Compassionate Problem Solving for Society

Each generation assumes that the problems its society are facing are far greater than at any other time; however, throughout history, humanity has witnessed terrible atrocities, great depressions, horrible oppression, and deep inequalities. Fortunately, we also see the immense power of humanity, compassion, selflessness and love. Unfortunately, we lose focus of the solutions and thereby revisit the same old wounds of creating, sustaining and feeling great suffering. Why do we put ourselves through this? Perhaps because compassion is found on a higher intellectual realm than the basic survival instinct that fosters selfish individualism born out of fear. Perhaps one day, society can learn to stay focused, retain the solutions, and finally place humanity on that higher realm of compassion to end the cycle of suffering.

What are today's problems and how can we solve them? 

For starters, The Economy. Fiscal Responsibility. Debt. Taxes. Social Programs. Austerity. Economics seems to be such a huge issue. The problems associated with this topic are varied, complex, and affect every single person. What is the compassionate way to deal with trillions of national dollars? The answer is surprisingly easy. Focus on the greater good and do not allow fear to dominate policy decisions. Allowing those who enjoy greater wealth and success to contribute a greater share to the whole of society while simultaneously providing safety nets and opportunities for those with less is the compassionate path that leads to greater happiness and contentment while simultaneously minimizing suffering for society as a whole. Translated into fiscal policy, this means reversing the tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and largest corporations and strengthening social programs---not merely financing them, but making them more effective as upward social mobility tools.

We learned this lesson during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the subsequent New Deal policies that FDR passed. The US experienced the greatest growth when social programs were fully financed instead of financially gutted. Their efficacy stemmed from their foundation of helping the less fortunate to gain a foothold on the ladder of social mobility. The government worked for the people by putting people to work, often in government-funded jobs, such as infrastructure improvements and state park positions. The FHA was created to stem the loss of home ownership and increase lending. Public education, Social Security, etc., were strengthened and prioritized as a means to ensure that future generations would be educated and the elderly would have compassionate assistance. In order to pay for these programs and services to the people, the tax system was such that those who earned more, paid more; while those earning less, paid less.

After the Great Depression, industrialized nations around the world began to follow the role model that FDR had began, implementing various welfare state policies. European nations believed that healthcare, housing and education should be made freely available to all citizens, regardless of social standing, thereby eliminating  the stigma of the welfare recipient. During subsequent years, technology and renovation saw a boom as people were more able to take a risk and attempt entrepreneurial ventures while they lacked stress and worry over healthcare costs, housing and food. In contrast, the US immediately began dismantling New Deal programs, fostering a social stigma against the welfare recipient, and creating a vacuum of dependency that both prevents social class mobility and places blame on the poverty-stricken instead of those oppressing them. We see several generations stuck in poverty, waiting for their public assistance, living in deplorable conditions, often going hungry and without basic services. Opponents to welfare use this as a tool, claiming that welfare does not work and is harmful to the poor, in order to further strip funding when they were the ones who have been dismantling effective public assistance to begin with. When fiscal conservatives wage welfare war and win, the society as a whole loses, including the fiscal conservatives.

In order to maintain the flow of wealth, the top earners have manipulated the political process, mainstream media, and finally the masses. Our own fear and continual suffering allows the manipulation to take root and grow within society like a cancer. The elite claim that they create jobs with the tax breaks, incentives and subsidies that government provide them ("Corporate Welfare"), yet the obvious facts point to a far different reality---they must maintain a growth market and the best way to do this is to minimize cost and increase profits. Decreasing employee numbers means less outflow with no return, since employee costs include paid vacations, benefits, sick leave, workplace safety, etc. Maintain the least labor force possible, increase their individual productivity by any means necessary, and outsource all labor possible to countries with no minimum wage, employee benefits, safety or environmental regulations---these are the only ways to maintain growth when reporting record profits. 

You see, fear that is fostered by greed, paid for by the manipulators, has blinded the masses to the reality that we are worthy, that compassion is our savior, and that humanity is better than this. We hurt ourselves as we try to save ourselves. The elite have created a Great Divide within society. They have set the working poor (which most of us now fall into, whether we admit it or not) against the non-working poor. Really, it's quite easy to do in a society that fosters individual "success" over societal improvement. The fear that someone is getting something they don't deserve from another's hard work is playing to the baser survival instinct inherent in the animal kingdom. 

Compassion and community are seen as weak, when in reality, it takes far more strength to let the fear go and accept that some people may abuse The System. Someone will get more welfare than they should. Someone will get welfare when they are fully capable of working. Some people may work harder than some other people. This is reality, whether we have strong social programs or not. The largest drain to our tax dollars, the biggest leach on us, is the subsidies, incentives and tax breaks for the wealthy elite. But we view them as being worthy of our hard-earned money because they epitomize that which we want to be. We see ourselves as being them, just a little bit out of reach. We want to be them. And when we finally attain that status, we certainly don't want some snot-nosed lazy street urchin taking what we worked so hard to attain. 

Unfortunately, we undercut our own ability to reach any level of success by allowing them to cut the rungs off the social mobility ladder. We allow wage earnings to stagnate even as inflation increases the cost of everything we need and want, thereby throwing former middle class workers into working poor status without them even being aware. We allow minimum wage to be slave wages, which no one could possibly survive on because the elite tell us they won't create jobs or they'll lay off workers if they have to pay their base workers a decent salary. We undercut our own ability to reach any level of success. We allow the wealthy corporations to pollute our air and water because they tell us that regulations stifle profits which prevent jobs (which they don't create or maintain anyway). We undercut our own basic survival as we destroy the only world known at this time that supports human life. But we don't see past the moment, past the fear, past the lies and manipulations. We lost our focus and our compassion. And we're weaker because of it.. and we suffer as a result, all of us, as a whole.

In contrast, when we invest compassionately, we make more return for our investment. Giving to the poor means that we're giving to ourselves---the poor spend their money on food, shelter, clothing, etc. They reinvest into the economy. We all experience the benefits as a whole. On the other hand, when we give tax breaks, subsidies and incentives to corporations and the wealthy, they tend to hold onto that additional wealth, investing in corporate stocks, which benefit the shareholders and corporate elite, or they place those dollars in offshore accounts to avoid taxation. We all experience the loss of that investment. 

Each of us can do something to start the wheels of social change. We can recover and become a great family, community, town, city, state and nation. It starts with you. Think compassionately. Do not assume to know the life or decisions of those less fortunate than you. Instead, get to know the person behind the EBT card, for instance. When you feel the fear or resentment or anger welling up inside you, look directly at it. Where does it come from? Why are you feeling it? Who are you directing it toward? What does it say about you? What are you avoiding? What are you trying to accomplish? And most importantly, what is the compassionate solution to the problem? Are you being compassionate in this moment?