On my ride home from church this morning my satellite radio was playing a discussion about the differences in economic philosophies between Barack Obama and John McCain. Perhaps their economic philosophies shed light on why they would want to be president, or perhaps the reasons that they want to be president is more enlightening.
I paraphrase the comments of one panelist who said that John McCain believes in a system wherein self interest is the primary driver for building employment; Barack Obama believes in a system wherein employment is built through government policy that promotes everyone's interest.
In thinking about this discussion, I was drawn back in my mind to a trip to I took to England years ago. I was fortunate to stay at a friend's house near Oxford, in a cottage on the grounds of an ancient Abbey. The cottage was built around 1,100 (My American history brain cells stretched to accommodate this fact). My friend's father owned the Abbey and the cottage. He used the Abbey for his organization, the name of which I do not recall. You see he was a famous labor psychologist and he had established a Think Tank where people would meet to discuss labor issues and labor philosophy. He told me that the fundamental basis of his organization was this; "All work is equal: all work is worthy of respect."
I've pondered that philosophy for many years because it flies in the face of human behavior. I've heard it echoed sometimes by vocational instructors who pose philosophical questions such as, "Who is more important, the man who flies the plane or the man who repairs the engine?" Vocational instructors hold dear that vocations are equally important in the grand scheme of things as professions. But in reality, the ivory tower prevails in terms of salary and prestige.
I've been flipping over the radio discussion in my mind and I thought back to something I read last night before going to sleep. In Cannery Row, John Steinbeck describes a scene where a group of men venture out to catch frogs. The group is waking from a nap on the sandy stream bank and a rooster they'd driven over is boiling in a can. The first to awaken from napping was Mack.
"Mack awakened, started up, stretched, staggered to the pool, washed his face, broke wind, tightened his belt, scratched his legs, combed his wet hair with his fingers, drank from the jug, belched and sat down by the fire. 'By God that smells good,' he said.
Men all do about the same things when they wake up."… [1]
If everyone puts their pants on the same way then at what point in our day do we decide that the doctor in his pants is so much better than the trash collector? A trash man saves us from more pestilence than a doctor could think of doing, but we don't idolize the trash man. I wonder if Barack and John really do about the same things when they wake up and at what point in the day do their philosophies diverge.
I suppose I do not know enough yet to decide if I agree with Barack or John's philosophy. There must be more to consider than was discussed on the radio. It did make me wonder about Barack. Among the all possible human exercises in narcissism that one can undertake, a run for the presidency must rank close to top. Barack's desire to sit at the pinnacle power in our country and perhaps on earth makes me think that perhaps there is more capitalist in Barack than his philosophy may indicate.
[1] Steinbeck, John. The Short Novels of John Steinbeck. The Viking Press, New York. 1953. |
