Circular debates

(8/2024) Friends of mine, a married couple, had an argument about immigration. It was a testy back and forth, one spouse fiercely opposed to any form of illegal immigration. The other spouse argued as passionately for asylum. Both used common rationales. They come wanting our resources, they come for help, they take up space, there are too many of them.

Until one spouse asks the other, "What would it take for you to leave me and the kids here to go to another country to find work? How bad would our lives have to be? Answer that question for yourself. Do you think people want to walk thousands of miles to America?"

The argument ended there. The circle had spun around the symptoms and repercussions of a problem, not the cause. Circular arguments about immigration are often about loss suffered by the host country. Immigrants actually give us in the USA more of our first world conveniences. A rising workforce supports a wide economy.

Are we arguing about how to solve a problem, or is it about convenience? Any solution is best applied to the root cause of a problem. The reasons people emigrate include poverty and/or safety. One factor in safety is gang related violence in the world of illegal, addictive drugs. We could take more care of our own citizens before they become part of the drug trafficking equation. As an economic partner to foreign countries, the USA can use investment power to create economic strength outside our borders.

Poverty is a tangible problem for which we as a society can find solutions. We can advocate for solutions to poverty. Choose wisely when electing leaders. They are our friends and neighbors who can put in place or impede solutions.

A recent episode, The Roots of Poverty in America, on the podcast Throughline (7/11/24) explains some of the revolving door of poverty. One circular argument is that poverty and welfare create a revolving door of dependance on monthly support. Conventions in our financial system create barriers to rising out of poverty. The working poor have the threat of fees for handling the bit of money they receive from minimum wage jobs. Financial exploitation from overdraft fees, check-cashing fees, payday loan fees - accumulating some $61 million in fines and fees every day. This is money that could lift families above the poverty line.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF is a federal funding program to aid Americans living below the poverty line. For Maryland Benefits https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/1277. Many states withhold money from citizens, for a variety of reasons. Some state have a reserve of hundreds of millions of dollars. This money could be used to change the bottom tier of our economy.

Government subsidies are available in every income bracket. For lower incomes there is the earned income tax credit. Homeowners with a mortgage can take a tax deduction for the interest paid on their mortgage. Wealthier homeowners with a second home, can take a tax deduction for the interest on the mortgage on their second home. Second homes include boats, RVs, and vacation houses.

Do subsidies of mortgage interest, tax deductions create a revolving door of support for wealthy people? Does this create a revolving door of dependence on acquiring more stuff?

The point is that we can solve poverty, and we can solve some underlying causes of drug addiction. We could disrupt the supply and demand for illegal drugs. This can happen when we commit to solving problems, not continuing circular arguments. To be committed to solving a problem means learning the root causes. To learn the difference between a circular argument and the components of a real life situation, one has to be willing to look at them from different perspectives.

An example of a circular argument:

"If the king said it then it is true, and it is true because the king said it." —Douglas Neil Walton

Another circular debate scenario in our contemporary public square, aka the internet: If my opponent says it, it must not be true.

Get off the circle at the local level, step into our library, and find a different perspective. At the library each of us can pursue a topic for a better understanding of how we are connected to the world around us. Start at the local level at our Walkersville Library.

Read and research on your own or meet as a group in one of the study rooms. Get out of circular arguments and get your mind into circulation. Having conversations is a huge step towards understanding our community. Please come to the conversation informed, rather than accumulating repetitive details on the news, in your headphones, on your smart phone, on bumper stickers, graffiti, yard signs. These are endless ways we communicate without really talking to each other.

Support our library with the Friends of the library group. Go to FCPL.org and search Friends of the Library: Walkersville Branch Library.

Find community activities on the Walkersville Library Events Calendar. Story hour for kids, Youth Summer Lunch, and Discovery Days, to name a few. Go to frederick.librarycalendar.com/events/. Search the Library Branch List to find your closest FCPL Branch Library.

You know the adage "For want of a nail…the war was lost." How about, "For want of a book perspective was lost. For want of perspective the solution was lost."

Reframe an argument, look at a topic from multiple points of view, and take a broader look at who is part of your community. There are circular arguments all over the place this election cycle. Topics that are calculated to raise fears, fears of others. Being circles doesn’t make them steering wheels. They can’t bring direction to our lives.

2024 is the Year of the Vote. Please make yours count.