Prior question
In Wheeling West Virginia the WALS Foundation has been sponsoring a community forum under the umbrella of the title “Jobs First”. January 11, 2018 was the last in the current series and was focused on identifying questions, which need to be raised regarding tax reform in the United States. There are many questions with the moderator Pat Cassidy suggested we explore. Sadly, there was little time to explore these questions in depth, but the hope is that attendees will continue to give serious thought to the important issues of how we use joint resources to take care of services which we all use and how taking care of basic needs for all of us will, in the long run, provide a healthier community and economy. One of the questions which we did not directly address or raise was one which theologians, philosophers and other social thinkers have been debating since we have evolved enough to have cogent debates. That question concerns who we are as humans. Are we, as some would posit, basically self-centered and untrustworthy thus necessitating a defensive society in which attorneys fight to protect us from each other and mental health professionals treat the resulting existential emotional angst or are we basically kind, social beings who, once we rise above the Maslowian lowest rung of the survival hierarchy, beings who see personal self-interest as community self- interest? It is my belief that we are the latter. Personal and professional experience as well as tracking the results of many social experiments has convinced me that:
If the above are accurate then devising a tax structure focused on meeting the needs of every citizen will, long term, result in a community of humans who feel a part of and want to use their talents and abilities to create a robust economy which is also respectful of the environment. Creating such an economy based on the belief in the worth of all humans will necessarily allow an acute reduction in military spending. It will also allow for services to be provided and shared without a cumbersome and expensive system, which is more focused on preventing cheating/fraud than on a simple, effective delivery of said services.
We can and should, as a community, debate my assumptions but let us do using the best, most valid and reliable research tools available.
Written January 12, 2018
Jimmy F. Pickett
In Wheeling West Virginia the WALS Foundation has been sponsoring a community forum under the umbrella of the title “Jobs First”. January 11, 2018 was the last in the current series and was focused on identifying questions, which need to be raised regarding tax reform in the United States. There are many questions with the moderator Pat Cassidy suggested we explore. Sadly, there was little time to explore these questions in depth, but the hope is that attendees will continue to give serious thought to the important issues of how we use joint resources to take care of services which we all use and how taking care of basic needs for all of us will, in the long run, provide a healthier community and economy. One of the questions which we did not directly address or raise was one which theologians, philosophers and other social thinkers have been debating since we have evolved enough to have cogent debates. That question concerns who we are as humans. Are we, as some would posit, basically self-centered and untrustworthy thus necessitating a defensive society in which attorneys fight to protect us from each other and mental health professionals treat the resulting existential emotional angst or are we basically kind, social beings who, once we rise above the Maslowian lowest rung of the survival hierarchy, beings who see personal self-interest as community self- interest? It is my belief that we are the latter. Personal and professional experience as well as tracking the results of many social experiments has convinced me that:
- When basic needs are adequately and fairly met – health care, housing, food, mental health, emotional and physical safety – barring brain disorders resulting in emotional or physical conditions – humans will see individual self-interest as community self-interest.
- Healing from emotional injuries caused by individual and collective causes (Racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.) can take many generations.
- There are those who are unable for reasons we can identify and those we have yet to identify who will need to be lovingly cared for by the larger society. Some will need to be in a secure environment (not prison or other inhumane facilities).
- Every job is equally valuable to the larger community.
- Education is a community responsibility and needs to be paid for through professional/graduate/trade school levels by the larger community.
- While there are individual differences in talents and abilities there is no difference in worth.
- Humans are the only species who attempt to prove there basic worth thus resulting in greed, mistrust, social violence and general mistreatment of each other.
- It is important to treat those who low self-esteem is masked by arrogance, racism, sexism and other social constructs with extreme kindness while preventing them from being in leadership positions.
If the above are accurate then devising a tax structure focused on meeting the needs of every citizen will, long term, result in a community of humans who feel a part of and want to use their talents and abilities to create a robust economy which is also respectful of the environment. Creating such an economy based on the belief in the worth of all humans will necessarily allow an acute reduction in military spending. It will also allow for services to be provided and shared without a cumbersome and expensive system, which is more focused on preventing cheating/fraud than on a simple, effective delivery of said services.
We can and should, as a community, debate my assumptions but let us do using the best, most valid and reliable research tools available.
Written January 12, 2018
Jimmy F. Pickett
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