In last week’s third and final presidential debate, John McCain spent a considerable amount of time talking about “Joe the Plumber.” Joe is a guy that met Obama on the campaign trail, and who confronted him about the fact that his tax policy would “penalize” him if he were to buy the business he works for and see a dramatic rise in his income, because Obama’s tax plan calls for tax cuts for people that earn below $250,000, and tax increases for those that earn more.  Now the amazing thing is that, for a lot of people, Joe’s complaint rings true even though they will most likely never earn more than a quarter million dollars a year.  As I starting thinking about this bizarre dynamic, it occurred to me that we’ve heard from a lot of Joes during this campaign: Joe six-pack, Joe the Plumber and Joe Biden.  But there’s another Joe we haven’t heard about–most likely because he died over a century ago–but whose story, immortalized in folk songs, has a lot to say about the state of the country and its potential for greatness.

A lot of you will have heard of Joe HIll because Joan Baez often sang, and probably still does sing, about his life.  To put it briefly, Joe Hill was a songwriter, labor activist and union member, who was framed for murder and then executed by firing squad in November of 1915.  In the version of the song about his life that Joan Baez sings, the lyrics go as follows:

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,

alive as you and me.

Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”

“I never died” said he,

“I never died” said he.

“The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,

they shot you Joe” says I.

“Takes more than guns to kill a man”

Says Joe “I didn’t die”

Says Joe “I didn’t die”

“In Salt Lake City, Joe,” says I,

Him standing by my bed,

“They framed you on a murder charge,”

Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead,”

Says Joe, “But I ain’t dead.”

And standing there as big as life

and smiling with his eyes.

Says Joe “What they can never kill

went on to organize,

went on to organize”

From San Diego up to Maine,

in every mine and mill,

Where working men defend their rights,

it’s there you find Joe Hill,

it’s there you find Joe Hill!

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,

alive as you and me.

Says I “But Joe, you’re ten years dead”

“I never died” said he,

“I never died” said he.

The story of Joe Hill, in other words, is one of sacrifice, love, and devotion to a cause greater than oneself.  It speak to the best of America: the attempt to realize a more perfect union, the longing to respect and enhance the rights of all, and a willingness to work towards the common good.  In contrast, Joe the Plumber is upset that were he one day to earn a quarter of a million dollars, making him a wealthy man by almost any standard, he would have to pay roughly $10,000/year more in taxes under Obama’s plan than under McCain’s.  Nowhere is there any mention of the fact that at his present income level, his taxes would go down.  But more importantly, and more astoundingly, there is no mention of the fact that maybe the rich should be “spreading the wealth around” a little bit.  Now I know this is a touchy topic, because McCain has all but called Obama a socialist for wanting to tax the rich and help the middle and lower class.  But what on earth is wrong with his plan?  He isn’t saying that people can’t get wealthy, only that the wealthy can afford to pay a little more tax so that the rest of America can have a fair chance to pursue their dreams as well.

Sadly, many Joe Six-Packs buy into this kind of warped, unrealistic, unfair thinking.  The American dream has been corrupted to the point that all people can think about is getting wealthy one day and hoarding all that wealth to themselves.  Never mind that no entrepreneur, no matter how brilliant, generates all his or her wealth alone; wealth is always generated thanks to the work of others.  So with two weeks to go before an election that will determine whether the country, in effect, is ruled by Joe-Six packs or Joe Hills, it’s imperative that we step back and truly think about the contrast, and the choice, between the two.  Joe Hill worked and died for the common, working man, to ensure that he or she gets a fair share of the wealth that his or her work creates.  That was nearly a century ago.  Today, we hear about Joe the Plumber, who is supposedly emblematic of the working man, and who can only think about himself.  I don’t want to believe that America has become a nation of selfish individuals who can’t think beyond the tantalizing possibly of becoming immensely rich.  But there is a very real possibility that selfish, narrow thinking will prevail.  Fortunately, we have a choice, and we can choose Joe HIll as the standard-bearer of the American spirit, instead of Joe Six-Pack or Joe the Plumber.