One of the biggest complaints against liberal ideals (especially socialism) is that it increases dependence and decreases
self-reliance. And I think we can all agree that self-reliance is incredibly
important and should be encouraged.
Which is why I am liberal.
Let me explain.
In its purest since, true self-reliance would involve
complete economic (and, arguably, social) isolation. You can't be
"self-reliant" if you rely on a grocery store for your food; you
can't be "self-reliant" if you rely on an electric company for your
access to information; you can't be "self-reliant" if you rely on
teachers – at church or at school – to teach your children.
While some strive to exemplify this "pure
self-reliance" – which they have the right to do – most people who value
self-reliance recognize that this is an extreme. Most who advocate economic
self-reliance do so in reference to "working hard" and "making
sacrifices" – all of which I highly value – implying that by doing the latter
they achieve the former.
Therein lies the rub.
In our system, economic independence is no longer tightly
connected with self-reliance. You don't get paid based on how hard you work or
how much you sacrifice; if it were so, then the single mother working 60+ hour
weeks, giving up time with her children in order to feed them, would be
earning significantly more than she does.
Instead, our system rewards those that provides what
"society values." Note: this isn't "society" in terms of
what benefits the society as a whole. This is "society" in terms of
what makes our lives easier, keeps us entertained, and distracts us from
reality: the college football coaches who make millions, even though football programs lose millions of dollars each season, on the backs of unpaid and overworked students; the business owners who cut-corners and underpay their workers to fund their vacations; the companies who promote the culture of
sexual objectification and perpetuate destructive body images to make profit. Because this is what pays in our economic system, these are the values that it encourages.
Under this system, working hard and making sacrifices does not guarantee
economic success (as evidenced of many hard-working people fighting off
poverty), and economic success is not an indicator of having worked hard and
made sacrifices (as evidenced by those who live off an inheritance). So if you
want people to be self-reliant, then we should reward those who typify self-reliance
– those who work thankless and difficult jobs at long hours to provide for
their families, those who sacrifice their own desires to put the needs of
others before their own, and those who have faced the difficult choices of those in poverty, like choosing between food and medicine.
Our government was formed "by the people, for the
people, and of the people." I believe this with all my heart.
Therefore, I believe it is completely within our rights to
advocate for a more just economical system, one that rewards individuals not
just for how much they can make in the free market system, but also for how much
they exemplify the values of self-reliance.
If you save lives, protect lives, or build lives, your work
should be rewarded. If you put the needs of other people over your own, you
should not have to worry about feeding your family. If your family may not see
you again because you are saving someone else's, you should feel that you are invaluable to your community. If you work long hours at an unappreciated job to make sure your
children are fed and clothed, you should know that your hard work is valued.
Some of these individuals are paid for by the government because
they provide a public service that doesn’t demand payment upon receipt. You
don't have to write a check out to the fire department before they save your
home; you don't have to have cash on hand before the police will arrest a
burglar; you don't have to swipe your debit card before you drop your kid off
at school. We pool our resources, and we all benefit. We do this willingly
because we recognize the value in it. And if we want to continue to have access
to these wonderful services that benefit us all, then we should support actions
that reward them for their dedication and sacrifice.
Others are paid by a system that recognizes that people will
do just about anything to survive and feed their families – the same system
that has a history of slavery, indentured servitude, and child labor. The free
market system works because the vendors and consumers agree on a price and,
unless the product will save your life, there’s little pressure to accept
unconditionally. Many workers don’t have the luxury of being
picky about their wages; some pay is better than none, and living on beans and
rice is better than starving. If it means working 60 hours a week at two
minimum wage jobs to survive, then that’s what they’ll do.
Advocates of the free market system laud the benefits of mutually
agreed upon prices by vendors and consumers; why should they then balk at mutually
agreed upon wages between employer and employee – after all, is not the
employer paying for the services of the employee? Free market advocates should
clamor to support the rights of workers to negotiate their wages and therefore unconditionally
support unions and government-guaranteed rights to negotiated wages. If businesses
want to pay low wages, then they have to find someone who is genuinely willing
to work for low wages, not just because they have no other choice – just like
they would have to find someone who is willing to buy their product. A free market system cannot exist if one is not truly free – if the threat of starvation or death is imminent.
If you support a definition of self-reliance that can be
measured by economic stability, then you must advocate a system that economically
rewards self-reliant individuals. If they are working full-time and doing a good
job, pay them commensurately so that they don't have to rely on the government.
If they need an education or special training to get a job, make it
economically within their reach. If they need someone to watch their kids while
they try to improve their lives, then provide affordable childcare. If you think
they should just "find another job," then we have to make sure that
other jobs aren't being shipped overseas. And in case you didn't know, these ideas form the bedrock of the liberal economic agenda.
We live in an inter-dependent world. No one becomes rich
without relying on their employees, their customers, and their stockholders; no
one succeeds without help from teachers, doctors, family, and friends. We are
all dependent upon other people, be they our customers, clients, employees, friends,
doctors, family, religious leaders, or employers. And self-reliance in this
inter-dependent world means that we all contribute, we all work hard, and we
all sacrifice.
Therefore, far from decreasing self-reliance, liberal ideals facilitate it by rewarding those who embody its ideals: Increasing pay for teachers, police officers, and others who put the needs of others above their own; rewarding those who work desperately hard to provide for their families; supporting unions that extend the free market system to worker wages, giving workers the ability to negotiate their pay and shape their own future; encouraging programs that provide opportunities for those that are willing to make sacrifices to create better life for themselves.
Liberalism does not threaten self-reliance; it encourages it.
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