Americans still tend to say, when asked, that individuals can make their own place in society. According to one survey, 61% of Americans agree with the statement that "people get rewarded for their effort," compared with 49% in Canada and only 23% in France. In reality, however, America has vast inequality of opportunity as well as results.
There are many ways to look at this. One way is to say that Americans are really dumb and don't know that they are getting the shaft. That's the way Krugman looks at it. Another way to look at it is that it is accurate- effort is rewarded and lack of effort is not.
Yet another way to look at it is to take a cue from Krugman's own discussion. He shows that France really does have a generous safety net- or much more generous than the one in America. The question then arises is why aren't the French much more happier about that, and why aren't the Americans more unhappy? It would seem that there some severe discrepancy in Krugman's discussion. Perhaps all of the penalties against success that Krugman lauds about in French society actually shows up in that survey for the French. Maybe the French just don't see the point in trying harder- because if you do, you won't see the reward from it. Their government will tax it away from you.
It is all in the way you look at it. Krugman is unhappy about the inequality. But most Americans don't seem to be. Yet the French don't seem to be happy with all of their equality. Or, there's another explanation. Maybe the French would rather get rewarded for effort and also have their welfare state. But sometimes, if you would just bother to think about it, you will find that two incompatible ideas cannot exist at the same time. In order to expect to get rewarded for effort, somebody should be willing to accept some inequality. Otherwise, why should anybody make the effort? If the final result is going to be the same anyway, why bother?
No comments:
Post a Comment