Liberals and conservatives, economics and faith

Editor:

Father Gregorio’s column, “Liberalism and its notable accomplishments” (Oct. 1), invites a spirited response since it presents as notable many policies which created more problems than they solved.

Perhaps one of the most glaring mistakes liberals make is to believe that any solution they propose has everlasting and eternal value, for instance, Social Security. When FDR instituted Social Security during the Great Depression, he envisioned it to be a supplement to a retiree’s pension. The average person retired at age 65 and in 1935 the life span of the average person was not much beyond 65. Today the average life span is moving up exponentially as technology and health care improve. Also, social security was not meant to supplant pensions or personal savings. For many today it has come to mean the very things for which it was originally not meant. This coupled with the reality of a growing population of retirees and a diminishing population of workers creates the need for real reform and innovation in order to ensure there will be sufficient funds for those still working and for future generations to reap the benefits of the Social Security taxes that are taken out of their wages. Those “terrible fiscal conservatives” have even suggested that individuals save for their own retirement and agree to keep a small percentage of the Social Security taxes they pay to be put into personal investment accounts.

Perhaps the most salient difference between a liberal’s solution to social problems and a conservative’s solution to the same social problems lies in a fundamental philosophical and ideological difference. Conservatives posit the proposition that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inallienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The genius of the American experiment has been the dispersal and diffusion of power. Hence the belief that man needs to learn “how to fish,” not be given the “fish.” This belief recognizes the uniqueness and individuality of our fellow men instead of relegating them to being part of an amorphous mass known as the “poor.” To recognize the dignity of our fellow human beings means to give them a hand up, not a hand out.  Real and lasting social justice is borne out of reaching out to one another and becoming involved interpersonally, not intergovernmentally.

Mena Kramer