As campaign season draws nearer (when the hell did it become a ‘season’!?!), I start to think more about how terribly inept our politicians are and how we have managed to bring our entire economy to the brink of disaster several times over the past decade. I’ve had a couple of ideas as to why this happens for a long time now, and I even think there is a relatively easy way to fix it.
First, we have the problem of politicking vs. governing. Most would say that they are one in the same, but I see them as being complementary of each other, though not identical. Politicking, in my view, is the act of appearing to foster the will of the people in order to garner as many votes as are needed to stay in power. Governing, by contrast, is actually doing what is right for the people, whether they like it or not. These aren’t two distinctly different views, though the two ruling parties would have us think so.
In fact, the Republicans and Democrats are so diametrically opposed on so many items that you would thing that they came from different countries altogether, if not different planets! The truth is that there are about 10% of people on each polar opposite, and about 80% of us sit in the middle of the spectrum. However, since we have politically controlled media and pundits that try to force their asinine opinions upon us that we have this idea that one side must be right, and the other wrong. Here of course, our family history and people we run around with have the greatest impact. If our grand father, father, and mother are all Republican, then we tend to feel that this party is right, and the Democrats are the evil-doers of our nation that caused every problem we’re in today. If you were raised in a predominantly Democratic household, your views are the opposite.
However, I have a different perspective on why we feel and act the way we do, and this may be very controversial given today’s global economic circumstances. My opinion is that we are no longer, nor have been for quite some time, a true democracy. Nor are we a true republic either. We do have many characteristics of a democratic republic whereby we elect representatives who we hope will act in our best interest and vote on matters like we hope they will. The problem is, going back to my original point, that politicians will vote primarily along their party lines in all instances and this isn’t always what the people need.
Let’s take entitlement programs for example. Programs such as welfare, medicare, medicaid, social security, etc. The reason they are called entitlement programs is because people feel they are entitled to these programs whether they worked for them or not. Republicans are against them in many instances, and Dems are always for them. Unfortunately, we have a major fundamental problem with how the programs are administered and managed. If these programs were privately run, they would have all gone bankrupt long ago because they are so inefficient.
This brings me to my second point about how we could adjust the government and force people to start thinking long term and benefit our society more. Since entitlement spending is by far our biggest problem, let’s start here. Social Security is the “sacred cow” for many boomers, and no one wants it messed with. However, did you know that only half of all social security spending is going toward elderly retired individuals? That’s right! That means the rest is going to people who can’t or won’t work. How do we fix this issue? In my opinion it is simple, we ask this question: are people who are receiving entitlement payouts contributing to society in some fashion?
What does that mean? Well, for those who worked all their life and paid into the Social Security fund, they did contribute to society for several years by working and paying taxes etc. Those who are receiving benefits now, are they able to work at all? Or are they just sitting around the house double dipping into social security and welfare? Are they getting medicaid to pay for everything and government assistance so that they don’t need to work? If so, why? We need to stop ‘entitling’ those who are using the system and get them out there to contribute to society.
Believe it or not, there are thousands of programs out there that receive government assistance who also need people to work for them. The Peace Corps, Red Cross, and other humanitarian organizations come to mind. Why not force these people to contribute at least some time and effort to helping these programs out that do good for our country? We do that by acting like a true employer would: if you show up and help out, you continue to receive your benefits. If you fail to show up, or receive bad reviews from your superiors, you don’t.
I know that sounds harsh, but for those of us who are gainfully employed and do this every day, does it really sound that bad? For the disabled who physically or mentally cannot work, we have programs for them as well. But the non-working poor who refuse to try because life is too hard, I have one thing to say: Quit sucking off the government’s tit and try being useful for once!
How would this play out? Well, believe it or not, it’s what is keeping Germany at record low unemployment rates right now. I’m not joking- they removed so many of the entitlement programs that it actually forced people to get a life and become productive citizens again. The German citizens don’t like it of course, but who cares?!? If I were getting a 50% salary for doing nothing for years and then had to go back to work for that same salary, I wouldn’t like it either. But guess what, your employed neighbor who’s been working her ass off to support her two young children on her own, she is happy that this lazy SOB is back at work. It may not be what we like, but it’s what we need.
So, in a nutshell, I’m not saying we need to stop all entitlement spending, we just need better ways to manage the programs, and encourage some much needed productivity from those who receive it. We’ll talk about taxes and government structure next time, but for now, let’s just get people back to work in some fashion so they can become productive members of society again! It’s painful and it sucks for a lot of people, but it would make the country as a whole better. Screw what people say they want, give them what they need!
(photograph reprinted with the permission of www.thenutgraph.com)
