Change You Can Really Believe In

As I have watched speech after speech after speech during the last several months (which makes me wonder how the Brits could possibly elect a new leader in only a few weeks), my gaze has often fixed on the sign which appears on the podium and among the dozens of supporters strategically placed behind Senator Obama. Are they, like me, also thinking about change to a smaller and much less expensive government? Are they too thinking about a change for more liberty which necessarily accompanies more individual responsibility? Do they also think about changing the stranglehold of the educational monopoly which stifles our best and brightest students?

Since I suspect that "change" to the Democrats attracted to Senator Obama may be something different than the change I perceive necessary for our country, I (well, not actually me, but rather one of my bright students) did some research on what that omnipresent Obama campaign slogan may mean. We compared the U.S. to the countries the Democrats envy (Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Sweden) to see which areas the Democrats may want to change. One of these areas may be the graduation rate for college students. According to a popular reference book, our college graduation rate of 81% is exceeded only by Canada's 91%. However, when Canada's rate is combined with the graduation rates in Great Britain, France, Germany, and Sweden, the combined rate falls to 54%. This makes the U.S. graduation rate 50% higher than the other industrialized nations which the Democrats envy. Is this one of the changes they want to see, a less educated electorate?

With the economy emerging as the top issue in this election, perhaps this is the area where the biggest change is necessary. According to the Heritage Foundation, the average productivity (measured as GDP per capita) of each American is $41,890. This level is much more than the average per capita productivity of Canadians, Brits, Germans, French and Swedes of $31,797. This means, of course, that the average American is 32% more productive than his northern neighbor or European counterpart (maybe it's attributable to "holidays"?). With this greater productivity, one might think that there is much more unemployment here, but actually the opposite is true. Even with the jump in employment statistics this month, the U.S.'s unemployment level of 5.5% is much lower than Sweden's 6.2%, Canada's 6.8%, France's 9.5%, and Germany's 11.7% (combined with Great Britain's 4.7%, the average of the "envies" is 7.8%, or 41% higher than the U.S. unemployment rate).

With food and gas prices rapidly on the rise, maybe change for the Democrats means lower taxes so people will have more disposable income to pay for increased prices. But alas, it appears that the models to which the Democrats aspire actually take much more money out of the wallets of their people than the government currently takes from ours. The U.S. tax rate (as a percentage of GDP) is 26.8%, which is much lower than Canada's 33.5%, Germany's 34.7%, Great Britain's 37.2%, France's 44%, and Sweden's 51%. The U.S.'s tax burden of 26.8% is almost one-third lower than the 40% of our northern neighbor and European counterparts. This means, of course, that our northern neighbor and European counterparts must pay for the same commodities we purchase, but with lower disposable income because of increased taxes.

Maybe the change Democrats seek with their increased taxes is a bigger government to give audacious hope to those rural Pennsylvanians desperately grasping onto their guns and Bibles. This change may make us a much less religious people, bringing us closer to the secular norm of our counterparts (82% of Americans consider themselves to be "a religious people," compared to 69% of Canadians, 55% of British, 48% of French, 54% of Germans, and 29% of Swedes). Yet, as stated recently by Syracuse University Professor Arthur C. Brooks whose research led to his book Gross National Happiness: "Faith is an incredible predictor – and cause – of happiness. Religious people of all faiths are much, much happier than secularists, on average. In 2004, 43 percent of those who attended a house of worship at least once a week said they were 'very happy' with their lives, versus 23% of those who attended seldom or never." (It appears, therefore, than those rural Pennsylvanians clinging to their Bibles at least have a smile on their face!).

Change for Senator Obama and his fellow Democrats may, therefore, mean a less educated and less productive America paying more in taxes (and therefore having less for rising food and fuel prices) and taking more anti-depressants. If this is the change they seek, I respond simply: No thanks!