Use the tax system to pay for better society
Hats off to Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and many others doing their best to figure out how to remedy the dire situation at the state Children, Youth and Families Department, despite the valiant efforts of so many dedicated state employees under the solid leadership of so many competent Cabinet secretaries over the past few decades.
However, it seems like nobody is really discussing or debating the “elephant in the living room,” a tax system that now grossly favors corporations and most wealthy Americans over average taxpayers, resulting in a deteriorating lack of social services and education that would allow those less fortunate among us to live normal lives without suffering from undue stress and danger, too often resulting in violence, substance abuse and manic depression.
After World War II, we established a tax system in the U.S. that closely resembled many of those in Scandinavia today, where subsidized housing, health care,
The average American corporation paid $3 in tax for every $1 paid by the average citizen in the 1950s, and now the corporate obligation has been reduced to 10% of that rate, or 30 cents for every $1 paid by the public.
higher education and vacation are far more accessible and affordable. These readily available amenities drastically reduce the overall level of stress among families, as well as significantly improving their quality of life.
I have siblings who have lived in Sweden, England and Australia for many years, so I am constantly reminded by their personal stories of just how much more they enjoy everyday life than the average Americans do, including having so much more leisure time with family and friends, thus vastly reducing the circumstance of chronic isolation as well as improving emotional bonding.
The average American corporation paid $3 in tax for every $1 paid by the average citizen in the 1950s, and now the corporate obligation has been reduced to 10% of that rate, or 30 cents for every $1 paid by the public.
Now the financial burden on our citizenry is reaching the breaking point, with homeless people wandering the streets in towns across the country. This circumstance actually costs the government, and all of us, an average of $30,000 per year in emergency services. Conversely, if political will manifested, it only costs $10,000 per year to provide destitute individuals with housing and food. Another “red flag” is the disturbingly high rate of postpartum fatalities among both mothers and infants in the U.S., far exceeding the rate of most other modern countries. It is at the moment of conception, or beforehand, where we need to start providing far more comprehensive services to protect young families from unnecessary trauma and neglect that will inevitably reappear later in dysfunctional family behavior.
In the 1990s, when I was working with youth to prevent violence and gang activity, one day I met with a group of teachers to explain how our counseling team was targeting seventh graders for gang prevention, to start “early.” Yet, after a prolonged silence, one teacher politely explained that they already knew who was going to prison, per the daily evidence of aggressive behavior, sleep deprivation and chronic hunger, by second grade.
Regardless of political affiliation, we must remember that we are all Americans first, and taking care of the most vulnerable among us is essential to the health of our entire society, as well as protecting our democracy. Recently, at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a major cadre of billionaires and millionaires officially requested they themselves be required to pay more taxes, as it was finally clear, even to them, our free world and quality of life will not survive without achieving greater equality among our citizenries.