Socialism is gaining favor again. About five years ago, I wrote a column describing the connection between ingratitude and socialism. Socialism is a political system for complainers. Intellectuals believe they will finally be appreciated because their wisdom will be applied to improve various aspects of life.
For ordinary people, the world seems unfair, and a system that evens things out seems to be an answer. Eastern religions emphasize acceptance, and the Ten Commandments caution against covetousness. This is clearly the way to mental and social peace.
But that kind of peace doesn’t serve the needs of politicians. Turmoil and division raise passions, prompting people to make calls, knock on doors, spend money, and vote. It also makes them unhappy and harms them spiritually, but that is not a problem for the politician.
I just heard a delightful, quick definition of a socialist as someone who wants everything you have except your job. Envy is particularly vicious because it says even if I have everything I’ve been promised, I will resent the fact that someone else has something I don’t have.
There is a parable about that in the Bible.
Matthew 20:1-15 (NKJV)
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’
They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’ “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.
But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’
But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’
Here is the issue. Those who worked the entire day were promised, and received, a denarius. That was the standard daily wage. When they saw others get a higher hourly payment, they thought they would and should get more. When they didn’t, they felt it wasn’t fair. They received what they had agreed to and were promised, but when others received a higher hourly payment, they were envious.
There was another case in this century that was very unfair. Northern Virginia is home to many Federal workers and retirees. There are also Virginia State workers and retirees. During their working years, federal pay scales are higher than those of Virginia. That differential continues in the pension amounts. To give its employees a benefit, the Commonwealth did not tax Virginia pension income.
Everybody else’s pension income was taxed. Forty-nine states, corporations, and yes, even federal retirees, were taxed. But that last group thought it was unfair that one group didn’t have to pay taxes. Tax law does that all the time for first responders, teachers, the military, and other groups. But this wasn’t fair!
These people had the power to make their case. The Washington Post took the Federal retiree’s side. They obviously sued in federal court. All the federal judges are federal employees who might someday retire in Virginia, but there were no mass recusals.
Federal courts ruled that federal pensions must be treated the same as Virginia pensions under state tax law. Virginia had to pay back money to federal retirees who hadn’t been allowed to exempt their federal pensions. Then the question arose about what to do going forward. They could exempt both or neither. The state decided to tax both.
Let’s review this. Federal employees had it better than Virginia employees in all but one area. A small percentage of Federal employees retired to Virginia and were impacted by the issue. Yet the enrobed federal employees insisted that Virginia couldn’t give its retired employees a slight benefit without also giving it to a small group of envious federal retirees.
This is envy in action. It doesn’t matter what I have. If you have something I don’t have, life’s not fair! If a politician can take that from you, even if I don’t get it, the world is a more equitable place!