Can we just end this silly debate over which narrative is true: The narrative in which liberals take your money and give it to someone else or the one in which "Joe Businessman" makes good by dint of sweat and perseverance?
There are some good small businesses out there employing many, and they are the foundation for our economy. They are people who understand constructive effort — bringing together people to make a whole out of separate parts. Then there are those who understand that workers need protection, homeowners need relief from predatory banks, and sick people need affordable care. Voters need fair elections. Minorities would just like a fair shake. They, too, are constructive, seeking a whole from disparate parts.
The conservative, up-from-your-bootstraps narrative is a lie. Even in the Horatio Alger stories the protagonist had a whole lot of help, yes? (Mark Twain reduced that to myth a long time ago). It seems to me that it isn't enough to succeed by yourself (not that you could). You have to help others succeed as well. That is the constructive model.
Those who would tear apart by reducing aid to the poor, defunding health care, picking apart Medicare and, at the same time, rewarding the wealthiest of the wealthy are participating in a destructive model that is ruining this country.
Jonathan Lloyd
Valley Falls