The Great Divide

[Subtitled “Cognitive Dissonance Revisited]

I see that another Tumblr blog has cropped up in response to the We Are the 99 Percent site. Created by conservative blogger Erick Erickson, it’s about the 53% who claim to pay the taxes for the 47% who they claim don’t pay any taxes at all. I will not link to it. If you want to find it, have at it.

First of all, we need to put this ridiculous lie to rest. It is a vicious falsehood being promoted by the right in order to portray lower income people as lazy freeloaders. This is nothing new. Those of us of a certain age (ahem) will remember Reagan’s “Welfare Queen” story. Although there will always be people who try to game the system, this was an urban legend based on nothing resembling the truth. So the right is still at it, and some people are still falling for it. The people who pay little to no income tax are still paying taxes: payroll taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes. To paint them as lazy bums contributing nothing to society or to our country is simply wrong. WRONG. If someone says this in my presence, they’re apt to get an earful, because I have had it up to here (motion towards my neck) with this nonsense.

If people don’t pay federal income tax, it’s because they have enough deductions under the federal tax structure to erase any further payments. These include deductions for the elderly and for children. If it’s not because of deductions, it’s because they simply don’t make enough to have to pay federal income tax once they take the standard deductions. Here is the best article I’ve read about the 47 percent.

So now that we’ve put that silliness to bed, what about the 53 percent and their website? Let’s look at a few. (This is where the cognitive dissonance part comes in.)

This person went to public school, then went on to get scholarships and loans for college. They served in the Army, taught college, and went on to law school and opened their own firm. That’s great! Good for you! And you DO realize, don’t you, that taxes paid to the government financed your public school, your loans, and the Army you served in? I’m sure the college where you taught also received money from the government for scholarships and research. I’m guessing at this, but I bet your law firm got plenty of deductions and tax breaks from the government. It sounds like you really made something of yourself and worked hard to get there...but you had plenty of assistance from the federal government.

This person had a mortgage and a “pile of student loans.” A federal tax code deduction and loans provided by the federal government. Again, it sounds like they worked hard to get to the point they’re at. With government help.

This is my favorite. This person goes to a public, in-state university. Federal funds. They got scholarships. Federal funds. They got a good education in high school, quite possibly (although not stated) at a public school. It sounds like they have the right idea about not living beyond their means, but much of the good fortune they’ve had has been because of the federal government.

There are other stories on that site about people’s parents being firefighters (government workers), nurses (working in a place that gets government funds via Medicare), or about people working their way out of welfare. That’s great, it really is. Here’s my question:

If it was okay for you to be on welfare or receive government aid when you needed help, why would you deny it to others?

There is a huge difference in philosophy here, and I really don’t know if it can ever be bridged. They completely misunderstand what the Occupy movement is about, and ignore their own interests in favor of those who are reaping huge profits and providing multi-million dollar bonuses to CEOs...but no matter how many tax breaks they get, they are not creating jobs. Wall Street deregulation, speculation, and unbridled greed led to our economy going into free fall, and they got away with it. They got away with it.

There are tales on the site of people working three jobs, 80+ hours, having to pay hundreds of dollars for health insurance, losing their homes, losing everything...do they not realize that it could and should be better for them, and for all Americans? Who has fostered this slave-like mentality that makes them think that they have to work themselves to death in order to fill the pockets of corporate CEOs? Is that their version of the American dream?

There is nothing wrong with hard work. I think most people (including the Occupiers) are willing to work hard. But when Wall Street screws the economy and people are laid off as a result, the jobs simply are not there. I know plenty of people who have tried their damnedest to find a job (including military personnel) and have sent out thousands of resumes, and the jobs simply are not there. Assailing the protestors as lazy, spoiled, whining, idiotic bums is just mind-boggling to me.

I don’t know if it’s Stockholm Syndrome or what, but they’ve sure fallen for it hook, party line, and sinker.