Article/Blog Comments Reveal Scary Stuff

As I perused political articles and blogs, checking "the pulse" of America one fine morning, I noticed a common thread among the comments -- lack of a complete understanding of the issue these people are commenting on. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a scientific study on what the average American thinks. I know that the average American is probably not commenting on online articles and blogs. However, these people are more likely to be vocal when it comes to politics. So to brush off their comments is to miss an important piece of the American political landscape.

I'm not saying that they all have bad information or a lack of information. Perhaps some of them purposely leave out pieces of an issue to suit their beliefs and desires. That’s what our elected officials do all the time, so it's not a stretch to believe that they've picked up that bad habit.

I recently read an article about the proposed tax increase on those making over $250,000. One person made a seemingly innocent comment that just because people making over $250,000 COULD afford higher taxes, doesn't mean they should be subject to them. Of course not. That’s not how the tax system works, so that’s not even an argument. If we did base taxes only on who could afford more, our government would have a lot more money because many rich people would be paying and paying. And that commenter probably needs to read my post about what makes people bad voters. Taxes are government revenue that’s spent on defense, education, infrastructure and, of course, many other things. SOMEONE has to pay for it, and when you get right down to it, people making over $250,000 can absorb the extra taxes a lot easier than Jane and Joe Lunchpail, who on average make about $50,000.

Which leads to a totally ridiculous comment on the same article, stating that any money that goes to the government is wasted, so why give them more money to waste. It's all wasted? Really? Do you drive to work, sir? On paved roads? Then thank the government. Do your parents, or maybe even yourself, benefit from Medicaid/Medicare? Then you need to give props to the good ol' gov'ment. Do you have children in public schools? Government. And I certainly hope you're not against government testing of medications, food, toys and a whole slew of other consumer products that could cause serious problems if not carefully regulated.

So you may not like all of what the government spends money on, and you may think the majority of it is pork. I can't argue with that. I agree that there is too much extremely irritating pork barrel spending out there. But before I go spewing vitriol about it, I check myself to make sure I'm not benefitting from said pork. After all, it's only pork if it's going to someone else's state, right?

And that's the final problem. The "I want mine and screw everyone else" attitude that is somehow becoming acceptable now. Probably due to the perception that anyone who is NOT making $250,000 has only themselves to blame. Which is, quite frankly, stupid. Many people bust their butts their entire lives and just barely get by. Others work hard and see it pay off. So there's clearly some bit of luck involved. Read “The Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell before you disagree with me.

There are also those who are lazy and suck off they system. I'm clear on that. But I don't want to penalize the hard-working, unlucky folks who legitimately need help just because a few bad apples are content to let others support them. Do I want to support freeloaders? No. Do I understand that we just have to do it? Yes. Let's not forget that there are usually kids involved, too. Kids who are completely blameless for their parents' shortcomings. Kids who will be part of the future of this country. And we can stop acting like welfare recipients are living the good life sucking off the system. Would you want to trade places with them? So you could enjoy that fabulous work-free life? I didn’t think so.

We need to think about the entire issue and ALL the ramifications before we decide one thing or another. Just because a policy benefits a few people who "don't deserve it," doesn't mean the policy is bad. It just means that we need to work harder to prevent the undeserving folks from taking advantage. Although, you may want to rethink THAT position, too. After all, it would require more government intervention, a.k.a. more money.