Fortunate must care for less fortunate
I am 70 years old and have been very successful financially. I am a liberal. Why? It’s because I have always realized that, while a large part of my success has been due to my hard work, some part of my success has been attributable to factors over which no person has any control.
I am white; I am a man; I have a higher than average IQ; I have no physical disabilities; I had a good family life; and I grew up on a farm. In other words, I know that part of my success has been attributable to good old-fashioned luck.
But you might ask, what does growing up on a farm have to do with it? There are many successful people who grew up in a city. Well, yes there are. But they did not grow up with chickens.
You see, if you grow up with chickens, you realize that there truly is a “pecking order” in life. There always will be chickens who are bigger than others, chickens who are quicker than others, and that, however hard the smaller and slower chickens work, they will never get as much corn as the more talented ones among them.
Same with people.
There always will be rich people and there always will be poor people, and it always will be true that some of the rich peoples’ financial success and some of the poor peoples’ financial struggles are attributable to factors over which they had no control.
So, why am I a liberal? It is because I believe that it is the responsibility of those of us who have been more fortunate to take care of those of us who have been less fortunate because we cannot say that all of our success is due to our hard work. We must realize that some of our success is always attributable to luck of the draw.
And we can’t rely on inconsistent and inadequate charity to solve the problem. We need systematic societal programs to make sure that those who are less fortunate among us have the basics of life. Food, clothing, housing, educational opportunity and health care.
That’s why I am a liberal. I have been criticized by others who say mine is just white guilt. I disagree. I think it is just part of being a responsible citizen. We are our brother’s keeper.
MIKE MONTGOMERY, PORT ST. LUCIE