A Pity About Optimism

January 26, 2012

Published in Die Presse
(Austria) on 25 January 2012
by Michael Laczynski (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Sandra Alexander. Edited by Mark DeLucas.

Barack Obama is trying to drive a wedge between the rich and the rest.

The belief in a rosy future is deep-rooted in America’s collective psyche. This pleasant characteristic explains who so many low-wage earners in the United States are against higher tax rates for the rich — those who think of becoming rich themselves don’t want to later share their hard-earned money with the government.

Barack Obama is now trying to get rid of this wishful thinking. This has grounds: On the one hand, U.S. society is in fact not as open as it still was a few decades ago — which has to do considerably with globalization. On the other hand, Obama has an election campaign to strike and must therefore demonstrate an ideologically clear edge.

If the U.S. president is successful at driving a mental wedge between the rich and the rest, he can possibly secure his reelection — but that will work only at the expense of this optimistic world view. Dreams of social advancement may often be naïve; nevertheless, it would be a pity to lose them.

Barack Obama versucht, einen Keil zwischen die Reichen und den Rest zu treiben.

Der Glaube an die rosige Zukunft ist in Amerikas kollektiver Psyche tief verwurzelt. Dieser sympathische Zug erklärt, warum so viele Niedrigverdiener in den USA gegen höhere Spitzensteuersätze sind – wer selbst reich zu werden gedenkt, will später sein schwer verdientes Geld nicht mit dem Staat teilen.

Barack Obama versucht nun, mit dieser Wunschvorstellung aufzuräumen. Das hat Gründe: Zum einen ist die US-Gesellschaft in der Tat nicht mehr so durchlässig wie noch vor einigen Dekaden – was zu einem nicht unbeträchtlichen Teil mit der Globalisierung zu tun hat. Zum anderen hat Obama einen Wahlkampf zu schlagen und muss daher ideologisch klare Kante zeigen.

Sollte es dem US-Präsidenten gelingen, einen mentalen Keil zwischen die Reichen und den Rest zu treiben, kann er damit möglicherweise die Wiederwahl sichern – das geht aber nur auf Kosten dieses optimistischen Weltbilds. Die Träume vom sozialen Aufstieg mögen zwar oft naiv sein – es wäre trotzdem schade um sie.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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