Altruism is the practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. A person with this quality is “altruistic.”
If you’re a religious person you may believe that altruism will pave your path to heaven, i.e., if such a place exists.
But in the political realm, belief in altruism is a road map to defeat in national elections.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the philosophies of Democratic progressives and their belief that the whole country thinks they way they do about social and economic issues. They live in a bubble, preach to their own choir, and display a religious zeal that defies logic.
Two weeks ago black billionaire Robert Smith, while giving the commencement address to graduates of historically black Morehouse College, announced he would pay off every cent of student debt owed by the class of 2019. It’s a gift worth millions of dollars.
That’s great, right? What about the class of 2018? They’re sitting at home, up to their eyeballs in college loans it may take them a lifetime to pay, and they hear this news. I guarantee you that more than a few of them shook their heads and said, “WTF? How come they get their loans paid off, and all I get is oogatz.” OK, they’re black, they probably didn’t say “oogatz,” unless they have Italian friends.
What about the class of 2019? Are they going to get 40 aces and a mule? Is Oprah going to give each of them a car?
If a white billionaire paid off the student loans for one class of white students in a white college, white folks would lose their collective minds. “What about us?” they’d say.
For once race is not a factor. I can’t imagine any racial or ethnic group member responding with, “Oh, that’s so nice, I’m so happy for them, they won’t have to pay off their loans like my parents and I will have to do.”
Free college will result in a lot of disgruntled Americans who’ll resent being left out while their tax dollars pay for someone else’s education.
Progressives want to raise the minimum wage to $15. You’ve been working at a company for three years for $10 an hour. The pay goes to $15. Somebody comes in off the street and starts getting paid that amount. You say, “Wait a minute. I’ve been here three years. I deserve at least $20 an hour. The assistant manager and the manager demand a raise. The business owner is forced to lay off employees because he can’t afford the increases. That’s called “unintended consequences.”
I had a conversation recently with an Italian immigrant who came here as a boy and is now a senior citizen. He wants all immigrants to go through what he went through—fingerprinting, lots of paperwork, long waits for citizenship. I’ve talked to Mexican immigrants who went through a lengthy process and a long wait to get here legally. Now they’re citizens, but they deeply resent their fellow Mexicans getting things handed to them.
Then there’s Medicare for All.
Jonathan Metzl is a white professor of sociology and psychiatry at Vanderbilt University. Earlier this year he published a book titled, “Dying of Whiteness.” He spent seven years researching this book while interviewing people in Tennessee and neighboring states. Here’s an abbreviated version of what he had to say:
“…when I met with middle- and lower-income white Americans across various locales, I found support for a set of political positions that directly harmed their own health and well-being or the health and well-being of their own families…. I spoke with Trevor, a 41-year-old uninsured Tennessean who… learned that his pain resulted from an inflamed liver, the consequence of “years of hard partying” and the damaging effects of the hepatitis C virus.”
Trevor was yellow with jaundice and had oxygen in his nose. At that time there were raging debates about Tennessee’s participation in the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid coverage. In neighboring Kentucky he’d have been eligible for expensive medications and a liver transplant. In Tennessee he was eligible for oogatz. The Republican politicians in his state continually blocked Obama-era health reforms.
Dr. Metzl continued: “Even on death’s doorstep, Trevor wasn’t angry. In fact, he staunchly supported the stance promoted by his elected officials. “Ain’t no way I would ever support Obamacare or sign up for it,” he told me. “I would rather die.” When I asked him why he felt this way even as he faced severe illness, he explained, “We don’t need any more government in our lives. And in any case, no way I want my tax dollars paying for Mexicans or welfare queens.”
Here in the Bay State, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, who devised both Romneycare and Obamacare, believes that firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other public sector workers who have good private health care will reject the idea of Medicare for All. They won’t give up something they’re satisfied with for an unknown government plan.
Diogenes (c. 404-323 BCE) was a Greek Cynic philosopher best known for holding a lantern to the faces of the citizens of Athens, claiming he was searching for an honest man. Today he’d have a better chance of finding an honest man than one who’s altruistic.
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