Are we a country of citizens or groups?
In talking with citizens as we prepare for future philosopher sessions, I have been struck by a common refrain – fairness.
Fairness has become the Greek chorus every time we discuss a topic. A lot of people think that fairness is code for something else, perhaps resentment. But, I would like to take the concept of fairness at face value, and think about ways in which we have some fundamental differences in how different groups relate to the government or to the state, about the most basic concepts of our social contract and what government is supposed to do.
Some French History
I took a step back to my training in French history. The French revolution and subsequent rule of Napoleon Bonaparte was structurally revolutionary in ways that were not as easily identifiable in the American revolution. France was an aristocratic and monarchial society; there were sub groups based on social status, religion, even craft or job.
Before the revolution, each of these groups had what were called “privileges”, which were, in essence, special rights or obligations that were enjoyed only by that group. Those privileges could have been economic, such as being part of a guild and therefore having the right to earn money in a certain specialty; those rights could have been being able to follow religious law instead of secular law as was the case for Jewish groups before the revolution. There are many more examples.
What is important is that the French abolished these special privileges–or rights–with the revolution, and with Napoleon’s code civil and made all men equal citizens. Every citizen had the same rights, and related directly to the national government instead of some corporate entity like a guild or a religion or social position.
Our American Idea
Of course, the French were inspired by our own American revolution, and the simplicity of our founding ideas in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.
The French example is suddenly, perhaps, instructive to us as we struggle to balance the rights of individuals and the equality of fellow citizens with the interests of at-risk or harmed or minority communities, and as we try to moderate the power of the disproportionately wealthy in our society.
Unfortunately, in staking out ways to empower the less empowered, we may have fallen into a pattern of creating sets of privileges and special rights assigned to groups as opposed to individuals. Public unions, for example, have a special relationship with the government since they have the power to stop work and the power to control the political futures of their bosses. As such, public employees have worked as a group to create salaries that are 30% higher than non public union jobs along with pensions and healthcare that are radically superior to average Americans. The existence of this group makes regular, non public union Americans wonder about fairness.
Twist of Privilege
Similar kinds of privileges have been meted out to oil companies in the form of subsidies, to religious groups who don’t pay taxes and get exemptions from legislation, and to corn farmers who receive subsidies as well. In fact, even homeowners have been given special privileges in the form of tax credits or write-offs.
We have to consider what are the unintended consequences of a very atomistic approach to solving group issues, as opposed to looking at laws and tax policy that would allow individuals to maintain a direct and equal relationship with the government.
If, for example, public employee unions convinced their bosses – our government – that their healthcare needs are fundamental, then too should we be legislating for all citizens to have access to healthcare?
In other words, do we need to evolve from the ‘benefits” of belonging to a group to the rights and responsibilities of all individual citizens? Should we entirely reframe the discussion about rights assigned to groups or individuals? Instead, can we think about the basic requirements or building blocks of a just and fair economy for all? Don’t we all benefit from a clean environment, well built infrastructure, public safety and secure borders, education focused on preparing our population for work, providing for essential healthcare so we have a healthy citizenry that can work and providing for a secure retirement for our elders? These seem to be the most basic building blocks for which we share and need and from which we all benefit whether we are billionaires or regular folk. Maybe you have a different set?
Anyhow, food for thought on some of the basic ways we all relate to the government.