What Are Our National Values?

     Everyone knows that actions speak louder than words, and I think that's a good starting point to realizing what our country is and isn't about. I think it's also important because, like it or not, the country is a reflection of you and me both.

Things I think we are about:

• Money
• Money is power, plain & simple. & because we value hard work, I think we equate $$$ with work (ignoring things like the advantages of timing and plain dumb luck), but in a world where it's estimated that "eight men own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world" (https://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/an-economy-for-the-99-its-time-to-build-a-human-economy-that-benefits-everyone-620170), that train of thought is just wrong and invalid. It's physically impossible for 8 dudes to outwork 3.5 billion people. & if you're gonna shoot back with something clever like "work smart not hard," you're an ignorant prick.
• Leisure
• I know everybody enjoys their comforts (myself included), but I think a lot of people in America take for granted the leisure and forsake the responsibilities that got us here. The biggest responsibility being civic engagement, which can take the form of protest, voting, and even responsible consumption (like supporting orgs/businesses that align with your beliefs *ahem* http://www.complex.com/music/2018/01/coachella-owner-donated-187-thousand-dollars-republican-party) 

Things I wish we were about:

• Education 
• I've talked about it with friends before, but if one of the wealthiest countries with no shortage of brilliant minds doesn't have it right while others do, it isn't an accident
• People paying their fair share
• As recently as 1981, the highest bracket (those making the most, by far) had a marginal tax rate of 70%. From '82-'86, it was 50%. Starting in '87, that dropped to 38.5%. Since then, we've fluctuated, but never even hit 40% again. So think about that - all those uncollected taxes from 3 decades of growth. Here's a bonus: if you think dropping from collecting 70% in taxes to 37% is crazy - for ~20 years from 1943-1962, the highest tax rate was ~90% (all numbers courtesy https://taxfoundation.org/us-federal-individual-income-tax-rates-history-1913-2013-nominal-and-inflation-adjusted-brackets/). To make it all concrete, you can use this tool to compare tax payments across the years. For example, someone with taxable income of $1,000,000 in 1945 might have to pay taxes of $664,000, while in 2011 they would pay $320,000. So, that's 300,000+ that isn't getting redistributed via government. 
• Meritocracy (or more sensible lawmaking, somehow)
• I'm all for having elected officials make decisions, but I think there's got to be more room within the framework of government for people with expertise to call the shots, or to limit the influence lawmakers get from people who are strictly profit motivated. Some egregious examples are how smoking marijuana is still a federal crime, or the way prison contracts can be drawn up to require the beds be filled, otherwise states are obligated to pay fees. Those are just a couple examples that are quite mind-boggling. & in 2018, after decades of having both drugs and prisons around, something tells me that these laws aren't just archaic - they are also completely intentional. I'm gonna throw it out there because it's a big one too: gun policy. I'm a teacher, so you can go ahead and guess my stance on this one.

This post is far from exhaustive, but it's been a long time since I sat down and penned some thoughts, so I just wanted to put this out there to share.