Moral Development, Taxes, and the Liberal

When I was a midshipman at the Naval Academy, I was required to take a psychology course as part of my leadership training. One subject I found particularly interesting was Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. According to Kohlberg, humans reach their level of moral development by progressing through six identifiable stages. The first stage is characterized by obedience to authority; children understand right and wrong based on what adults (e.g. parents, teachers, etc.) tell them to do. As we mature, most of us move on to the second stage characterized by acting in one’s own self-interest. This is sometimes described as doing what feels good and avoiding what feels bad. The third level is where one seeks to gain the approval of others; often meaning bowing to peer pressure. The fourth stage which Kohlberg believed is the highest level attained by the majority of people is characterized by abiding by the law and living up to one’s duty. Stages five (doing what is best for society and the welfare of others) and six (following higher universal principles and one’s own individual conscience) are attained only by a relative few. From listening to liberals, especially when it comes to their profession that they are willing to pay more in taxes, one would come to the conclusion that they are all operating on level five or six. However, in practice their actions paint a very different picture. This year, April 18^th presented liberals with their annual opportunity to demonstrate their advanced level of moral development and once again they fell short.

I used to be fond of saying if liberals really want to pay higher taxes all they have to do is write an extra check to the US Treasury and I guarantee it won’t be returned. Upon further reflection, it occurred to me that paying more of their “fair share” is actually even easier than that. One pays taxes based on adjusted gross income or AGI which is the sum of all sources of income minus all legitimate deductions. Legitimate deductions are those expenses or activities authorized by the tax code to be itemized and thus used to reduce the amount of taxes one pays. Authorized means allowed not required, so all a patriotic liberal need do in order to pay more of their “fair share” is simply not claim all their deductions. But this causes a real dilemma for liberals. Do they do what is legally right or do they follow their conscience?

Nothing demonstrates this better than the tax return information released by President and Mrs. Obama. The Obama’s reported a combined income of $1,795,614 in 2010 and paid $438,949 in federal income taxes which equates to an effective tax rate of 24.5%. This is far less than the maximum rate of 35% they could have paid had they not taken all their deductions. Did they do anything wrong? No, they obeyed the law! But they also didn’t take the opportunity to do what the president says he believes i.e. that since he is wealthy; he should pay more in taxes.

I was brought up to believe that you “Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.” and that “True character means doing what is right even when no one else is watching.” These ideals were reinforced during my years at the Academy.  So if wealthy liberals feel they should pay more in taxes, they shouldn’t need the laws to be changed in order for them to do what they say is the right thing to do. They should strive for that higher level of moral development, follow their individual conscience and pay the higher taxes they say they believe they owe without having to be coerced by the law.

And while we conservatives will never agree that paying more in taxes to a wasteful government is the right thing to do, we will all certainly applaud our liberal friends’ personal growth.