Middle Class Part 1: Taxation, Proof and Talk-Show Hosts

The first step: The next half-dozen columns, that no one will read, will generally concern the topic of Taxation. No other topic in the country is more divisive, not even racism, and not immigration- and those are two monstrously divisive issues. The reason taxation is such an important issue is that people are taxed for so many things, in so many ways, by so many political, social, and municipal agencies it is difficult to track and justify how it is done, and where the tax money goes once it leaves our accounts and pocket books. Above that even, it epitomizes the class struggle I see coming in this country. And no, I haven’t just finished reading The Communist Manifesto. Some might think this is reactionary, extreme, or simply ludicrous. When you speak of things that haven’t happened yet, people have one of two reactions- they either dismiss you as a quack and think you are some kind of gypsy, someone living in a dream-world, pretending to be a prophet, or they consider your paranoia and wonder that you could be concerned with something you have so little control over.

The Next Step: There is so much apathy in this country it is disgusting. So, would I rather seek the truth, look for proof, and be passionately engaged in the events of the world, or be a slug content with hustling children off to soccer practice, allowing them dessert after a dinner they were not made to eat? Once you have found yourself to be in the former category, the next logical question is one that Malone (Sean Connery) asked Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) in The Untouchables in regards to the approach Ness might take trying to prove that Al Capone (Robert Deniro) was completely corrupt: “Now, what are you prepared to do.” I will continue to bitch about the situation and vote for third party candidates because the republicans and democrats are corrupt, incompetent, over-sexed, hypocritical, pedantic morons, and I can’t trust them to spend my money.

No Bigger Issue: Every other single political issue in this country is in some way tied to the travesty of excessive and unconscionable taxation- racism, immigration, education, gas taxes, real estate, corporate welfare (i.e. new stadiums), health care, Iraq and foreign policy, campaign finance reform, the automobile industry, and the list goes on. I may be unable to resolve or prove a darn thing, but that never stopped people from having disputes or making up their mind on one side of a topic or another. And this is where the problem resides- people require proof of facts in discussions in order to decide on who is right and who is wrong. Sometimes, proof just is not available. When you buy a new car, do you absolutely know it is the best car. It may be the best car for you based on the price, opinions of others who have the model, your comfort level with a salesman, or the dealership, how you feel it drives, how it looks, or what kind of mileage it gets. You don’t KNOW, and knowing comes from proof, which in the case of having purchased a new car may not come until 4-5 years into your experience with it, when it is no longer under warranty.

What is Proof?: Though they both retired over 30 years ago, we haven’t concluded who the better baseball player is- Mays or Mantle, and maybe neither. We have political discussions about the gas tax, abortion, global warming, and how many people’s deaths can be attributed to second hand smoke inhalation. We have arguments at home about discretionary spending- whether we should go out to dinner or save some money. Meteorologists have different forecasts one day than the next, and they have millions of dollars of equipment to tell them what is going on in the atmosphere. Researchers may dispute how much dark chocolate is enough to fulfill an anti-oxidant quota. Hell, it has been about 2000 years since someone named Jesus Christ is supposed to have perished for the sins of mankind- we haven’t exactly resolved that debate have we? There apparently was not enough evidence for a biased jury to convict O.J. Simpson- they needed even more proof. Barry Bonds is on the verge of breaking Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record and his proponents still back him because he has not failed a drug test. Well, there isn’t a way to test for HGH use, and baseball did not test for steroids until recently. So, how exactly do you prove something you are convinced is true? Sometimes you don’t. You bring as much information to the table as possible and attempt to prove something beyond a preponderance of the evidence. Most disputes aren’t murder trials, so the burden of proof never gets to the line of thinking necessary to return a guilty verdict- beyond a reasonable doubt.

Disclaimer: I will approach the massive subject of taxation incrementally, pensively, cautiously, sometimes naively, sometimes realistically, with my typical quips and with the idea that just because something is unproven, does not mean that the topic should be dismissed. Scientists conduct many trials, and sometimes even they are shocked by the results. Did you know a bee sting can help rheumatism and diabetes? Did you know sticking needles into someone’s skin (acupuncture) can cure nausea? How many beers or glasses of wine a night is considered good for the arteries? Did you know there is a bird species, I believe it was in Australia, that can mimic the beat of a rap song, the sound of a car alarm, the sound of a chain-saw? We learn these things by reading, by paying attention, by being interested in them, even if we are disgusted by what we suspect to be the proof. And what is more, and you might find this shocking- you do not need to be a radio talk-show host in order to be intelligently informed, or even to be right. Yes, that is shocking.

Speaking of Talk-Show Hosts: I am approaching my late thirties. I have heard every classic rock song several hundred times, couldn’t care for rap, or hip-hop, and generally think that there are only about ten songs recorded every year that should have been. All the rest of it is crap. So, I have been drawn the last 7 or 8 years to talk radio. I have listened to PLENTY (this word will come up later, so I’m just foreshadowing) of talk-show hosts spout off about every topic imaginable. Last week, Rush Limbaugh, with the assistance of a caller, was attempting to fold a piece of toilet paper in such a way so as to maximize its wiping potential. The demonstration was based on the Sheryl Crow idea that when we evacuate, we should use as few pieces of toilet paper as possible, so as to help the environment. Sometimes I listen to a host because of the talk-show host’s personality, or the humor, the insight, the topic, or sometimes I listen because I want the other perspective, that I know I probably won’t agree with, so that I can reinforce why I don’t agree with it. At least I give it a chance. As an English major, I have written enough papers where you must concede points in the issue where your argument is weak in order to show the opposing side that you are reasonable; you must know the other side in order to do this; with that, you will know where the other side is weak.

The Major point: Two months ago I emailed a local AM talk-show host- Bob Davis of 1500 KSTP. He, like many other talk-show hosts is a conservative- generally, this means- republican. He had made a statement that in summary amounted to- the middle class- they’re doing just fine, what could they possibly have to complain about. I’m middle class, hundreds of people I know are middle class. When I emailed him to critique his delusional statement- it set off a week-long email exchange, that eventually ended with him telling me I could be out-debated by a dumb poodle. Good stuff. I had told him that he was a pit-bull without any teeth. This was before the recent rash of pit-bull attacks mind you. My point was that the income disparity between the rich and middle class citizens is going to continue to grow because of the hefty price tags on some big ticket items, that the rich can afford to pay for and the middle class must finance- weddings, vacations, homes, vehicles, funerals, home repairs, medical bills, children’s college tuition, etc.

Cost: I concede that the middle class now is fine; I live in a good home, we have two nice vehicles and with two kids under three years old, we don’t have the time for vacations- let alone the money for them. We, by and large, live check to check, paying bills that go up every year in a manner that exceeds our “cost of living” increases. The problem is that my kids will not be able to pay off their college educations until they are nearly retirement age. We don’t make enough money to save for our own retirement or to make much of a dent in their tuition. The cost of an education 20 years from now will be PLENTY, and this will affect what they will be able to put away for retirement; a lifetime spent paying off a college loan won't allow them to put money away for retirement. Who doesn’t want something better for their children? Isn’t that why we recycle, why we give money to water activist agencies, give to the United Way, to help the poor (remember them, that third class) with Santas Anonymous donations, disaster relief contributions, etc.? How do you suppose a child, who is middle class in 2007, will get a better paying job without a college degree, a college degree the rich will not have to finance? A better job pays well and you get a better job, by and large, by having a four year degree. Need I trot out the long worshiped numbers, fractions, percentages, and decimal points to prove that? Twain wrote- “Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.” Can you prove something to a talk-show host in less than one minute on the radio, while being interrupted with constant commercial breaks, and an unreasonable host who disagrees with you, who says he doesn’t finance anything anymore, and whose finger is poised on the disconnect button?

So, we live in no man’s land. Not being able to prove or disprove something- so we should stop putting forth the argument? No passionately engaged scientist, philosopher, navigator, mathemetician, police investigator, psychiatrist, parent, or dufus writing a blog would stop now- even if a talk-show host advised it.

Keep in mind- Not being able to disprove something is no more valuable a skill than not being able to prove it. More on that next time.