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My friend (a strong liberal progressive) sent me this email. I thought this might make a good topic of discussion here at FYM between what both conservatives and liberals thought of this:
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Most Democrats and Republicans believe in the same ideals:
• Hard work should be rewarded
• People who take initiative and are disciplined deserve to be successful
• The free market should be free
Here is where the liberals and conservatives disagree:
Conservatives believe that there is a ladder of success located in the middle of the room, and anyone who works hard enough and is disciplined enough can climb up the ladder and reach success.
Liberals believe that there is also a ladder in the middle of the room, however, in today’s society there are many obstacles blocking the ladder, and the steps of the ladder are not currently secure. In order to ensure that we have the best and most competitive free market, there needs to be some changes to ensure the reality that conservatives believe already exists.
In other words, liberals and conservatives believe in the same ideal (hard work leads to deserved success), they just disagree with the current reality of our society.
So how do we make this ladder stronger? How do we create a society where anyone who works hard can ultimately reach success? How do we remove the obstacles that block the ladder from anyone who deserves success?
First we need a strong foundation. Government only provides the framework for our economy, but it is individual initiative and people who provide the rest. Part of our framework should include a better education system to insure a more competitive and innovative economy. The health care system should also be improved, and we should be able to live in a clean and safe environment. Parts of the foundation of our society (education, health care, and environment) needs to be secured by government because they cannot be completely trusted to the private sector. For example, if education was privatized, schools would only be built in wealthy areas and the few schools that would be built in poorer areas would suffer because they cannot bring in any income. Liberals believe that government should be involved with education, insuring a clean environment, and a health care system. This would ensure a stronger foundation for our overall society and economy.
Liberals also believe that the key to a stronger economy is a stronger middle class. I will use the ladder example again to describe our social classes. The bottom of the ladder is the poor, the middle of the ladder (the largest part) will represent the middle class, and the top of the ladder will be the rich or the most successful. The republican philosophy- which usually proposes giving large tax cuts to the top 5% of people- creates a gap between the middle class and the rich and ultimately shrinks the middle class. This of course leads to a ladder that is missing some steps in the middle making it harder for a lower or middle class person to climb up and achieve success. To understand why this is, let’s look at the alternative (or liberal) tax plan:
The wealthy rely on the middle class because they are the majority of consumers who buy products from the larger corporations. In order for the rich to be doing well, the middle class must have more money to spend buying products. In other words… people need jobs.
Most people are employed by small businesses, and almost all small businesses and their owners fall into a middle class tax bracket. If the middle class is given a substantial tax cut, small businesses will have more money to pay their employees and expand their business. Once the employees have more money, they will be able to buy more products from the large corporations, invest more in the stock market, and circulate more money into our economy. In other words, once the majority of Americans are doing better (the middle class), then the entire economy will be doing better. Even though the rich are having their taxes raised, when the middle class gets a tax cut, the rich end up making more money because the economy (stock market, businesses, corporations) are doing better. A rising tide lifts all boats. Even if you look back historically, it is statistically proven that when the middle class got a larger tax cut even when the rich had more of their taxes raised, the rich still made more money than if they were given a tax cut. This is because giving the wealthy a large tax cut at the expense of the middle class weakens our overall economy.
The progressive tax plan grows the middle class, makes the steps of the ladder more secure, and ensures that more people will be able to climb up the ladder to reach success.
In conclusion, the democrats and republicans believe that people who work hard should be successful without government intervention. The difference is the way to create this reality, or rather if this reality currently exists. The democratic ideals are that a foundation and framework secured by government with a larger middle class makes it easier for people who work harder to be successful. The conservative alternative weakens the middle class, makes the steps of the ladder unstable. The hypocrisy continues with conservatives who complain about welfare without investing more into education, and believing that anyone who does not achieve success is “lazy” while supporting policies that weaken the middle class and make it harder to get success in the first place.
To me, it is clear that the progressive movement leads to a stronger ladder and a stronger foundation- hopefully the American people will vote for leaders to make this a reality.
____________________________________________________
Most Democrats and Republicans believe in the same ideals:
• Hard work should be rewarded
• People who take initiative and are disciplined deserve to be successful
• The free market should be free
Here is where the liberals and conservatives disagree:
Conservatives believe that there is a ladder of success located in the middle of the room, and anyone who works hard enough and is disciplined enough can climb up the ladder and reach success.
Liberals believe that there is also a ladder in the middle of the room, however, in today’s society there are many obstacles blocking the ladder, and the steps of the ladder are not currently secure. In order to ensure that we have the best and most competitive free market, there needs to be some changes to ensure the reality that conservatives believe already exists.
In other words, liberals and conservatives believe in the same ideal (hard work leads to deserved success), they just disagree with the current reality of our society.
So how do we make this ladder stronger? How do we create a society where anyone who works hard can ultimately reach success? How do we remove the obstacles that block the ladder from anyone who deserves success?
First we need a strong foundation. Government only provides the framework for our economy, but it is individual initiative and people who provide the rest. Part of our framework should include a better education system to insure a more competitive and innovative economy. The health care system should also be improved, and we should be able to live in a clean and safe environment. Parts of the foundation of our society (education, health care, and environment) needs to be secured by government because they cannot be completely trusted to the private sector. For example, if education was privatized, schools would only be built in wealthy areas and the few schools that would be built in poorer areas would suffer because they cannot bring in any income. Liberals believe that government should be involved with education, insuring a clean environment, and a health care system. This would ensure a stronger foundation for our overall society and economy.
Liberals also believe that the key to a stronger economy is a stronger middle class. I will use the ladder example again to describe our social classes. The bottom of the ladder is the poor, the middle of the ladder (the largest part) will represent the middle class, and the top of the ladder will be the rich or the most successful. The republican philosophy- which usually proposes giving large tax cuts to the top 5% of people- creates a gap between the middle class and the rich and ultimately shrinks the middle class. This of course leads to a ladder that is missing some steps in the middle making it harder for a lower or middle class person to climb up and achieve success. To understand why this is, let’s look at the alternative (or liberal) tax plan:
The wealthy rely on the middle class because they are the majority of consumers who buy products from the larger corporations. In order for the rich to be doing well, the middle class must have more money to spend buying products. In other words… people need jobs.
Most people are employed by small businesses, and almost all small businesses and their owners fall into a middle class tax bracket. If the middle class is given a substantial tax cut, small businesses will have more money to pay their employees and expand their business. Once the employees have more money, they will be able to buy more products from the large corporations, invest more in the stock market, and circulate more money into our economy. In other words, once the majority of Americans are doing better (the middle class), then the entire economy will be doing better. Even though the rich are having their taxes raised, when the middle class gets a tax cut, the rich end up making more money because the economy (stock market, businesses, corporations) are doing better. A rising tide lifts all boats. Even if you look back historically, it is statistically proven that when the middle class got a larger tax cut even when the rich had more of their taxes raised, the rich still made more money than if they were given a tax cut. This is because giving the wealthy a large tax cut at the expense of the middle class weakens our overall economy.
The progressive tax plan grows the middle class, makes the steps of the ladder more secure, and ensures that more people will be able to climb up the ladder to reach success.
In conclusion, the democrats and republicans believe that people who work hard should be successful without government intervention. The difference is the way to create this reality, or rather if this reality currently exists. The democratic ideals are that a foundation and framework secured by government with a larger middle class makes it easier for people who work harder to be successful. The conservative alternative weakens the middle class, makes the steps of the ladder unstable. The hypocrisy continues with conservatives who complain about welfare without investing more into education, and believing that anyone who does not achieve success is “lazy” while supporting policies that weaken the middle class and make it harder to get success in the first place.
To me, it is clear that the progressive movement leads to a stronger ladder and a stronger foundation- hopefully the American people will vote for leaders to make this a reality.
