Theories are great. Until they hit reality.
We often talk about life in theory. We say, “In theory this and that are possible.” We look at all of the pros and cons. We debate potential outcomes and compensate for variables. In theory, theories should work. But they don’t.
Once they hit the pavement of the real world, many variables can occur. That’s how grand schemes can go awry and some people use these to change our behavior. Like con artists, the more they repeat the scheme to us, the more they expect us to feel comfortable with the idea.
This 4th of July, I prefer to take a different approach – one that places simplicity and truth at its core. It seems independence and the will and desire of the individual are under siege. It is as to say, your need for altruism and self-fulfillment is less important than the needs of the many. The idea proposes to let mediocrity and regression toward the mean take over. Average, after all, is more desirable than the alternative. Theories of social congregation and utopian justice prevail. We have all heard the cry to make things, life, and the economy more equitable. It is as if equal is synonymous with idealist perfection. We have all heard the cries denouncing capitalism because it is the root of all evil and it is the harbinger of all inequality. Accounting for taxes and transfers, reports show that US income inequality actually declined over the last 70 years—contrary to popular belief.
By no means is anyone advocating for the injustices that can be created through inequality. We have seen the evils that arise from entitlement and superiority over others. We should find ways to eliminate the negative side effects rather than do away with the system entirely.
The power of the individual, as exhibited through free markets and entrepreneurship have brought more people out of poverty in the world than any other utopian desire to eradicate inequality. According to Rainer Zitelmann, a historian and sociologist, writing in a recent Wall Street Journal article: “In recent years, the decline in poverty has accelerated at a pace unmatched in any previous period of human history. In 1981 the absolute poverty rate, which the World Bank currently defines as living on less than $1.90 a day, was 42.7%. By 2000, it had fallen to 27.8%, and today it is less than 9%.” Only an expansion of free markets can lead to increased prosperity. When politicians say “Government knows best and (using our tax dollars) can eradicate poverty by redistributing wealth to make things more equal,” point them to these figures. Science will discover that with all of its negative effects, capitalism proves better at raising people out of poverty than socialism and communism. This is a lesson New Mexico could certainly appreciate.
Unfortunately, it is not just the economy where freedom and independence are under threat. We are threatened by our lack of American unity. What it means to be an American has changed over the last few hundred years. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The mixing of harmonious or even conflicting ideas is what has made America great. But there remains a greater risk. Henry Kissinger, who served as Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford, in his recent book and articles, suggests that the greatest threat facing the United States today is a loss of cohesion and the lack of ideological consensus. Our greatest threat today isn’t external. China and Cuba have entered into an agreement to build a spying facility just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. That’s a huge deal. Cuban missile crisis anyone? But the biggest risk isn’t what other nations are doing around us; it is that we don’t know what to do about it. Without a clear point of view of the things that bind us, how can we handle the threats that confront us?
It is time to huddle around the ideas, concepts and values that have made us strong. Maybe they are no longer what they used to be. But the core principles that brought us here today have created the strongest, most impactful economic system in the history of the world. And they stemmed from an idea . The idea that all men and women were created equal with the right and desire for self-fulfillment. Theories of social justice and a perfect socialist utopia that progressives like to push for the sake of pure equity hit the skids when applied to the real world. All we know is what we have experienced. Try to eliminate the negatives from good systems rather than build a sandcastle that will never stand the test of time. Ideas and theories about how to make things perfect have not worked. I’ll stick to what has. This 4th of July, I celebrate freedom.
Javier Sánchez is the former mayor of Española, NM, and the co-owner of La Cocina New Mexican Restaurant.