Romney, who criticizes President Obama for dividing
the nation, divided the nation into two groups: the makers and the
moochers. Forty-seven percent of the country, he said, are people “who
are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe
the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe
they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.”
This comment suggests a few things. First, it suggests that he really
doesn’t know much about the country he inhabits. Who are these
freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the
student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social
Security or Medicare?
It suggests that Romney doesn’t know much about the culture of America.
Yes, the entitlement state has expanded, but America remains one of the
hardest-working nations on earth. Americans work longer hours than just
about anyone else. Americans believe in work more than almost any other
people. Ninety-two percent say that hard work is the key to success,
David Brooks NT Times Social Commentary
according to a 2009 Pew Research Survey.
It says that Romney doesn’t know much about the political culture.
Americans haven’t become childlike worshipers of big government. On the
contrary, trust in government has declined. The number of people who
think government spending promotes social mobility has fallen.
The people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending
are not big-government lovers. They are Republicans. They are senior
citizens. They are white men with high school degrees. As Bill Galston
of the Brookings Institution has noted, the people who have benefited
from the entitlements explosion are middle-class workers, more so than
the dependent poor.
Romney’s comments also reveal that he has lost any sense of the social
compact. In 1987, during Ronald Reagan’s second term, 62 percent of
Republicans believed that the government has a responsibility to help
those who can’t help themselves. Now, according to the Pew Research
Center, only 40 percent of Republicans believe that.
The Republican Party, and apparently Mitt Romney, too, has shifted over
toward a much more hyperindividualistic and atomistic social view — from
the Reaganesque language of common citizenship to the libertarian
language of makers and takers. There’s no way the country will trust the
Republican Party to reform the welfare state if that party doesn’t have
a basic commitment to provide a safety net for those who suffer for no
fault of their own.
The final thing the comment suggests is that Romney knows nothing about
ambition and motivation. The formula he sketches is this: People who are
forced to make it on their own have drive. People who receive benefits
have dependency.
But, of course, no middle-class parent acts as if this is true.
Middle-class parents don’t deprive their children of benefits so they
can learn to struggle on their own. They shower benefits on their
children to give them more opportunities — so they can play travel
sports, go on foreign trips and develop more skills.
People are motivated when they feel competent. They are motivated when
they have more opportunities. Ambition is fired by possibility, not by
deprivation, as a tour through the world’s poorest regions makes clear.
Sure, there are some government programs that cultivate patterns of
dependency in some people. I’d put federal disability payments and
unemployment insurance in this category. But, as a description of
America today, Romney’s comment is a country-club fantasy. It’s what
self-satisfied millionaires say to each other. It reinforces every
negative view people have about Romney.
Personally, I think he’s a kind, decent man who says stupid things
because he is pretending to be something he is not — some sort of
cartoonish government-hater. But it scarcely matters. He’s running a depressingly inept presidential campaign. Mr. Romney, your entitlement reform ideas are essential, but when will the incompetence stop?
