#20- Because I Agree With Adam Smith

When my parents divorced one of the many things they fought over was a handsome collection of beautifully bound leather books. My dad actually read the books but my mom just liked the way they looked on the bookshelves. She won the book battle in the divorce wars but the books, along with a couple of oil paintings, remained a point of contention for many years- probably still are. Once, years ago on my of my rare return trips to Tulsa, I pulled one of the books from the shelf and took it upstairs to read. To tell the truth I thought it was a snoozer but I struggled through, scanning some parts and carefully reading others. Mom went ballistic when she discovered I had taken the book home to California but she calmed down when I sent a leather bound and engraved photo album of the kids to fill the gapping hole on the third shelf. I don't think she has ever really missed Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" because I know she never read it.

Smith's book is not exactly a family read aloud but with all this talk of Joe the Plumber, taxes and the "S" word I found myself thinking about the book and wondering what the Father of Capitalism would think now that our MBA President has nationalized banking and greatly altered (some say erased) free market capitalism. So I was delighted today when I found a quote from Smith at the Daily Dish.

"The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor. . . . The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess. . . . It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion. "

Let me repeat that- the Father of Capitalism thought it reasonable for the rich to contribute a larger proportion of their income to the nation than the poor. Think about it- a progressive tax system is not a radical commie idea but isactually a foundational element of successful capitalism!

I like capitalism. I know it is flawed- I read The Tragedy of the Commons- but I still think it is the best system available. But it only works when greed is balanced by morality. Yes- I do think paying taxes is the morally correct- even patriotic thing to do.

Our national infrastructure is falling apart. Bridges are crumbling, levees are unsafe, far too many of our fellow citizens lack affordable medical care, we don't have high speed rail and we have never fully funded improvement programs for public schools. We have to get serious about fixing up the commons and we also have to address the giant deficit (thanks George).
Paying taxes is part of the solution. Like Colin Powell said last Sunday, as he was leaving the NBC studio.

"Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay it, in roads, in hospitals and schools. Taxes are necessary for the common good.........I don't want my taxes raised. I don't want anybody else's taxes raised but I also want to see our infrastructure fixed. I don't want a 12 trillion dollar national debt and I also don't want to see an annual deficit that is over 500 billion dollars heading toward a trillion."


So I have to agree with Senator Obama, Adam Smith and General Powell, it is not unreasonable to re-examine the tax structure of our country to assure that we are contributing our fair share to the common good.

Maybe, like my mother, Senator McCain and Governor Palin have never actually read "The Wealth of Nations." We need more than pretty bookcovers- we need substance, even if it is tough going.