Am I My Brother's Keeper

There was celebration, especially among black conservatives, of Herman Cain’s polling results after a recent GOP debate. I think Mr. Cain, with his impressive professional resume, has a lot to offer, but still find him philosophically befuddled, as are many black folks who equate personal success with political conservatism. Mr. Cain might suggest that capitalism is responsible for our prosperous, albeit now declining, middle class. But this is just a historically commonplace usurpation of reality by societal elites to inculcate and formalize our existing class structure. I suggest that capitalism didn’t create our modern American middle class, but the true reality is that middle class prosperity was forcibly wrested from the capitalists by the labor movement, and then assisted by progressive, equitable, government policies. This is my opposing view of our socio-economic dynamic.

Mr. Cain is a genuine post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy of socio-economic reasoning. He is politically conservative and professionally successful; therefore he is professionally successful because he is conservative. But success is not synonymous with conservatism. In fact Mr. Cain probably owes much to the progressive thoughts and policies stimulated by the labor movement and later formalized into law, for the opportunities that availed him of success. And of course equal and greater success has been achieved by many who self- identify as ‘progressive’ or ‘liberal’, seeming to suggest the road to success is traversed by those functioning as individuals rather than ideologues.

I contend that the essential argument isn't over whom or what is the most liberal or conservative. It is about who thinks our national affluence is properly measured by the wealth of the people, or the wealth of capitalists. If you believe it stems from the exertions of the people, then you'd likely support programs and policies that uplift, prioritize, and secure the middle class. If you believe that our prosperous middle class was an altruistic gift trickled down from the capitalist elite, then you'd probably be unthreatened by the destruction of unions and collective bargaining, Medicare and Social Security.

I admit it is as difficult to arrive at a definitive answer to the above questions as it is to decide whether economics is mostly art or science. But I personally believe, if history is an authoritative witness, that we can be assured, when health care and education and secure retirement are divested of collective participation and returned to "the market", they will become as rare and exclusive as they once were before being extracted from the capitalists by the labor movement and social progressives.