The Golden Rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” embodies both a religious precept echoed in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other major religions, as well as an ethical precept. For instance, “what is true for one should be true for all,” is called the principle of universality. In other writings similar concepts are referenced as reciprocity or fundamental fairness. The oft quoted question of “what would Jesus do?” incorporates these considerations. Aretha Franklin calls it “RESPECT.”
With such wide acceptance of this code of conduct, it’s worth asking whether the current administration and Congress have valued this principle over the seven months since President Trump was inaugurated. Certainly, the daily incidents of contemptuous name-calling, and rude behavior, don’t reflect this principle, but how about major policy issues?
In the recently adopted so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (Big Bill) did Trump and Congress emasculate services for our aging, disabled and economically disadvantaged or did Congress treat those less fortunate in a fundamentally fair manner? In your newspapers and online you’ll read stories of worried parents of intellectually or physically disabled children concerned that Medicaid cuts will include cuts to vital medications and services for their children. Likewise, cutting food assistance and health programs that impact the elderly and low-income populations like food stamps or school lunches are major fears.
The state of Colorado, which administers these federal programs, will lose up to $900 million this fiscal year and $1.5 billion next year in Medicaid funding as a direct result of the Big Bill. In contrast, wealthy couples can pass on $30 million dollars to their heirs, tax free. Income earners of $700,000 per year will see their income increase by $13,600 from direct tax cuts. Does this reflect the Golden Rule? Perhaps it does for those who drafted this Bill, but not for those of us who struggle weekly at the grocery store. While Trump eats filet mignon with Putin in Alaska, the rest of us search for a value pack of hamburger.
Did Trump’s policies incorporate fundamental fairness, due process and respect when masked ICE agents swept up brown-skinned immigrants, many of whom had not performed illegal acts, but rather worked on farms, in construction and as the service workers who have kept our economy churning? Is Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” a detention camp or a concentration camp surrounded by alligators and pythons? With its open-air tents and cages for up to 5,000 humans, it sits in the middle of a swamp in the Everglades with temperatures and humidity rising to the 100s.
The unpredictable, chaotic firings of 216,000 federal employees, beginning with the reduction of the Agency for International Development from 10,000 to 294 employees, probably isn’t fundamentally fair. This agency provided foreign aid, disaster relief and economic development throughout the so-called developing third world in an effort through “soft diplomacy” to keep peace in those areas. Loss of this aid is predicted to lead to death by diseases, including tuberculosis and malaria, of millions. Loss of food programs will lead to over 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under 5. Our farmers here in the West and Midwest, who have already planted crops for these programs and are finding no market for their goods and will face economic loss if not bankruptcy.
So, the next time you see Trump or his cronies on stage talking about his policies, like unilaterally sending the National Guard to take over our cities, ask, “Does this comply with the Golden Rule?” Then, let your conscience be your guide.
Pamela (Pam) Shaddock is a retired attorney. Her additional past employment includes work as a social studies teacher, a Greeley City Council member, and a federal government civil servant.
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