Comments are welcome... encouraged in fact. I like this article because I think it gets to the heart of what politics and government is all about when it asks: "what kind of society do we want to live in?"
- Tim
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2 comments:
Hey Tim,
I was sad to see that no one has taken you up to make a comment on your article. I thought i would give it a shot. I found several of the perspectives interesting. Sometimes it just seems like we are doing something wrong over here, and justify it to ourselves. But for me, I have a conflict as how do you regulate selflessness or exercise? I thought the point about us being more individualistic was huge and i can see it - i just thought it was in my office though, not everywhere. In seriousness, i have been thinking about it some - just seems like everyone is looking out for #1, and everything with gas prices and corporate bailouts over here, everyone thinks they deserve better, and don't want to take any responsibility (or have to feel any pain), and under these conditions its certainly not going to get better, because there is no cooperation.
This valuable article leaves an important question, a practical question, unaddressed. Suppose I agree (as does this commentator) with the premise that equality is preferable to inequality, provided the more equal society provides a morally acceptable incentive for people to contribute to the best of their abilities. How then do I behave, as a reasonably well-heeled (this is the Harvard alumni magazine, after all) American, circa 2008? Do I do what I can to change the system while at the same time ensuring my children have whatever advantages I can provide them? Do I do what I can to change the system and, in addition, act independently (knowing other parents will not) to minimize the advantages my children enjoy? Do I try to find some happy medium?
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