We hold these truths to be self-evident... by Alex_Lewis116
Thomas Jefferson's words at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence seem clear: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal. . . .". There is a majesty to this language. Although the Declaration goes on to list specifically American complaints against British rule, it begins with a universal claim about human beings in any society.
However, the meaning of this universal claim has been contested since the beginning of the American republic. For instance, it took the horrible carnage of civil war and decades of political struggle to finally settle that "Men" in the Declaration designates humans of all races and both sexes.
What about
the word "equal"? In a previous column
(Aug. 7) I argued that wealthy people are often treated very differently than the
poor in our criminal justice system. Everyone would agree that this goes
against the equality of all "Men" proclaimed by the Declaration . But what
about economic inequality?
It's
obvious that there must be some degree of economic inequality in order to have
an incentive system that rewards people whose special talent and initiative
benefit everyone. Even the lowest income groups would be worse off without such
a system. But how do we make this inequality consistent with the Declaration's
claim that we are all equal? Does it matter how great the economic inequality
gets?
Here is a
snapshot of income and wealth inequality in the U.S. today:
-
"In the US the share of [total] national income
going to the top 1% has doubled since 1980 from 10 to 20%. For the top 0.01% it
has quadrupled to levels never seen before." ( Oxfam ,
1/13)
-
"From
1983--2010, 38.3 percent of the growth in wealth or net worth went to the top 1
percent and 74.2 percent to the top 5 percent. The bottom 60 percent, meanwhile,
suffered a decline in wealth." ( State of Working America , 12 th ed.)
-
"While
social mobility and economic opportunity are important aspects of the American
ethos, the data suggest they are more myth than reality. In fact, a child's
family income plays a dominant role in determining his or her future income, and
those who start out poor are likely to remain poor." ( Brookings Institution , 6/13)
-
In the top 350 American firms, the CEO-to-worker
compensation ratio rose from 20-to-1 in 1965 to 273-to-1 in 2012. ( Economic
Policy Institute , 6/13)
What we see here is a society splitting up into an affluent
minority and a low-paid, economically insecure underclass (including 50 million
poor who are no longer even mentioned by politicians). Associated Press writer
Hope Yen, using AP survey data, reports
that " Four out of 5 U.S. adults
struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least
parts of their lives."
As Henry Blodget, the editor of Business
Insider , put it: "Our current system and philosophy is creating a country
of a few million overlords and 300+ million serfs." This is not what our
country is supposed to be about.
Let's look again
at what the Declaration could mean by saying we are all "created equal." The
equality is not quantitative, as in equal height or strength. People are
unequal or different in countless ways, many of which play a large role in their
social and economic status.
I think the
conservative website FreedomWorks gets it right: "This bold assertion insists
that no one life is more valuable than the next. . .". The equality is one of
value. The Declaration says this value is so great that each person is thereby
equally "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
When it
says that all are "created" equal, the Declaration is talking about an
intrinsic value more fundamental than such things as wealth, status or talent.
This value or worth should not be confused with market value such as the price
that a worker commands in a labor market. This price (salary or compensation)
is an external value depending on, and shifting according to, the demand for
kinds of labor.
The
Declaration's "equality" is a secular, Enlightenment reflection of what Jesus
said in Matthew 25:40: "whatever you did for one of these least brothers of
mine, you did for me."
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