TAXES AND OUR GENES

The tax debate always comes out with the conservatives winning. Why is that? Conservatives say in one form or another no more taxes, taxes are too high, or taxes are killing us. A better question is to ask is how can democrats win this debate.  The argument is a bit like a parent and child debating the amount of candy the child should eat.  The best situation in the eyes of the child is for it to have unlimited access to candy. Nevertheless, is this the best situation for the parent? It could be consider the best because it will stop the child from pestering and crying for more candy. However, if the parent is concerned about the distant future of the child, including the immediate probability of a stomachache, the parent rejects their demands.

There is an emerging branch of genetics referred to as evolutionary psychology. Since about 1970, some scientists are developing the idea that our behavior has a genetic foundation.  I subscribe to that belief and the tax situation is a classic example of why I do.  It is very illogical that a child would want to do something that potentially harms its chance of survival. Self-preservation is the strongest of all traits. Gregariousness, or doing thing together, is another trait. Greed, or individual selfishness, gives us the edge in the battle of survival even in a group. Everything we do relates to survival, that why conservatives almost always win.  Greed and gregariousness are equally primitive, or as geneticists say, well conserved. I believe the force driving the tax debate hinges on these same two traits. The conservative mind set is greed; it celebrates the virtues of selfishness. I earned this money and it is mine. I own this land and it is mine, and I started this business and it is mine, and on and on.  The democrats base their philosophy on reciprocal altruism. We will all better survive is we share the wealth. As an aside the moral hazard of indolence and the equally wrong hazard of avariciousness are extremes that both sides detest.

The conclusion is that neither conservatives nor democrats can win the argument. We have to live in Nash equilibrium; democrats cannot survival without conservatives but all of us should still teach our children to be generous and not selfish—perhaps someday all of us will be able to figure out how to promote the common welfare; we earned a good quality of life and should be able to keep it. Therefore, the tax debate is simply a challenge of survival verses quality of life but for most of us that decision is no more than a can to be kicked down the road.