Mitt Romney's statement was not primarily in character a factual observation that 47% of people pay no income tax. It was something far more opinionated and in

Mitt Romney's statement was not primarily in character a factual observation that 47% of people pay no income tax. It was something far more opinionated and in my opinion, deeply inhumane and unethical. The full quote: "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax." This is Protestant work ethic taken to a corrosive extreme. This is Romney playing to an audience that believes those who take government assistance are conniving malingerers looking to squeeze every penny they can out of hard working taxpayers. It is an indictment of people who had the audacity to be born without the ability to fully support themselves. It begrudges them for daring to ask for a home, food, healthcare and maybe even a few spare moments of happiness. In my opinion, this type of thinking is the greatest moral failing of the 21th century. It frees the thinker of any social responsibility by demonizing those least equipped to defend themselves. I do not agree with many of Elizabeth Warren's policy proposals. Her thinking on technology is dangerously benighted. I will not vote for her. But the essence of Warren's argument is that we need to rethink the relationship between the most successful members of society and the least. Tax loss carryforward is a standard accounting practice that makes rational sense. Nevertheless, it's the type of policy that helps those who need help the least, and I think we need to start to rethink these kinds of policies. We as a society can continue to pass legislation that favors the strong and punishes the weak. What we can't do is look at ourselves in the mirror afterwards and continue to believe that we live in a humane, compassionate, egalitarian society.