Let’s face it. President Obama has a remarkable amount of trust in the American people; people in general, for that matter. And the feeling is reciprocal. His campaign platform of “Hope” and “Change” brought an emotional enthusiasm from his supporters passionately yearning for everything he promised. Millions of Americans voted for him expecting him to new era of transparency, responsibility, and a governmental metamorphosis. The international community hailed his ascension as the World’s Citizen, and his promise to restore America to its global good-standing. His ability to connect equally with a foreign head of state and the common American alike is indeed a remarkable feat worthy of some adulation—at face value, anyway.

 

In theory, his rhetorical abilities and global popularity would enable him to fulfill what he promised—to change the world. In all practicality, however, he will fall short of the magnific expectations he and his supporters have set. The reason for this is simple: governmental altruism does not work and his entire economic philosophy is based on it.

 

President Obama prides himself on connecting with the working class, and rightly so. His campaign promises to jumpstart the economy from the bottom up made the peons and serfs (or proletariat if you prefer) of working-class America feel inexplicably important to a man of such potential power. They saw Obama as one of them. His fundamental mantra of “Yes We Can” instilled in the commoners’ minds that the President was no different than they, and they deserved just as much recognition as the powerful elite. The focus on Main Street rather than Wall Street became another slogan of Obama and less-than-upper-class who worried about their financial security. Well-intentioned celebrities and other public figures, many of whose wealth exceeds those of corporate CEOs, rallied around the agenda to “spread the wealth around” to those who deserved it: the middle- and working-class Americans. A very equalitarian and altruistic platform, indeed.

 

To be musically metaphorical, the underlying themes of altruism in Obama’s political ideology is a catchy tune, and his developmental motifs of social equality are just as rousing and toe-tapping. The only problem is that when a government regulates these songs, they become nothing more than social cacophony.

 

Altruism and equality are like perfection: one should always strive for them, but they can never be obtained. It is hard enough for an individual to continuously put others before himself, but for a government to even attempt it—or to successfully impose it—is not only wishful thinking, it is impossible, if only for the simple fact of ideological opposition. Machiavelli, always adept in his observation of human nature, noticed that “every change in government creates grievances that those who wish to bring about further change can exploit.” As soon as President Obama begins to regulate equality and altruism, the ideological opposition will find a way to exploit it for their own advantage.

 

The recent announcement of salary caps to those companies who will accept government assistance is a perfect example of this attempted regulation. To a mob of “altruists” and “equalitarians,” it sounds wonderful. Taxpayer dollars should not, after all, enable such luxuries. Why shouldn’t these greedy CEOs on Wall Street take a pay cut? They can survive on less income, just like the working- and middle-classes do. Their huge bonuses and exorbitant salaries can be redistributed to their employees and they will all be a little more equal (never mind the additional jobs they create with their invested capital). With the help of government regulation the era of shameful and irresponsible Wall Street greed will come to a close.

 

Now imagine the ideological opposition, those who do not wish to be directed by the government to give up their potential wealth to others. Will they be content with their new salary? Will they idly accept this infringement on their American Dream of unlimited wealth? No, they will not, and they will find ways to exploit this policy to bring about further change. At best, they will take their management and executive skills elsewhere, perhaps even out of the country. At worst, they will unanimously refuse government assistance, which would then force the Democratic government—in their altruistic quest to equalize workers/employers—to require businesses to accept taxpayer money at their discretion, all under the guise of “saving and creating jobs.” In reality, whether they mean to or not, they only serve to make the government more powerful, ironically destroying their notion of equality.

 

Obama’s maximum wage ideas stem from policies based on altruism. He hopes that CEOs will accept this pay cut freely and with no resistance. He wants to change their greedy, selfish, and “shameful” ways and force them into a financial humility. In essence, President Obama wishes to regulate human nature. This cannot work because it is an oxymoron. He fails to realize that by forcing altruism and equality upon a people, he and the government he represents become increasingly selfish and superiorly unequal.

 

While individual altruism and philanthropy are admirable qualities, government-imposed altruism and economic equality will never work. They can only be obtained through individual conviction. As Aristotle said over 2,000 years ago, “when inferior, people enter on strife in order that they may be equal, and when equal, in order that they may be greater.”