Rumored to be edible after fifty years and haven taken a trip to the moon, the Twinkie is now “dead.” As the US watched the news unfold, Hostess Brands filed a petition with the US Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to close its business and liquidate. Impasse between management and the Bakers, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union led to the ultimate and final decision to close shop, leaving over eighteen thousand without jobs. Can this be a premonition of the outcome of the US with our continued fiscal cliffs?
The Rift
The rift between Democrats and Republicans is evident as quarreling continues. Raise taxes on the rich, reduce spending, balance the budget, reform our tax code, reduce spending on defense, economic disaster, help small businesses, reduced government, increased regulation… Our continued “fiscal cliffs” divide our nation, our leaders, and our ideals. The ethical obligation is muddled. Some argue that party principles trump compromise while others contend that compromise is the fundamental ethical solution.
The challenge behind our fiscal cliffs is the competing values of our nation and our leaders. Many Republicans favor smaller government, reduced spending, and lower taxes while many Democrats favor higher taxes on the rich to close the fiscal gap, sustained government aid, and regulation. These values directly conflict with one another and are the root of the budget ’s negotiation gridlock. The years (decades) of gridlock on these values promoted an unbalanced national budget and ultimately the passage of the fiscal cliff initiative to “force” our leaders to agree on how to balance the budget. Just one month prior to deadlines set by law in 2012, Hostess and the BCTWGM Union reminded us how difficult compromise can be with competing core values.
2011 Debt Ceiling Showdown
Also leading the US to the fiscal cliff was the August 2011 debt ceiling showdown threatening the US ’s ability to meet financial obligations (Masters, 2012). The fiscal cliff was passed into law as a band-aide approach to temporarily “fix” the nation ’s budget deficit. Even a bipartisan committee was unable to agree how to correct the spending practices leading to our increasing inability to balance our nation ’s budget. The only compromise reached was the agreement that there was no compromise. As a result, our nation ’s inability to balance a budget was, yet again, not addressed and put off for future generations.
Foundation for Morality
Jonathan Haidt ’s description of the foundation for morality nicely describes the differences between liberals and conservatives. These differences highlight the fundamental core distinctions between a liberal ’s values and a conservative ’s values. He reasons that liberals and conservatives agree on the first two cores of morality, Harm/Care, and Fairness/Reciprocity. That is, both parties generally agree that we should care for people and there should be some sense of fairness, be it politically, economically, or socially. However, these two groups generally highly disagree on the last three cores of morality, Ingroup Loyalty, Authority and Respect, and Purity or Sanctity. Haidt ’s studies show that liberals show low value in these cores while conservatives show high value in these cores (Heidt, 2008).
This difference in values neatly describes the difference in values regarding our nation ’s budget. Ingroup Loyalty describes how humans want to belong in groups and remain loyal to those groups. Groups appeal to our primal instinct as we rival against opposing groups. Think Democrat versus Republican. Authority and Respect demonstrate the importance placed on those in positions of power. Usually, Democrats place importance on all being equal rather than the hierarchy of Corporate America generally represented by Republicans. Lastly, Conservatives place very high value on Purity or Sanctity, whereas, Liberals place this value in Purity of a different sense. We are seeing Liberals place greater importance on the Purity of our food and materials, rather than on our body or soul. Health Care spending is an example of Purity/Sanctity differences between the two groups where Liberals place importance on equal health care and Conservatives want to repeal Obamacare. These core differences have existed for hundreds of years and are still contributing to social strife today.
Ethics of Doing Nothing
Ethically, our nation ’s leaders failed the American People. Our leaders neglected to lead us and honor their obligation to govern to better the economics of the US. Rather, the continual lack of passing a balanced budget places our nation at great risk of economic collapse and the real possibility of another recession. We are already witnessing this consequence. It appears as though we are facing the same fate as Hostess, two sides, with two sets of competing values, unable to reach a compromise and settling for devolvement rather than the greater good.
The failure of Congress is more than the failure of our political parties compromising to reach a balanced budget. Rather, it is that failure of our nation to take responsibility for our past and current spending at the expense of our future. The short-term economic penalty is a worsening recession. Long-term, the reputation of the US will be further damaged, our credit rating devastated, and our economic outlook will continue to be bleak for generations as we pay our increasing debt and pay for our increasingly costly infrastructure.
Ethical negotiation means a shared commitment to reach accord, before the point of mutually assured destruction is reached (Marshall, 2012). Our elected officials must put differences aside and negotiate as rational adults in a professional manner. Congress has the ethical duty to put aside their extreme values and recognize that the American “melting pot” signifies that we blend our differences together to create a synergy greater than any idealistic agenda of either party.
Given our leaders have yet to resolve core differences and agree on a path for a national budget, I would not give favorable evaluation to either party. Both parties must become rational and put aside saving face or appealing to the largest political donors. Doing so will avoid the proverbial fiscal cliff and a repeat of the fate of the Twinkie.
References:
Andrews, W., Bartz, J., & Tumgoren, S. (n.d.). 2012 Presidential Election Results – The Washington Post. Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/election-map-2012/president/
Berman, J. (2012, November 16). Union Claims Hostess Executives Received Raises In Advance Of Bankruptcy (CORRECTION). Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/gregory-rayburn-raise_n_2147043.html
Biderman, C. (2012, November 14). Market Selloff After Obama’s Re-election No Accident, Recession Coming – Forbes. Information for the World’s Business Leaders – Forbes.com. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2012/11/14/market-selloff-after-obamas-re-election-no-accident-recession-coming/
Haidt, J. (n.d.). Jonathan Haidt: The moral roots of liberals and conservatives | Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html
Hostess Brands is Closed. (2012, November 16). Hostess Brands is Closed. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://hostessbrands.com/
James, F. (2012, November 17). Obama And Lawmakers’ Confidence About Avoiding Cliff Isn’t Universal : It’s All Politics : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/11/17/165310320/obama-and-lawmakers-confidence-about-avoiding-cliff-isnt-universal
Marshall, J. (2012, November 18). The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union Show Us The Way | Ethics Alarms. Ethics Alarms | An ethics commentary blog on current events and issues. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://ethicsalarms.com/2012/11/18/the-bakery-confectionery-tobacco-workers-and-grain-millers-international-union-show-us-the-way/#more-14760
Masters, J. (2012, November 14). What Is the Fiscal Cliff?. Council on Foreign Relations: What Is the Fiscal Cliff. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from www.cfr.org/economics/fiscal-cliff/p28757?cid=ppc-google-grant-fiscal_cliff&gclid=CKPk2I7X27MCFck7Mgodd2AAFQ
Mayko, M. (2012, November 17). End of the Twinkie? – Connecticut Post. CTPost.com – Connecticut Post. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/End-of-the-Twinkie-4043677.php#ixzz2CWIOrY5M
Ydstie, J. (2012, November 10). In Fiscal Cliff Talks, Higher Taxes Vs. Closing Loopholes : It’s All Politics : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/11/19/165413504/in-fiscal-cliff-talks-higher-taxes-vs-closing-loopholes
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