Economy Lagging? Call the Plumber!

Get back in your hole now...

I was horrified to hear the other day that Joe the Plumber (née Samuel J. Somethingorotherbacher) had filed papers to run for Congress. Now, to be clear, I have no problem with a plumber (or not) being in Congress. Nor do I necessarily have a problem prima facie with any candidate who does not have a formal education.

But I do request that any elected representative at least have a grasp of both basic and complex issues, instead of throwing terms like "fascists" and "socialism" around without really knowing what they mean. In the latter instance, I find "Joe" the "Plumber" especially guilty.

You see, Joe was concerned that Obama's tax plans were "one step closer to socialism." I imagine him saying that with that pensively furrowed brow above. He is, on the other hand, firmly in favor of preserving the American Dream, whatever the fuck that is, and even wrote an entire book about it.

I haven't read the book because I'd rather spend the 19 bucks on the co-pay for an exploratory colonoscopy, but I would be surprised if he really sat down to learn what the American Dream really was. And here it is: It was coined by James Truslow Adams, and defined (in part) as "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement."

If that sounds familiar, it's because it's awfully close to the concept of "to each according to his contribution," the lynchpin of the transition to a socialist society.

But unfortunately, when people say "The American Dream" today, they don't mean a fuller and richer life for everyone. They mean a fuller and richer life for themselves, at the expense of everyone else.