Goring Oxen

‘Whose ox is getting gored’ is an old time adage. It is akin to ‘follow the money’. If you don’t understand why someone is interested in a certain topic or perhaps a stubborn policy issue, then all we need do is understand his motivation. Does he have a financial stake in the issue? Does someone he cares about have a stake in the issue?

If you owned an ox in a third world country and that ox was your livelihood, you would be careful to protect the ox. If a public disturbance on the road ahead threatened the well-being of your ox, you’d be interested in safeguarding the ox. If public policy could hurt all oxen, then your ox is at risk. The issue doesn't matter to you unless it is your ox about to be harmed, or gored.

To put this in perspective consider Social Security. Congressman Rick Larsen of Washington, shares these facts with us:

“The average family pays a 6.2% Social Security tax rate. Someone who earns $1 million/year pays just .07%.”

If you are self-employed the Social Security tax is double – you pay for yourself as an individual earner, but you also pay the same thing as the employer. I have personally done it both ways. Then there was a long period of time (17 years) when I was the employee of a state university. It had a state-funded pension program to which I contributed 8% of gross earnings. It was a program that replaced Social Security in every way, but we did not pay into Social Security because the state program exempted us from it. However, every dollar I earned outside of the university was subject to the Social Security tax.

I mention this because most American citizens pay Social Security taxes at the full rate. A small percentage do not. They are the wealthiest among us. And they resent all taxes. They sense they are being told to pay for others in addition to themselves. AND they calculate they will not receive a return on their tax payments into the SSI system equal to what they have paid in. The rest of us will receive most of our ‘investment’ as paid benefits later in life. Maybe even more.

The wealthy or those who strive to become so, think differently. And they have lobbied and politicked hard to make changes. Those changes would protect them and their wealth. Those changes would hurt you. It is your ox in danger of being gored.

On the internet the other day was this quote:

“They aren't coming for your guns. They are coming for your Social Security check. Pay Attention!”

Pay attention, indeed! Many oxen are in danger. Yours is most likely one of them.

The principle at risk is public weal, the well-being of all citizens of a nation. Or a large group of them who’s combined health is in the best interest of us all. We would not want all elder citizens to be living in poverty. It would depress our public attitudes about our own culture, family members, and future prospects. It is not in the best interest of our society to have any large group of people suffer when we have the means to avoid it.

In particular Social Security protects us all, not just me. Not just the poor. Even the wealthy. Like public education we all benefit from good schools regardless of our age, wealth or childbearing capacities – past or present.

Common weal – the common good – is strengthened by an excellent network of roads and bridges. The network helps move people and goods in a society supporting a strong standard of living for all. We all benefit from the infrastructure of our nation and communities. So too Social Security.

We can argue the how of a program, not the why. Social Security works very well. It could be strengthened, indeed it ought to be strengthened. So too public education. It’s why is evident; it’s how is in need of re-engineering. Rather than patching the rickety education system, we need to redesign it completely for it to be healthy and effective in its purpose and functioning. For now it is doing its job but costing too much. Surely it can be done better for less treasure?

Some important discussions need to take place. It should not be political. The oxen belong to each and every one of us!

January 13, 2014