THE WORLD IN DISORDER

James R. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D.

© August 4, 2015

A READER ASKS,

WHERE IS THE GOVERNMENT IN THIS?

A READER WRITES:

I don’t often agree completely with simple statements as the world is just too complex, but with these I do with these two of yours: 

“The insanity of the tax code has been a product of Democrats, Republicans and Independents, Liberals as well as Conservatives who write the codes.

When it comes to money sense, we have not been an inspiring people.  If you have your doubts, check our history from the beginning.  We throw money at problems hoping it will stick with something approaching solutions.  It seldom does.”

I enjoyed this piece, thanks for sending it out.  A few thoughts raised by it follow.

Your analysis of our history of the foibles of labor, industry, profit and loss is interesting, but it seems to me it should have included government, which has been and is overly involved as I see it, and is less often absent at the downside of economic action than present on the upside.

The sixteenth amendment was a massive change in this country’s life.   With it “we the people” provided the government, via constitutional dictate, a claim over all property by virtue of giving it prior authority over all income earned in the nation.  The individual citizen (or business) has since owned nothing, but what the government decided to leave him. 

What is a “Fair share” is totally subjective opinion as is one of the other popular phrases used today, “Living wage”. 

How does one fairly decide “Fair share”, or accurately compute “Living wage”?  I don’t know how that would be properly done, but do believe it hasn’t happened yet.  Nor do I think I would trust the folks championing either of those conditions to honestly make the call.  One reason being their demonstrated tendency to confuse “want” with “need”.  This I think bears on the issue:

The Congressional Budget Office has just published a study, The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010, which shows that the top 40% of income earners paid 106.2% of total federal income taxes, while the bottom 40% paid -9.1%.

This isn’t the study’s headline, so you have to dig a bit to get that information, but look at Table 3 on page 13 of the study to find that information.

The Table shows that the top 20% of income earners paid 92.9% of total income taxes in 2010 (the latest year available), and the next-highest 20% paid 13.3% of total income taxes, so the top 40% paid 106.2%.

Since 92.9% of the tax burden deemed proper by our political system isn’t, in the minds of some, a “fair share” one wonders what an appropriate definition would be and, of course, who would be best qualified to write it?

Is income alone the best measure of how well the middle, or any other economic class is doing?  Might it not be as much misleading as helpful to honest discussion to focus exclusively on dollar income?  Twenty years ago neither king nor pauper had the access today provided to all who have a smartphone and that includes nearly all middle class and most lower income folks. 

You say, 

“To attempt to do for others what they best do for themselves is to weaken their resolve and diminish them as persons.  The same holds true of ourselves.” 

 It is interesting that the Federal government’s Agricultural Dept. includes the SNAP (food stamp) program and proudly boasts of feeding 40 plus millions of citizens annually. 

That same government includes the Dept. of the Interior which operates the National Park System of which both the government and “We the People” are justly proud. 

Ironically, in all our dozens of national parks there are lots of signs, but none so ubiquitous as “Don’t feed the animals”.  If you ask why, they tell you with great concern it makes the animals dependent and unable to look after themselves.” 

I keep hearing that America has the highest corporate tax rate in the world.  Is that true or not? 

If American companies could get by without paying taxes why do they so often try to move their headquarters overseas to lower their tax burden?  Also, is it not true that the decline in corporate tax payments as a percentage of government revenue occurred primarily as a result of revenue growth provided by the graduated income tax system?  In fact, I believe the government lowered excise taxes specifically to gain support for the new tax amendment.

Your comments on the importance of education are spot on.  Any failure of anyone in the top .1% of wage earners in this country to pay a “fair share” pales in its impact when compared to the failure of individuals to take advantage of the opportunities made available to them and the increasing spiral of opportunity that grows from just completing high school. 

I do not accept the argument that failure to complete high school is caused by poverty.  That argument insults every poor person who stayed and got a diploma.  The reasons for failure to graduate are more complex.

You quote C. Ingraham as writing:

“All my black friends have a bunch of white friends.  And all my white friends have one black friend.” 

That is an interesting way to suggest that integration is a failure and segregation still abounds, especially among those racist whites.  Yet there is the question, “What is a bunch?”  Could eight be a bunch?  Non-Hispanic blacks constitute 12.2% (2010 census) of the US population.  Me thinks Mr. Ingraham may be more about his agenda than facts that prove a point.

This has been fun and I could go on, but let me just finish by thanking you for continuing to bring thought to the world.

Take care,

Ted

DR. FISHER RESPONDS:

Ted,

This is a remarkable piece of work.  You bring up a number of valid points, which I’m sure will stimulate other readers upon reading yours, hopefully to check out some of your references. 

You are quite right about my intentions. 

These are difficult times and there are no simple answers to our societal problems, indeed, to our world problems. 

We are a society like any other times in the history of man only now we are a global society needing the participation of all voices from all perspectives to get a handle on our common destiny. 

Thank you for taking the time to give a well thought out response.

Jim