The American Dream: On Voting Democract

A friend of mind recently asked me why I vote Democract.  

I vote Democrat  because I believe in the American Dream: that shining vision of America as the land of opportunity, as a place where everyone has the opportunity to make a good life for themselves, regardless of social class or skin color or circumstances at birth. As a place where everyone has the same shot at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is an idea full of promise, and beauty, and I hold it very closely to my heart. 

Unfortunately, this American Dream of ours is still just that: a dream. Everyone does not have an equal chance for success in this country.

Take, for example, the statistics surrounding the lives of African American males in our country. African American males are much more likely to be unemployed than are white males (in 2006, 19.5% of African American males were unemployed while 7.9% of white males were). They are also less likely to graduate from high school (77.4% will graduate, compared to 85.5%) and are much more likely to be in jail (10.1% are in jail, compared to 1.5%). 

Reading these statistics, you can choose believe one of two things: 1. African American males are lazier, dumber, and more violent than white males, or 2. There are systematic and cultural forces at work in our country that limit opportunity and set African American males up for failure from the very beginning of life. If you choose to believe option number one, you can stop reading this now because nothing else I say will make sense to you. You should also take a step back and challenge yourself to think about where those prejudiced views come from and think deeply about if you really want to hold them. And if you do, I don’t want to know you. But if you choose to believe number two, then you will begin to understand what I mean when I say the playing field is not level in this country. Please note: I am NOT saying that African American males should not be expected to work hard. Of course they should. What I am saying is that their hard work is much less likely to lead them to success. And that this should not be tolerated in a country that claims to believe in the American Dream. 

One more example. In this country, we believe in the idea of social mobility—that with enough hard work, individuals can move through social classes (e.g., from working class to middle class) with relative ease. Unfortunately, the stark reality is that the poor are likely to stay poor (and become poorer) while the rich are likely to stay rich (and get richer). And it’s getting worse. In 1945, there was a 12% chance of moving up in social class; in 2000, there was a less than 4% chance. This “Matthew Effect” is a result of many variables, but indulge me for a moment as I take you through one example of why it might be true.

Imagine that you are about to play a game of Monopoly with a worthy opponent who that is equal to you in intelligence and who is equally Monopoly savvy. Then imagine that your opponent comes to the game with $5,000 of Monopoly money and ownership of 5 different properties, one of which he has a monopoly on. And imagine that, in addition to earning your $200 every time you pass Go, each of you also has to dole over 10% of your earnings. Then imagine that someone is standing over you as you begin to lose the game to your “equal” opponent, yelling that you just need to, “WORK HARDER!” and, “WORK SMARTER!”

Intuitively, we all know that this scenario means that your Monopoly adversary is much more likely to win the game. The deck is stacked against you. Small setbacks such as a health crisis doled out by one of those darn Chance cards will affect you much more deeply than it will your opponent. And that 10% of your earnings you have to dole out each time you pass Go? It’s much more likely to impact you than your opponent, especially at the beginning of the game. Although your adversary will have to pay more, he will still have more with which to snatch up additional properties to earn more and more revenue. Money begets money. Is it possible you might win? Of course it is! But if you do, it will be due to some very lucky breaks you got along the way. And so it is in this country. Those that have, continue to get. Those that have not continue to struggle. It’s a big ol’ game of Monopoly and the deck is stacked against way too many people who enter the world with close to nothing. 

But wait, you think. My parents or grandparents did it. They moved from lower class to middle class, and it was all a result of their hard work. I would challenge you to think of the government programs that contributed to their success. Did they benefit from the GI bill that propelled millions of working class and lower class men into home ownership and provided them with the previously untouchable dream of obtaining a college education? Or from the government backed loans and grants that allowed many of us to do the same? It’s extremely important to remember that although we may hold the illusion we have achieved success in our life all on our own, many of us have gladly accepted the assistance of programs run by the government to help get us here. 

I vote Democratic because I know that, as a middle-class white woman, I am where I am in life largely because of luck. Yes, I work hard. I work very hard. And I am very self-sufficient. But I was and continue to be very lucky as well. I was lucky to be born into a middle class family that valued education from the very start. Lucky to get to attend a quality public school. Lucky to have had food to eat and clothes on my back so that the biggest of my concerns in high school was the drama that involved my high school boyfriend and prom. Lucky to grow up in a community where drugs and alcohol were valued by very few and where violence was very rare. Lucky to have access to low interest, government-backed loans to fund my graduate degree. “Lucky” to be born white; not because I think that being white is better than being any other color, but “lucky” in the sense that my skin color provides me with privileges in this country that I am only beginning to understand. Lucky, lucky, lucky. I’m a Democrat because I understand that there are broad social systems at play that make it so that hard work isn’t always the basis of success. Is hard work a part? Of course it is. It’s a big part, and a very important one. But it doesn’t tell the whole story. Not. even. close. 

So, as a Democrat, I advocate strongly for those things that will begin to level the playing field. This includes quality schools for everyone, because so many children lack the academic skills that they need to succeed in this world—not due to a lack of intelligence, but instead due to a lack of access to the quality education that they deserve as a citizen of this country. I also advocate for access to quality health care for all, because one health care crisis can sink an entire family into poverty and keep them there for good, and because the cost of health care in this country is a huge obstacle to success for so many working families. And I advocate for a minimum wage that is a truly a living wage, so that a working class family of four can actually make a life for themselves.

Quality education, health care, and a living minimum wage. Three things which I strongly believe would lift people out of poverty and level the playing field in this country. You will notice that I did not say that I would like to give free money to people who simply don’t want to work. That’s just silly. I do believe that we should have programs designed to provide temporary emergency assistance to those who are in crucial need. But that’s different than believing that we should just continue to fund the lives of those who are able to get jobs. Not only does that perpetuate the problem, but it is degrading to those in need. 

This is, of course, where job creation comes in. We need more jobs that pay our citizens well. It’s as simple as that. This is where I join hands with my conservative friends to advocate for protection of small and medium-sized businesses. We need businesses to provide jobs. But my conservative friends and I then part ways when those same protections are also provided to large, thriving businesses who are pocketing millions of dollars at the expense of the working poor. I believe that the economy is built from the bottom up, not the top down.

And for those who believe that Democrats are not informed by their religious beliefs, let me assure you that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Although I certainly believe that government and religion should be separate-this is how our founding fathers wanted it and it protects us all-- I am also very aware of the ways in which my political views are shaped by own spirituality and religion. My Lutheran church advocates proudly for social justice, and so do I. Matthew 25:40 informs me that “The King will reply, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” This shapes my view of life. I believe in taking care of those who truly cannot take care of themselves—the elderly and the sick and the disabled. And this is also where I part ways with many of my liberal allies; taking care of the least among us means that, except in the extreme cases when the life of the mother is at stake, I do not believe that abortion should be an option. But--BUT--I also believe that we cannot stop at outlawing abortion. We must also provide education and support to prevent unwanted pregnancies. And when they occur, we must provide support and education for mothers as well as health care and food and clothes for the babies who are born to those mothers who weren’t yet ready to be parents. And as long as we are talking about protecting life, I will also note the importance of respecting all life, which means being extremely careful about where and how we wage wars. 

A word on budget issues and then I’m almost done (I promise). Do I see a need to balance the budget so we can work toward the elimination of the debt we carry? Of course I do. It’s both embarrassing and dangerous for our country to carry so much debt. The disagreement is not really about if we should eliminate our debt and balance the budget, it’s about how we do so. Yes, there is government waste. And yes, we need to eliminate it. This is an area where our politicians on both sides of the aisle have failed us and I would advocate strongly for them to work together to eliminate the truly wasteful ways in which we spend our money.

But I don’t consider education, or roads, or policemen, or fireman, or supplies for American troops, or health care to be waste. If we want those things as part of our society, we have to pay for them. As much as I would love to eliminate the taxes that suck up a large part of my paycheck so that I can finally buy that Ipad I’ve been drooling over, I’m okay with paying taxes because I know that they are being used to fund those things from which I benefit (roads, police, schools, safety regulations on foods and medicine, research, the list goes on and on) and those things in which I believe (equal opportunity, a safety net to catch us if we fall, education and health care for all). To take it one step further, I’m also okay with paying a higher percentage of my taxes than those who make less than I do. I have more, so I can pay more. If I have to cut out the privilege of eating out one time this week so that a family who is struggling to survive on minimum wage can eat at all, I’m okay with that. But that’s just me.

Of course, there are those who will say that we should just privatize it all; that we should turn government–run services over to private companies who know how to run things efficiently and effectively. There’s a problem with this logic, however. What makes good business sense does not always make good moral sense. As just one example, private schools are not obligated to provide services to children with special needs. This makes sense from a private business standpoint. Not only does the exclusion of children with special needs save money (children with special needs cost more to educate), you also get a better “return on your investment” (the scores of the school are better, so you get more bang for your buck). It’s a smart business decision for sure. It’s just not a smart moral one. Kind of like when private health care insurance companies who want to make more money start excluding people on the basis of health conditions that they cannot control. My fear with privatization is that smart financial decisions will start to take precedence over moral ones.

So I’m a Democrat. 

I'm not purely a socialist, because that would mean that I think the government should fund and run all business in this country. I don’t believe that. Instead, I think that the government should provide the regulations which determine baseline standards (e.g. safety standards, minimum wage) under which private businesses should operate. And I believe that government should run and/or play a strong role in the the funding and regulation of enterprises such as schools and health care, when it is imperative that financial decisions be balanced by moral ones. Does this thinking mean I am partly socialist? Yes. But you know what? I bet you are too. Unless you, fellow reader, believe that the government should play no role in the development of programs funded by the collective whole (e.g., military, public education, roads, fire/police protection, food/drug protection, the CDC, the NIH, social security, medicare), you too are in part socialist. Whether they know it or not, the vast majority of Americans believe in a mix between socialism and capitalism. I am one of those Americans. And so are you, I'd guess.

I'm a Democrat.

I'm not a Communist because that would mean that I think the government should control all business, eliminate private property, and dole out assets according to some grand dictator's plan to make everything equal for everyone. I don't think this. I believe that differences should exist in our society and that private market forces can and should help shape who gets what. Those who are highly skilled and highly needed should get more. A cardio-vascular surgeon should get paid more, should acquire more, than me, the speech therapist, and market forces should help shape this. I’m not arguing that some people shouldn’t have more than others. I’m arguing that, all else being equal, everyone should have the same chance to get to be the surgeon. And that those who don't have the skills to be the surgeon should still be able to make a decent life for themselves and their family.

I’m a Democrat. I believe in our country, and I believe in freedom. I just want everyone to have access to the same freedoms that I do. And despite the recent turn of events in the elections, I firmly believe that I’m standing on the right side of history. Of this, I am proud.