As I grew up in the 1940s and ‘50s, it was common to hear many grown-ups say, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” At a deeper, still immature level, I then understood such a value guaranteed exclusivity and exclusion. As I moved toward a career in pediatrics and public health, I began to see economic exploitation and violent personal disrespect were all around. That’s when I chose to leave an engineering career and go to medical school.
A fresh look now in my seventh decade about what and who we know gives me a more clear understanding about the 2016 economic and violent social dilemmas of Alaskans. Many Alaskans, of both Native American and immigrant American heritage, and many much smarter than I am, are puzzled about the immovable resistance to renewing taxes as a way out of our oil price drop budget challenge. While reported polls show a majority supports taxes along with budget cuts, the 29th state Legislature continues to resist taxes, even through five special sessions. This makes me wonder, do those who make decisions about our Alaska economy believe the public’s acceptance of taxes is just wrong?
What we know, both among our leaders and citizens, about global overdependence on fossil fuels that continues to hurt our climate is even more important than getting through our state budget crisis. Many Alaskans, especially our youth, understand expansion of alternative energy and shared work to restore our natural environment are the paths we must follow. I sense this common understanding supports overcoming our fear of taxation. Indeed, I believe it also urges us to be open to sharing our Permanent Fund resources as part of solving our budget deficit.
Returning to the issue of “who we know and what we know,” I see that in 2016 what we know exceeds the value of who we know. We surely understand more about Earth and solar system science as well as human and other animal brain science. We also understand global economic systems so we can reduce the severity and frequency of recessions and depressions. A basic part of human brain function influences our overfearful reactions to threats. The evolving science of post traumatic stress disorder shows changes in our brain’s emotional control system (neuroscientists call it the limbic system) that can promote excessive fear and panic. My experience in prevention of child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence and economic exploitation (child poverty and neglect) keeps on teaching me a vital lesson. We humans make our worst mistakes when we overreact out of fear. Our nation, indeed, is experiencing a climate of mistrust and political impasse because of excessive fear of taxation.
Brain science continues to teach us about the opportunity to promote healthy emotional systems in early childhood. I suspect it is from the many homes and communities — more eloquently described as from “those dear hearts and gentle people who live and love in my hometown” — that have kept human cultures going for millennia. They also brought us the marvels of social media, Wikipedia, Google, international trade, public health to control epidemics and capacity to feed nearly 8 billion of us. As many historians and writers keep telling us, we stand on the shoulders of so many courageous and creative humans who figured out how things work and that we can share our knowledge for the betterment of all.
Surely, we can get so much of what we know across to legislators who we know. Tax is not a four letter word. As Marion Wright Edleman of the Children’s Defense Fund has clearly said, “Taxes are the rent we pay for living in a civil society.”
• George Brown lives in Douglas.
