The
list doesn't include our most grievous offenses, those of military and
economic warfare against the rest of the world. Sinful enough is our
behavior at home.
1. Sin against children
Perhaps "sanctity of life" ends at birth. According to
Census Bureaufigures, one out of every five American children lives in poverty. For
blacks and Hispanics, it's one out of every three.
UNICEF has
reported that the U.S. has a higher child poverty rate than every
industrialized country except Romania. We are near the bottom in all
measures of inequality that affect our children, including material well-being, health, and education.
2. Sin against the poor
The U.S. poverty rate grew from
11.3% to
15.0%, a 33% jump, in just 11 years. The impact was felt primarily by minorities and women. The
median wealth for single black and Hispanic women is shockingly low, at just over $100 (compared to $41,500 for single white women).
Another shock. For every dollar of
NON-HOME wealth owned by white families, people of color have only one cent.
Despite
the continued economic assault on already-poor Americans, the number of
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) cases has
dropped by 60 percent over the last 16 years.
3. Sin against students
Students at all levels have been losing their nation's support. States reduced their
education budgets by $12.7 billion in 2012, and in 2013 the majority of states will be
spending even less.
At higher educational levels, Americans are paying much more than students in other countries.
Only 38% of
college expenses come from public funding, compared to 70% across other
OECD countries. While other nations continue to offer free tuition,
with the recognition that education leads to long-term prosperity, the
U.S. system has become more
corporatized,
to the point that expensive programs like nursing, engineering, and
computer science have been eliminated to cut costs. The profit motive
has blocked the path to academic excellence.
4. Sin against the middle class
The middle class is
shrinking. In 2011, according to a
Pew Research analysis, 51% of the nation's households earned from two-thirds to double the national median income. In the 1970s it was 61%.
One-quarter of America's workers are now making
less than $22,000 a year, the poverty line for a family of four.
Thirty million Americans are making between $7.25 (minimum wage) and $10.00 per hour.
With the transition of middle-class workers to low-income status, entrepreneurship is disappearing.
Innovation doesn't come from the upper class. A recent
study found
that less than 1 percent of all entrepreneurs came from very rich or
very poor backgrounds. Small business creators come from the
hard-working, risk-taking, nothing-to-lose middle of America, but their
entrepreneurial numbers are down --
over 50% since 1977.
5. Sin against the common good
A recent Tax Justice Network
report placed total hidden offshore assets at somewhere between $21 trillion and $32 trillion. With about
40% of
the world's Ultra High Net Worth Individuals in the U.S., up to $12.8
trillion of untaxed revenue sits overseas. Based on a historical
6% rate of return,
this is a tax loss of up to $300 billion per year, money that should be
paying for the public needs of education and infrastructure.
Tax avoidance is so appealing that 1,700 Americans
renounced their citizenships last year. Like
Eduardo Saverin, who benefited from America's research and technology and security to take
billions from his 4% share in Facebook, and then skipped out on his tax bill.
Inexplicably, some have
defended Saverin's
actions, apparently failing to recognize one's obligation to pay for
societal benefits. A Forbes writer said, "When individuals resist
governmental hubris, we should exalt their actions." The American
Thinker blog argued that "the U.S. tax code is so oppressive that smart
and successful people like Saverin are compelled to renounce citizenship
in order to keep more of their own hard-earned wages." Hard-earned, in
truth, by the thousands of contributers to his social networking
success.
6. Sin against nature
A number of
studies show that
investment in renewable energy will create many more jobs than the
fossil fuel industry. And the investment will likely pay off. A
National Renewable Energy Laboratory analysis
determined that "renewable electricity generation from technologies
that are commercially available today...is more than adequate to supply
80% of total U.S. electricity generation in 2050."
But now the prospect of
cheap natural gas is
leading us back to a dirty form of energy independence, with a
continuing reliance on fossil fuels, and on the fracking technology that
despoils our land and pollutes our water. The national commitment and
political will needed for the long-term health of our nation is more
elusive than ever.
7. Sin against common sense
The
deception began, at least in the modern age, with Milton Friedman, who
said "The free market system distributes the fruits of economic progress
among all people...He moves fastest who moves alone."
This unflagging adherence to free-enterprise individualism is consistent with
Social Darwinism,
the belief that survival of the fittest (richest) will somehow benefit
society, and that the millions of people suffering from financial
malfeasance are simply lacking the motivation to help themselves. Social
Darwinism is a feel-good delusion for those at the top. Or, as
described by John Kenneth Galbraith, a continuing "search for a superior
moral justification for selfishness."
A tenet of progressivism
is that a strong society will create opportunities for a greater number
of people, thereby leading to more instances of individual success. This
is the common sense attitude suppressed by conservatives for over 30
years.
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