Concept of “level playing field” outdated

Conservatives, especially the libertarian branch of those folks, are always talking about how the government’s job is only to ensure that we all compete on “a level playing field.” How nonsensical is that?

Making “the field” perfectly level doesn’t make it any easier for me to compete with you if I was born 99 yards from the goal and you were born standing next to it.

It doesn’t make it any easier for me to compete with you if I was born on a baseball field, ignorant of the rules of the game, with no bat, no ball, no glove and no cleats, while you were born standing on third base, with full knowledge of the rules, a personal coach to help you along and an umpire bought by your parents.

It doesn’t make it any easier for me to compete with you if I was born 20 miles from the finish line, had no idea where the finish line was, and no shoes, and you were born within falling distance of the finish line, wearing top-of-the-line running shoes, next to a neon sign pointing the way to the finish line.

We don’t need a level playing field; we need a field where everybody actually has a chance to at least succeed. The Brooklyn Bridge is a better buy than the level playing field. Let’s drop the nonsense slogans and have an intelligent debate about our country and world before we all disappear down the drain.

Lee russ

Bennington, Vt.