| Critics gripe that the president plays his "envy card" in a deck stacked against rich citizens. President Obama rejects this Republican charge he's engaged in class warfare. "Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense." The president's square deal mentality expects the well-heeled to pay their fair share.
The day after his State of the Union address, President Obama traveled to communities where citizens haven't received a fair financial deal. He rejected as Republican blarney that he's jealous of Mitt Romney's business success leading to enormous wealth. "Look, we don't begrudge success in America.... When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share in taxes, it's not because Americans envy the rich. Most of them want to get rich."
From whom did President Obama acquire this keen sense of justice for all Americans, which undergirds his fair deal speech?
Detractors wrongly assert that Saul Alinsky and Reverend Jeremiah Wright serve as major role models. Alinsky, who died in 1972 at 63 years, was a Chicago-bred social movement organizer who Democrats and Republicans alike praise because he gave a fair shake to marginalized residents. Reverend Jeremiah Wright served as Obama's pastor when he belonged to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ for two decades.
However, Reinhold Niebuhr serves as President Obama's # 1 intellectual Christian inspiration for justice and fair play. He taught at Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan from the late 1920s through the 1950s and ranks as the leading American Protestant theologian of this era.
Niebuhr believed justice for all citizens is rooted in more than individuals exercising personal liberty. Conservatives assume Thomas Jefferson's fair shake prescription for success is satisfactory. "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time," taught Jefferson.
That's OK, believed Niebuhr, but it doesn't go far enough to guarantee a just society. Why not?
Conservatives' national economic vision is too narrow because it's based exclusively on citizens exercising unfettered personal liberty under limited government. They reject political centralization. Conservatives press for free markets with less taxes and minimal economic regulations.
Niebuhr offers a much-needed corrective to this narrow view of justice based on personal freedom. Think of justice, said Niebuhr, as the seat of a three-legged stool. Fair deals are propped up by liberty, equality and tolerance.
Financial extremes among citizens undercut our Republic's strength. Colonials believed "power follows property," creating inequality. Consequently, what's economically unfair weakens representative government when the rich amass too much influence and the poor are robbed of their financial independence.
President Obama pressed for equality at the end of his State of the Union message when he used the Navy SEALs' teamwork as a symbol for effective government. SEALs presented their Commander in Chief with a flag, signed by team members who had killed Osama bin Laden. "Each time I look at that flag," said the President, "I am reminded that our destiny is stitched together like those 50 stars and those 13 stripes. No one built this country on their own. This nation is great because we built it together. This nation is great because we worked as a team. This nation is great because we cover each other's backs."
Conservatives practice a shallow justice because tolerance isn't part of it. They sign a pledge never to raise taxes. If a legislator breaks this code, he's ostracized. Anti-tax pledgers fear dissent in their ranks as much as they value uniformity. Those who dare step out of line are labeled malcontents or worse, sliding down the path of socialism.
When the U.S. balances personal freedom, social equality and tolerance, fair deals are struck. Fair play makes citizens believe they can succeed. This is what President Obama learned from
Niebuhr. It's true. It works. It's just. |
