September 5, 2011 by David K. Sutton
Liberals Are Not About Spreading The Wealth
Liberals do not fall within the “spread the wealth” framework that conservatives have constructed.
In response to spreading the wealth you may hear the Right state their argument of government “spreading the grades”. The crux of the argument is that you earn both wealth and grades. If you don’t think that government should spread the grades then why should government spread the wealth? To frame it this way displays a complete lack of understanding of what liberals stand for.
What Republicans and conservatives fail to realize is that liberals are not about “spreading the wealth” as framed by the conservative mindset. Some liberals have indeed used this phrase including Barack Obama during the 2008 election. I suggest that this phrase is both inadequate and misleading – particularly considering the toxic response from the right – and it falls short of explaining what liberals stand for.
The liberal priority is civil and human rights. The conservative priority is property rights, which includes money and wealth. Liberals understand that for modern society to work and for our country to be strong it requires a robust middle class. Liberals also understand that society depends on the labor of many who put in long, hard hours at very little pay. While liberals strive to improve the working conditions and the pay of these hard-working Americans, liberals also recognize that there isn’t a good paying job for every American that wants one no matter how hard they work. Liberals understand that many people who work hard all their lives may find themselves in financial hardship through no fault of their own. Liberals believe it is the responsibility of a government of the people, by the people, for the people to do what it can to help citizens that are in need to promote the general welfare and form a more perfect union.
I do not believe raising a tax bracket a few percentage points is socialism or punishing the rich. I do not believe it is spreading the wealth to care about the plight of fellow Americans. Our government is “we the people”. Why should it only be the job of a church, charity or local community group to do a job that we the people are capable of doing through the framework of our democracy?
