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TO OUR POLITICIANS FROM A SPIRITUAL WORKING STIFF by Dr.
Wayne Dyer
I am neither a Republican not a Democrat. Frankly, I
still have difficulty with the labels, conservative and
liberal. Those who know me have never been able to
pigeonhole me. I relate to Kierkergaards's observation.
"Once you label me, you negate me." In truth, I am a
working stiff.
I attended the Detroit public schools, entered the Navy
at 18, spent four years on board ships and overseas. I
worked my way through three degree programs as a stock
boy and cashier at a large supermarket chain, graduating
with a Ph.D.. In Educational Counseling. I have been a
school teacher, counselor and college professor. As of
this date I work as a lecturer and writer, also
producing video and audio tape programs on motivations,
spirituality and higher consciousness.
I have worked all my life, paid my taxes, supported my
family and continue to "chop wood and carry water,"
while being totally perplexed by what I hear coming out
of the mouths of our politicians. As a working stiff who
has earned enough to be in that top 1% income bracket,
here is what I would like you, the politicians, to hear
as you go about the business of government. These are
views shared by most of the people I speak to every day,
in all income brackets.
YOU ARE NOT OUR LEADERS.
No one that I know goes to sleep at night saying, "My
leaders are in Washington D.C." I fume when you refer to
yourselves as our leaders. You may pass laws while
sitting in committees and having Rose Garden ceremonies,
but the laws come after the real leadership has been
implemented.
No politician was responsible for leading us in the
struggle for civil rights. Rosa Parks was a leader.
Those who marched and ignored the racist laws passed by
lawmakers were the leaders of the civil rights
movements.
Who were the leaders of the Renaissance? The office
holders? The politicians? No! The leaders were those who
brought the world a new consciousness through their
writing, art, music, and through challenging the
entrenched ideologies of the office holders. These were
the leaders.
When I hear you refer to yourselves as our leaders, I am
always amused by such arrogance,. We got to work, and
send up to 50% of our earnings to you. You use our
earnings to make yourselves more privileged than we are,
with unlimited medical care, overly generous retirement
guarantees, and perks galore! All that you really do is
write the rules using our funds to do so. This might be
hard to accept, but try it on for size. We are not sheep
who need to be led. We need servants who care. We are
perfectly capable of leading ourselves; in fact we do it
everyday.
YOU DO NOT CREATE JOBS.
I have written twenty books, produced hundred of tapes,
and given several thousand lectures over the past
twenty-five years. When I sit down and create a book I
send it to an editor who I pay to edit the manuscript.
The way I see it, I just created a job. My editor
receives payment, sends in her taxes and now two are
working. The editing process involves a computer. A
third job is created. The publisher copy edits the
manuscript, and a fourth job is created. This process
continues through many levels, with a job after job
being created all because I decided to write a book.
The printers, inspectors, typesetter, delivery people,
booksellers, accountants, stock boys, cashiers, have
jobs that were created because working stiffs have the
ingenuity, gumption, and desire to create and produce.
The woman who loves flowers and decides to open a
florists shop creates jobs. Without her desire and sweat
we wouldn't need floral coolers, delivery trucks, or
growers. Nor would we need people to grow food to feed
those workers or design garments to clothe them. The
money you use to fund job producing legislation
originate from those who produce. It is really quite
simple. Politicians do not create jobs.
As I see it, through the eyes of a working stiff,
politicians can pass laws which will ultimately
determine whether anyone finds being productive worth
the effort any longer. If you decide to punish me with
tax rules, or over regulate me, or constantly make my
life miserable with forms, rules and regulations, I may
decide that writing another book is no longer worth the
effort. If I decide that, and you multiply me by the
millions of us who produce wealth and jobs, you will see
that you do not produce jobs or wealth with our
policies.
You print money. You regulate. You pass laws. But we
produce jobs. We create wealth by working and producing,
not by sitting in committees and talking up our
self-importance.
ACT ON THE BASIS OF WHAT IS MORAL AND FAIR, NOT ON HOW
MAY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED.
I heard over and over in the election debate that the
inheritance tax should remain because only 2% of the
population is affected by this tax. I have paid all of
the taxes I owe to my government. What is left is mine
to do with as I please.
My death ought not trigger another tax on my remaining
savings that have been already taxed. It does not matter
if the tax affects one person or a million people. It is
simply wrong. When our ancestors moved to abolish
slavery, they didn't say, "Only 2% of the populations is
enslaved, so let's keep this practice lawful." They
finally realized that slavery was wrong, and morally
wrong.
Let those who aspire to greater abundance in their lives
do so knowing that politicians are not going to
confiscate it at the moment of their death. Do what's
right, what's moral, even when it affects only a small
percentage of the population.
STOP MIXING PERCENTAGES AND DOLLAR AMOUNTS AS A
RATIONALE FOR YOUR PHILOSOPHY.
If there is a surplus in tax revenues it is an
overpayment and belongs to those who sent it in. It
ought to be returned in the same lawful proportion that
it was went in.
If I paid one million dollars in taxes it is not so
outrageous that I should have returned to me higher
dollar amount that someone who sent in two thousand
dollars in taxes. To say that the wealthy will receive
$18,000 each while the poor will only receive $18.00 in
a tax cut is a spurious argument. If you paid no tax,
you get not a tax cut. You can't cut zero and get
something back. If you paid $200.00 in tax and you get a
$40.00 refund that is a 20% tax cut. If you paid
$500,000 in tax and you get back $20,000 that is only a
4% tax cut.
It stands to simple reason and fair play that if you are
going to ask the top 10% of the income earner to foot
over 50% of the tax bills, then when it comes time to
cut the taxes and return the surpluses, it ought to go
back to the taxpayers in the same proportion. Similarly,
if the bottom 40% of way earners pay no taxes, then they
get no refund. It may not appeal to most voters, but it
makes sense to this working stiff who has been in all of
those tax brackets at one time or another in his life.
WE DON'T NEED YOU FIGHT FOR US.
"I'll fight for you," seems to be the mantra of the
modern politician. Just who are you fighting anyways?
Aren't you all there in Washington to serve us? Don't
you realize that fighting weakens you and rarely
accomplishes anything?
I would like for you to work for me, not fight. Tell me
what you are for, rather than what you oppose. I don't
need to see any more debates. You are not running
against anyone. You have no opponents. The person who is
on the ballot with you is not someone you need to fight.
Just tell me what you support and how you intend to make
it happen, and let other candidate do the same. I don't
need you to fight. I need you to state your vision
clearly and commit to bringing it about.
In 1967 Mother Theresa was asked to march against the
war in Vietnam and she refused saying, "I won't march
against anything. But when you have a march for peace,
I'll be there." Let this spirit infuse your intentions.
*YOU DON'T EMPOWER US, WE ARE ALREADY POWERFUL.
My most disconcerting moments in the election season
were hearing, "We're for the people, they're for the
powerful," and then seeing this slogan as a USA Today
headline the next day. It became a mantra for the last
six weeks of the campaign.
Inherent in such a phrase is the idea that the people
are not powerful, only those who are well off are
empowered. Generation after generation of people in
America have come to believe this line of thinking; "You
have no power, but we, your leaders in Washington will
do it for you." It is just this kind of thinking that
leads people to assume they are powerless to advance, to
create their own greatness, to attract abundance and
health into their lives to transcend the ordinary levels
of disempowerment.
I want to hear you say, "You are powerful, you are
connected to the divine and with God you can accomplish
anything you make up your mind to do. If you see others
who appear to be more powerful than you, then associate
with them emulate their strengths. Create a powerful
vision for yourself. Don't find fault with those who
have elevated themselves. Learn from them, find your own
serenity and grace and know that you are powerful. I'll
support such a vision in all legislation. Keep your
hopes high."
In Wisdom of The Ages I wrote an essay based upon
Michelangelo's observation "The greatest danger for most
of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and we reach it." I want to hear
you speak of high hopes, of the power of our spirit, a
spirit that knows no favorites and is in each and every
one of us.
DON'T GIVE YOURSELF WHAT YOU DENY TO THOSE WHO PAY FOR
WHAT YOU HAVE!
If we send a portion of our income to you, don't use
that money to vote yourself benefits that we are denied.
If you get universal medical coverage paid for by those
of us who created wealth, then be sure to grant it by
law to all of us. If you get to retire with 90% of your
paycheck, then be sure that we who pay for it get the
same perk.
Be ever mindful of your role. You have elected to be a
servant of the people. The people own the house. They
built it. But they can't run it everyday nor can they
protect it, and build roads leading up to it. The people
can't educate the children and regulate the economy
because they are too busy working. So they hire servants
to handle these duties and they pay those servants to
protect, regulate, and handle the affairs of
housekeeping.
But the house is still owned by the people. The servants
don't get to make demands. The people do. The servants
don't own the funds they receive for protecting,
regulating, and delegating. The people do. It's our
house. We the powerful working stiffs of America own it.
We lead ourselves everyday, and if you want to speak to
us, do it from your heart, without a Teleprompter or a
spin doctor at your side. We are honest, hard working
and straightforward. We are generous and kind to those
in need. We don't need to be coddled or lied to. We can
smell insincerity and BS a mile away. We pay the freight
and keep it moving across America everyday. Not because
you are leading us. We are not following you or anyone
else.
There is a spirit in all of us. A spirit that urges us
upward to a greater connection to that which is just,
moral and honest. We expect no less from those who have
chosen to serve.
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