The disparity of political partisanship has seemingly reached a boiling point in the United States; though, it is truly unjustified.
In economics, there is a concept known as the “Pareto Principle” in which any idea should be accepted so long as it makes some people better off and no one worse off. After every decision has been made following the above rule (such that no decision can be made without someone being worse off), then society has reached its resting point or Pareto equilibrium.
I believe that we have reached our Pareto equilibrium in the sense that any implemented policy will cause harm to at least one person. Therefore, politicians are staring down an impossible scenario: they are expected to act, but they are also expected to make everyone better off.
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When I teach economics at both the undergraduate and graduate level I tell my students one certainty: if you ever hear a politician say “I have the answer to all the problems,” you have to decide whether they are the smartest person to ever live, or if they are plain lying (I usually land on the latter conclusion).
The reason I am so pessimistic about these grossly-exaggerated claims is that: if ANY politician actually knew how to do something, they would execute their plan, save the economy, make everyone better off, and be perpetually reelected until their dying day.
Thus, faced with the impending hurt of a subset of American people, politicians still act and we, as the public, choose to jump to the conclusion of hatred, racism, bigotry, and the like rather than follow the words of Stephen Covey by “seeking first to understand.”
Let me take some time to highlight some recent examples. First, the Trump administration decided to decrease the size of two national monuments that Barrack Obama created in his final months in office. People accused the administration of anti-environmental policies, but what if we step back and look at it from a different perspective? By creating the national monuments, the amount of land that can be used for oil drilling, logging, and business prospecting drastically decreases. Environmental champions would say “and rightfully so!” But simultaneously there is a competing want to have gas prices remain low such that a minivan can fill up the tank for under $50, which will in turn allow parents to afford to attend a soccer game two towns over, dance recitals, elementary school band concerts, and maybe even a date here and there. I love hiking, but cheap gas is a must in our society (regardless if you believe that is how the world should be).
Another example stems from the most omnipresent news article in the past months: the tax bill. Ben Franklin said it best, “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” We can all remember our first paycheck; we did the math and $7.50 per hour multiplied by 20 hours, means $150 dollars! However, when we picked up our checks, there was far less. We shouted how unfair it was that Big Brother took our money! But, we didn’t bat an eye when we didn’t have to change our tires every other week due to hitting pot holes, when we hiked in the state parks, or checked a book out from a library. Certainly, taxes go toward military spending and social security, but they also keep our public hospitals open and our first responders only a phone call away. Thus, when I see states working so hard to find ways around the newest tax bill, I think about how we are screwing our country. Our nation is trillions of dollars in debt, but we make special rules to allow people to provide less money toward taxation. How does that make sense? Well, again, given the pareto equilibrium described above, politicians are trading myopic happiness (and votes) for long term financial stability of a nation. Nevertheless, who am I to say that the carpe diem-like mentality is not the better way to go?
Regardless of the aforementioned examples, we must decide how we are to act in our current Pareto Equilibrium:
Are we to tinker with our system to try to push further?
Are we to allow a small minority to be negatively impacted to benefit the greater society?
Are we to allow the small minority to dictate the choices of our politicians?
Are we going to continue to have hurtful accusations hurled at those opposing our ideas?
Are we to go through life with our heads firmly buried in the sand?
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