George Will tells Americans not to look into their wallets
George Will really confounds me, and judging by recent numerous and critical letters to the editor, I am not the only one he frustrates.
In Sunday's Seattle Times, Will turns the nation's economic anxiety into superficial materialism. Bringing up Ronald Reagan's successful campaign question, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" now being reused by the John McCain campaign, he asks us not to consider our financial situation when voting, but instead to look at abstractions such as "romance, fly fishing and grandchildren." Don't distract us from the real question. The last time I checked, these meaningful items are not the responsibility of the federal government. Giving Americans a fair shot at financial well-being is.
Will laments:
When asked by a pollster whether or not they are better off than they were four years ago, voters understand that their love life is their own responsibility, but creating an environment where Americans can receive a fair wage, receive health care that won't bankrupt them and afford to keep their kids in food and tennis shoes is the government's.
When choosing a presidential candidate to represent them, voters will consider their wallets, and righly so. Perhaps George Will also believes Phil Gramm, John McCain's former top economic advisor's statement that Americans are in a "mental recession." It's not all in our heads.
In Sunday's Seattle Times, Will turns the nation's economic anxiety into superficial materialism. Bringing up Ronald Reagan's successful campaign question, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" now being reused by the John McCain campaign, he asks us not to consider our financial situation when voting, but instead to look at abstractions such as "romance, fly fishing and grandchildren." Don't distract us from the real question. The last time I checked, these meaningful items are not the responsibility of the federal government. Giving Americans a fair shot at financial well-being is.
Will laments:
We do, unfortunately, live, as Edmund Burke lamented, in an age of "economists and calculators" who are eager to reduce all things to the dust of numeracy, neglecting what Burke called "the decent drapery of life." In this supposedly rational and scientific age, the thirst for simple metrics seduces people into a preoccupation with things that lend themselves to quantification.It seems a lot of Americans are preoccupied with "things" today, things like food, jobs, and gas for their commute, things that cost considerably more today than they did a year ago. The economy is far and away the most important issue to voters who are considering the presidential candidates, and at 6.1%, the national unemployment rate is the highest it's been in five years.
When asked by a pollster whether or not they are better off than they were four years ago, voters understand that their love life is their own responsibility, but creating an environment where Americans can receive a fair wage, receive health care that won't bankrupt them and afford to keep their kids in food and tennis shoes is the government's.
When choosing a presidential candidate to represent them, voters will consider their wallets, and righly so. Perhaps George Will also believes Phil Gramm, John McCain's former top economic advisor's statement that Americans are in a "mental recession." It's not all in our heads.
# Posted by Kathleen : 9:26 AM
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