Mitt Romney likes to talk about "personal responsibility." So let's talk.
"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," Romney said in a leaked video from a May fundraiser, "(They) believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. ... I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
These insensitive private remarks reinforced the pervasive perception of Romney as a callous, clueless millionaire. Romney, whose net worth is over $200 million, joked about being "also unemployed" and asserted that "corporations are people, my friend." Meanwhile, he refuses to release more than two years of tax returns - even though many past presidential candidates, including Romney's own father, released many more years' worth. Furthermore, Romney's tax plan extends the Bush-era tax cuts, slashes income tax rates by an additional 20 percent and repeals the estate tax. As FactCheck.org confirms, despite Romney's assertions to the contrary, his plan cannot be enacted "without losing federal revenue or favoring the wealthy."
Despite this background, a Herald column by Elizabeth Fuerbacher '14 marvels that Democrats paint Mitt Romney as "out of touch" ("If the Choo Fits, Wear It!," Oct. 1). She concludes that "liberals summarily equate wealth with a lack of empathy for the average person."
Yeah, Romney's wealth must be the only reason he's painted as "out of touch."
Fuerbacher's column epitomizes the elitist, condescending attitude Romney takes toward the poor. This approach conveniently eliminates any awkward sense of responsibility toward those less fortunate, and it's an arrogance we cannot afford in our leaders.
Some people believe Brown students are in the contradictory position of being both wealthy and liberal. But I see no paradox in this. It's important to note that liberals don't question the fortunes of people such as Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs or even Romney's father, George Romney. These men made their fortunes by creating valuable products, not through shady financial dealings.
Many Republicans forget that the recent financial crisis and ensuing recession were caused, in large part, by the financial sector where Romney made his fortune. Finance titans became rich through financial trickery that ended up crippling our economy and widening the income gap. In the words of Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz, the financial sector "took advantage of the poor and uninformed, (and) they made enormous amounts of money by preying upon these groups with predatory lending."
The wealth and influence of the financial sector unduly influences our government. In 2008, then-president George W. Bush stated that the U.S. government did not have the few billion dollars it would take to fund health insurance for impoverished children - but we did have $150 billion needed to bail out the insurance company American International Group.
These factors contribute to the widening income disparity in America. The top one percent receives around 40 percent more income in a week than the bottom 20 percent receives in a year, according to Stiglitz. Little wonder that people don't warm to a financial titan who stated he's "not concerned about the very poor."
Republicans want to blame income disparity on a lack of "personal responsibility." If only the poor would pluck themselves up by their boot straps, get off their lazy butts and stop begging for "entitlements" like food and shelter! If only they would be more like Romney, who had the luxury of selling his dad's stock to finance college and backing his wife's decision to be a stay-at-home mom.
Does Mitt Romney have any inkling of what it's like to be poor?
Most poor people are not lazy parasites who want handouts from the government. Most of them are struggling hard to get by - to feed themselves, to send their kids to school, to get health care. They are up to their ears in "personal responsibility."
Fuerbacher writes that Romney, like any "blue-collar" worker, knows "what it feels like to work a 12-hour day." Yes, Romney did work hard at Bain Capital. But Romney started life with many advantages, and his compensation at Bain allowed him to enjoy countless luxuries and options. To compare his struggles to the poor is insulting.
I compare Romney to someone like my childhood nanny, Sandra. Sandra, an immigrant from Peru, paid taxes and worked three jobs to support her two sons. Every day, she worked hard and sacrificed, and yet she still had to worry about affording repairs when her old car broke down, paying for health care for her asthmatic son and saving to pay for college in the future. I wouldn't call that a lack of "personal responsibility."
What would Romney say about somebody like Sandra? "(If) you have no skill or experience," Romney has said mockingly, "You're welcome to cross the border and stay here for the rest of your life."
Romney equates personal wealth with personal worth. He therefore feels he has no "personal responsibility" towards the poor. Fine. But then we have the personal responsibility to make sure he never becomes president.
Cara Newlon '14.5 is from a swing state and fully intends to put her vote to good use.
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