Manufacturing Equality
By: Michael Caffrey
Does the man who is handed a fish reap the same satisfaction of the man who caught his fish? In the general sense, do people who receive the end result appreciate it as much as those that work for it? Equality is not an issue simply between races and ethnicities; equality involves ensuring all people, regardless of origin or creed have the same opportunity to succeed in their own way.
In modern America, an amalgamation of tax credits, welfare, and social services create a culture of perpetual poverty and downward social movement amongst many Americans. Instead of relying on an antiquated patchwork of social services cobbled together over many years, I propose an overhaul of Federal Services to implement a safety net to protect all citizens.
Equality should not be limited to state of mind; it should extend to opportunities granted to all citizens. All people, regardless of origin or creed should have the ability to live with a roof over their head, adequate food and suitable living conditions to raise a family.
The first area of focus to change the face of the United States is in reforming the tax code. The United State’s tax code has become patch-worked and convoluted to the point that average Americans are at a loss in deciphering the intricacies of it. This gives a significant reward to people who can navigate the system of financial penalties. Tax credits attempt to encourage growth in facets of life the Government supports, but these largely benefit people well enough off to take advantage of them.
The other issue with the current US tax system is based in the progressive nature of it; by increasing one’s self worth, one will be taxed an additional amount. In extreme cases, this results in the government taking more money than your increased salary. The marginal tax rate1 harms the country by decreasing worker productivity and ensures people remain in poverty to the detriment of all.
If people are put into an economic state to succeed, safeguards should be created to allow citizens to experiment and fail without failing permanently. The two critical human necessities are food and housing, both of which would be the pillars of any system of safeguards. The federal government utilizes two programs to provide housing and food; housing projects and food stamps. Both of these programs have shortcomings because of the social stigmas and abuse associated with them; housing projects are considered to be bastions of poor and drug lords, while food stamps have been woefully underfunded to the point of being unable to adequately feed anyone. The answers to both of these issues are subsidized rental properties and increased value of food stamps by the government. Additionally, food stamps should have heavier restrictions and an emphasis on staple, rather than luxury food.
The last component to economic well-being is a means of advancing one’s social position. Quality education at both a primary and secondary level is vital at ensuring equality extends to all people, and not simply those privileged enough to be given it. Although reforming education is important, creating a strong technical education program at the post-secondary level is vital to national well being and social welfare. Traditional trades and crafts have fallen by the wayside in the wake of a rush to America’s colleges; professions have been marginalized by the concept of college elitism.
Free, public trade schools that offer quality education in a career path beyond “gas station attendant” gives everyone the chance to improve social standing. The other component to meaningful social well-being is basic employment; all people deserve to have an available job, regardless of circumstance. Beyond simply receiving money, public improvement projects give all people that choose to be employed employment. Jobs at or below minimum wage, coupled with housing and food assistance will create a gainful base-line of social well-being that all members of society can attain.
While this system sounds similar to welfare or government handouts, both of which are disconnected from equality, the opposite is true. In 21st Century America, Economic Freedom is invariably linked to social well-being; in the governmental sense, all people have achieved equality under the law. The difficulty comes in creating economic opportunities that all people can benefit from to break the cycle of poverty and despair.
