead of living wage compensation.
Uncommon wealth? About 60%
of Wal-Mart employees get healthcare that we citizens subsidize directly
because pay and benefits are inadequate despite the phenomenal wealth of the
owners.
Aside from the obvious violations of fairness, we have a
new series of attacks on the poor that are actually a reprise of 19th
Century history. We take public
education as a given right, in fact, that was a major element in the American
concept of commonwealth from the very beginning. In reading European history, however there is wide
documentation that upper classes feared that educating the lower class might
bring on revolution. This was a
class concept in the 19th century that included children. The American education system differed
with the purpose to produce effective citizens without regard to economic
status. Most recently, we have
seen the proliferation of myriad ways to promote private education and
“vouchers” to minimize or even avoid the mission of educating all Americans. Even last week, the House Speaker spoke
of ways to increase school vouchers (and simultaneously reduce overall funding
for schools). Whatever else that
practice brings, it reduces quality education for the great majority of
Americans. Beware of changes
wrapped as gifts that are programs for the connected.
Rules for bankruptcy increasingly favor the banks and debt
owners. The income inequality
continues to get worse. Upward
mobility is increasingly worse. We
are now 20th in social mobility linked to economic achievement. Of 35 developed nations, we rank 34th
in child poverty. In short, the
rules for our society no longer consider the common good to be a significant
factor in business or legal decisions.
A company, state or local government can create a pension fund for
employees, yet, if Bain Capital or JPMorgan Chase decides to loot those
pensions, then the real people who undergo colonoscopies and heart attacks lose
it all without recourse as happened so often, especially in 2011. Common good? Bain can loot the pensions and then stash the money overseas
and out of reach all very legally.
Worse, you do not have the right to be told about it until it is too
late. Information shielded by the Citizens United ruling permitted Gina Raimondo,
Rhode Island treasurer, to strip most of the government pensions of RI and give
them to corporate raiders like Bain without benefit to workers or the state and
without penalty. Would you like to
consider the environment and the common good? The recent water contamination by Freedom Industries in West
Virginia resulted in immediate bankruptcy filing by the owners who are unable
to restore the water. They were
given free reign in loose regulation and no financial responsibility or
physical responsibility to restore the resource. Common good? Do
you think that the XL pipeline would be different? The “conservative” element that proposes these projects is
adamant about two things. One, the
profits must be privatized and concentrated more and more for fewer and fewer
beneficiaries, and two, that any losses or liabilities must be socialized by
the general public. In other
words, if all goes well, they win big.
If bad stuff happens or if they want your pension to make a business
deal, you lose. You lose
money. You lose environmental
integrity. You lose your share of
the common good. You get to hold
the bag for the raiders and the looters. They have the power of the Supreme
Court behind their legal and yet highly unethical practices. The once cultivated British/American
concept of commonwealth (the common good) has been neatly replaced by a set of
rules that favors the few despite the loss of a monarchy. If you had not looked, you might have
missed it, because the promotion of the new order has been clever and sometimes
subtle. “All we need is for
corporations to have a free hand and we will see jobs and prosperity.” Reduce regulation and the market forces
will ensure jobs and success.”
“Reduce wages and we will become more competitive.” Would you like a little (traffic) jam
on that bridge? Mark this: The underlying cause of the New
Jersey scandal will be big profits for a connected few. Look for it in the coming weeks. It is institutionalized and rooted like
political payback.
Peace,
George Giacoppe
20 Jan 2014
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