The Other

"If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate." ~ Elbert Hubbard, US author (1856 - 1915)

Recently our new President made history (again) by speaking before a joint session in Congress in his first year. The majority of his speech consisted of Obama making his case for his economic package. Near the end the President introduced several guests. One of them was a banker name Leonard Abess. I’ll let the President explain:

"I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him. He didn't tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, "I knew some of these people since I was seven years old. I didn't feel right getting the money myself.""

Leonard Abess provides an interesting lesson for us on the Left. The lesson isn’t a claim in the nobility of capitalists nor is it to praise bankers. The lesson Mr. Abess teaches is that we cannot, we must not, stereotype capitalists or anyone else as being "The Other." It’s the socio-economic system of capitalism that’s evil. Capitalists are people who are caught up in an oppressive system. We need to recognize that the capitalists are victims as well as workers.

Labeling any group of people as evil runs the risks of starting down a path that eventually ends at a guillotine.