R on Sider America’s Historic Choice The budget deficit for the 2011 fiscal year is $1.65 trillion. For 2012, President Obama proposes a deficit of $1.1 trillion and the Republican House a deficit of $995 billion. We dare not continue year after year that kind of ongoing federal deficit and growing federal debt. It would be economically disastrous, and it is morally outrageous to keep putting our current purchases on our grandchildren’s credit cards. How should we reduce the deficit? Some want to do it on the backs of the poor. Under the House proposal, two-thirds of the budget’s savings over the next 10 years (totaling $2.9 trillion) would come from significant cuts to programs targeting low-income individuals. The food stamp program would be reduced by $127 billion and Medicaid by $1.4 trillion. Each year 1.4 million low-income college students would lose their Pell Grants. Effective programs begun by President G.W. Bush that now save millions of lives in Africa are also slashed, along with other foreign assistance. At the same time, the Republican budget includes more tax cuts for the richest Americans and increases the defense budget. Last year we spent $815 billion on defense—nearly as much as all other nations combined! Large numbers of evangelicals, including those in the Tea Party, think those are the right priorities. Is there any way to transcend the furiously partisan debate that currently rages and to identify fundamental biblical norms that can guide us? Underlying the current debate, I believe, are four crucial questions, and the future of America will be profoundly shaped by how we answer them. I do not claim that there is any one simple biblical answer to our budget crisis, and I respect Christians who disagree with my conclusions. But I do think there are foundational biblical answers to these four questions that provide crucial guidance. In each case, I also believe we can see two one-sided extremes. 1. Who are persons? Some (including the libertarian atheist Ayn Rand) see persons as essentially isolated individuals with little need for others. Others (including Marxists and members of traditional societies) see persons as primarily members of a group that provides the basic worth and decisions for individuals. I believe biblical faith teaches that every individual has special worth, dignity, and responsibility and deserves personal freedom. Equally clearly the Bible teaches that every person needs wholesome community to enjoy all that God intended. 2. To what degree are we responsible for our neighbors? Very influential today is Ayn Rand’s claim that the “good” individual has no responsibility for neighbors. The other extreme so strongly emphasizes communal responsibilities and decisions that the individual loses personal responsibility and choice. Jesus’ summons to love neighbor as self rejects a radically individualistic ethic without ignoring that this responsibility has limits. 3. What is the role of government in empowering the poor? Libertarians deny that government has any legitimate role, and statists place the primary responsibility for the poor on a powerful government. Both are profoundly wrong. Limited government is essential if we want to avoid totalitarianism, but the
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Bible clearly teaches that the king has a responsibility to empower the poor. Although government should not displace or weaken other societal institutions in reducing poverty, it has an important, albeit limited, role. 4. What kind of concern for the poor and distribution of wealth does justice require? For many conservative thinkers (especially libertarians), justice prevails if the legal system and procedures are fair, regardless of whether poverty exists alongside great extremes of wealth. On the other extreme are those who demand economic equality and make the elimination of poverty the primary goal of a good society. Biblical faith says respect for life and freedom are essential aspects of justice, but God also measures societies by what they do to (or for) people at the bottom. When we link these biblical norms to essential facts, a basic direction becomes clear. America has the highest poverty level of any industrialized nation. We also have the highest extremes of wealth and poverty since just before the Great Depression. The richest 400 Americans hold nearly as much wealth as the bottom 50 percent combined, and the richest 1 percent owns 50 percent of all investment assets. The richest fifth in our society receive half the total income while the poorest fifth receive only 3.4 percent. One other point is important. Americans pay a far lower percentage of their income in taxes than Europeans. In fact, the percentage of income that Americans pay in taxes is lower in recent years than it has been in decades. So what should we do? We must cut ineffective programs of every sort (including some anti-poverty programs) and reduce the defense budget by at least $100 billion a year. The tax burden on wealthy Americans must increase some, not drop further. But we cannot balance the budget simply by increasing taxes, as the president proposes, on only those making more than $250,000 a year. Everyone must sacrifice a little and contribute some. Although the wealthy should have the largest tax increases, all of us should pay a little more and even poorer folk can have small co-pays for Medicaid and Medicare. What we dare not do is slash effective programs that prevent disease and starvation abroad and empower the poor here. America faces a huge decision. In future columns I plan to discuss in more detail the key issues and choices, and I will suggest concrete proposals. If you disagree with me, don’t call me names. Show where I have misunderstood biblical norms or failed to understand the economic data. We desperately need honest, civil debate—including principled, respectful disagreement. Our future and the well-being of our children and grandchildren are at stake. Ron Sider is the founder and president of Evangelicals for Social Action, author of dozens of books, and professor of theology/holistic ministry/public policy at Palmer Seminary of Eastern University.