What would Jesus do?

Thomas Bushlack explores a lost idea in American governance-that of  doing what is best for the common good. He argues, quite persuasively that despite their assertions to the contrary-the current Tea Party position is anything but “Christian” in its basis:

What would bringing the language of the common good back into the discussion accomplish? For one thing, it would re-establish the principle that government has a necessary role to play in seeking the common good (not the only role, but still a necessary one). It would also allow us to recognize that in times of economic hardship sometimes government spending is the last resort to help spur the economy. This principle, established by John Maynard Keynes and until very recently accepted by those on the right and the left, would remind us that the time to cut programs and spending is not during an economic downturn, but rather once the economy has rebounded enough to pick up the slack currently left by the high unemployment rate.

Ultimately, the far-right ideology that controls the terms of this debate is going to fail for one simple reason: it won’t work. Imagine walking into an interview for a job as a manager or CEO of a firm and telling them that you think your primary role is to do as little as possible and let your employees each pursue their own narrow self-interest to the exclusion of everyone else in the firm – the interview committee would think you’ve gone mad. But this is precisely what politicians on the far right are asking of voters right now. The best of American democracy has always fostered political experimentation and pragmatic results over ideology, but in our current situation the experiment being run by the far right is playing Russian roulette with our common good, and will have disastrous consequences for our economy.

The mantra “job-killing taxes” that has been repeated ad nauseum only hits at one part of the truth. Some taxes can inhibit economic growth and job creation, but others can stimulate economic growth and enhance the common good. It is impossible to believe that closing corporate tax loopholes and asking more of the top wage-earners is going to be worse than the kind of political and economic instability that would ensue following a government default on its debt. Ultimately, those hit the hardest by this experiment will be those who are already most vulnerable (see Tobias Winright’s post from July 18th). In a climate such as this, Christians – and all people of good will – have a responsibility to continue to uphold the principle of the common good as the foundation of our political life together in society, even if it appears that very few are capable of hearing the message right now.