No Thanksgiving

                                       

I have not watched more than a few minutes of the debates between the candidates for the Democratic Presidential nomination,but I will guess that none of the many candidates ever took the opportunity to say how fortunate they were to live in the USA. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren is a good example of someone who admittedly rose from the fringes of poverty to become a multi-millionaire, law professor, US Senator, and now among the leaders for her party’s nomination for the Presidency. Where is the gratitude? Does she realize that her story could probably happen only in America?

The other candidates seem to be cut from the same cloth. It is true that former Vice President Joe Biden is a white male but his family fell on hard times when he was a child. Nevertheless, after virtually a lifetime in government, he became Vice-President and now at age 77 hopes to be elected President. In the course of his public service, he also managed to become a multi-millionaire. 

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an avowed Socialist, has been complaining about America for most of his 78 years. According to him, everything is wrong in America. Yet, despite the fact that he represents one of the smallest states in the country, he is a leading candidate for the Presidency.

The other candidates back in the pack also find it hard to find anything good in America. According to them, Sexism, Racism, and Homophobia are rampant.  Nevertheless, does Senator Kamela Harris of California, a woman of color, ever publicly give thanks that her parents migrated to this country? Does Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey ever show gratitude that a black man could make it into the Senate from the state of New Jersey with its majority white population, and now even aspire to the Presidency? Where is the gratitude from Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana? How did this openly gay politician manage to overcome pervasive homophobia and now have the opportunity to run for President? 

These candidates don’t seem to realize that there are not that many countries in the world where women, minorities, and homosexuals can even aspire to leadership and success. China is rounding up minorities and putting them into re-education camps. What is the status of women in Saudi Arabia and other Moslem countries? In Russia, homosexuals must stay in the closet.

Why doesn’t anyone of these politicians realize that they could set themselves apart from the pack if they would only show some gratitude for what America has done for them and for most of its people? 

They don’t have to mimic President Trump and claim they want to make America great. They need only say that it is a good country most of whose people, laws, and institutions are basically good. Of course, they could point out that there are things that need to be fixed and that they could work to fix them. 

Last Sunday a men’s organization at my church took up a collection to provide coats for children in the Bridgeport area. I suppose that only a small percentage of children would have been without coats this winter.  Let’s say it’s 5 percent. Progressives will likely be shocked that there are poor children without coats and blame Capitalism and income inequality even though the population of Bridgeport is overwhelmingly Democratic. It will never occur to them to be thankful for the fact that 95 percent of children do have coats. Moreover, I also doubt they will utter thanks for those private citizens who take up collections to provide for the needy.

Also last weekend, a large group of protestors held up the completion of the Yale Harvard football classic to urge the universities to divest themselves of any holdings in fossil fuel companies. I wonder if these climate-change protestors realized that most couldn’t have even driven to the Yale Bowl without cars powered by fossil fuel. I also doubt they would ever offer thanks to those companies that provide the oil and gas that will keep them and most of the poor children in Bridgeport warm this winter.

My wife and I have had much to be thankful for over our 80 years. Our grandparents came to this country from Italy with nothing but their own traditions, customs, and religion. Like most children of immigrants our parents came to love America and worked hard to provide for their children and give them a standard of living that is still the envy of the world. 

Even today, in a country that seems hopelessly divided politically, there is more reason to hope than fear. The very ardor of our disagreements is a source of strength especially when we consider that in many parts of the world, there is no room for deviation from the party line. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

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Tax the Warrens

                                             

Senator Warren and Spouse

Even before the first Democratic debate last Spring, I believed that Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would be the strongest candidate in the large field of Democratic contenders. She shows maturity and at age 70 does not appear over the hill like former Vice President Joe Biden or Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the other two candidates leading in the polls.  

Of course, the fact that Warren is a woman is a big plus in modern politics but her maturity inspires more confidence than other female candidates like Kamela Harris or Tulsi Gabbard who are both fading in the polls. Nevertheless, currently only 20% of potential Democratic voters support her. Could it be that even Democratic voters are skeptical of her proposals to tax the rich to pay for free everything for everyone else? 

The assets of Senator Warren and her husband, a long time Harvard Law professor, would appear to total more than $10 million. They own a home in Cambridge valued at around $3 Million, and a condo in D.C. worth about $800000. However, most of their assets seem to be in retirement accounts. They both have accounts with the Teachers Insurance and Annuity company with a combined value of about $4 Million.  

Ironically, these accounts are in 403b or defined contribution tax-deferred plans that left-wing Democratic leaders and public employee unions decry as inherently risky and dangerous since they are usually invested in a broad cross section of the American economy and are subject to market fluctuations. Nevertheless, most college professors and administrators have most of their retirement assets in such accounts that have performed well over the years.

 Perhaps this is why Senator Warren calls herself a Capitalist. Moreover, in true Capitalist fashion the she and her husband have chosen to shield their assets from taxation. Not only are their retirement contributions not considered taxable income each year, but the build-up in value is not taxed until they choose to make withdrawals in retirement.  In addition, the capital appreciation on their Cambridge home and Washington D.C. condo is not taxed until they choose to sell them. 

Why did they choose to defer the taxes on their earned income? Can they be blamed for not paying their fair share? I suspect that their reasons were the same as anyone’s. They were willing to save a portion of their income each year to provide for their retirement. They chose to do without the income to make sure that they would be comfortable in retirement. The government even encouraged them to do so by providing tax incentives to these plans. Who can blame them for taking advantage of the opportunity?

It is true that Warren and her husband are not billionaires, and Senator Warren is only planning to place a sur-tax on billionaires. Perhaps she and other Progressives think that billionaires have more than they need but does she and her husband really need $4 million in the stock market or a $3 Million home for a comfortable retirement? 

It will not be long before Progressives start coming after millionaires like Senator Warren. Socialist Bernie Sanders hopes to tax billionaires out of existence in fifteen years. Who will then to left to pay taxes? The wealth re-distribution proposals put forward by Senator Warren and Senator Sanders are real examples of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. 

According to government statistics, in 2016 the top 1 percent of taxpayers accounted for more income taxes paid than the bottom 90 percent combined. The top 1 percent paid roughly $538 billion, or 37.3 percent of all income taxes, while the bottom 90 percent paid about $440 billion or 30.6 percent of all income taxes. 

It is hard to say how long the economic boom caused by the income tax reform sponsored by President Trump and the Republican party will last. But for now the country is enjoying record levels of income, productivity and unemployment. Of course, Democrats like Senator Warren cannot acknowledge such achievements despite the fact that her retirement accounts have probably grown dramatically in the past three years. 

In the words of the immortal Shakespeare, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

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Effects of the Industrial Revolution

My high school granddaughter asked me to help her with a recent assignment about the Industrial Revolution. It brought to mind my college teaching experience of over fifty years ago when I taught a unit on the Industrial Revolution as part of a basic course in Western Civilization. I thought then and still believe today that the Industrial Revolution was one of the most significant developments in the history of the world.

Try to imagine a world today without the following:

Electricity

Clean water delivered by pipeline to your home

Modern sewers and waste removal systems

Automobiles

Home heating without firewood

Computers

Televisions

Air Conditioning in homes and cars

Trains, Planes, and Buses

Indoor Plumbing—before the IR there was no such thing.

Elevators

Washing Machines for clothes and dishes

Hospitals with their incredible technology

Cell Phones—most important of all!

It is hard to believe but our ancestors before the Industrial Revolution had none of these essential elements of modern life. Actually, many parts of the world today still live in the pre-industrial age without many of the items listed above. 

Industrial Revolution is the term given to the transformation of manufacturing from homes and shops to factories employing hundreds or even thousands. The transformation began in Great Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and eventually spread all over the world. However, before there could be an industrial revolution, there had to be three other revolutionary developments. 

First, there was a Demographic Revolution involving a substantial increase in population. This increase happened not so much because of a rise in the birth rate but because of a decline in the death or mortality rate due to a dramatic drop in infant mortality, a drop caused by advances in diet and sanitation. For example, in Italy in 1860, 232 of every 1000 infants died in the first two years of life but 60 years later only 127 of 1000 infants died during the same period. 

An Agricultural Revolution accompanied the Demographic Revolution. Human ingenuity devised new methods of farming, land management, and animal husbandry to feed the growing population. While doomsayers like the British clergyman Thomas Malthus were predicting mass starvation, they could not predict that the profit motive and human resourcefulness would provide for the needs of an ever increasing population. 

A Transportation Revolution also accompanied the Industrial Revolution. The nineteenth century was the great age of canal and railroad building. At the same time, steam power replaced wind power as a safer and more reliable source of energy. The revolution in means of transportation allowed mass migrations of people from rural areas to the urban centers of manufacturing and commerce. It also allowed goods and services to be delivered faster and at less cost. 

From the beginning the tremendous social, economic, and political changes caused by these revolutions had both good and bad consequences. Rural areas lost population and industrial cities became overcrowded. Writers and social commentators were quick to point out the terrible working conditions in the factories, and the deplorable living conditions in the slums surrounding the factories. 

Moreover, critics objected, as they do today, to the incredible disparities in wealth and income between the factory owners and financiers (capitalists) who profited and the workers who toiled. The misery of the urban poor could not be overlooked. Nevertheless, in countries that did not industrialize, like Ireland or southern Italy, the poor were even worse off and literally starved to death either from actual food shortages or malnutrition. Why else would millions from Ireland and Italy leave their beautiful countries to live in the overcrowded cities of the New World?

I suspect that the Industrial Revolution still has a bad name today. Capitalist is a term of opprobrium and even capitalists shun to describe themselves as such. Even union members whose pensions are invested throughout the American industrial sector do not realize that they are capitalists. Of course, Progressives are outspoken in decrying the terrible effects of corporate greed and inequality.

It’s true that few of us will have the income or assets of CEOs, politicians, Rock stars, TV personalities, or professional athletes. But more than anywhere else in the world, we do have the opportunity to acquire and keep property. We can even buy and sell shares in the companies we work for. You may call it Capitalism but I prefer to call it a free-enterprise system. Whatever you call it, it has worked to raise the standard of living in this country to the highest level that has ever been seen in the world. 

My granddaughter’s class was asked to evaluate the relative merits of Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. All three systems were responses to the Industrial Revolution. You can judge for yourself which of the three systems did the best job of providing the necessities of life listed at the beginning of this essay. Before the Industrial Revolution, as one seventeenth century commentator noted, life was “nasty, brutish, and short.”

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