The phrase “a rising tide floats all boats” is one of the nice sounding statements that people are expected to believe and to live by. This particular one has been used to make a point: a booming economy will benefit all in society. It’s like saying that the US Government’s stimulus packages are not only a benefit to those that receive stimulus funds but to others in society as businesses begin to do well and trickle down benefits such as new jobs are created, taxes are collected and new funds become available for new investments, and so on. Arizona State University Professor Timothy Tyrrell stated it this way: “The phrase ‘a rising tide floats all boats’ is the unquestioned basis for many economic development strategies. It is assumed that each of the social and environmental goals of a community will be achieved if there is sufficient overall economic growth”.
A closer look at the adage though raises questions about the reliability of adages in general and about this one in particular. To complete the statement as a reflection of reality, it really should read as follows: A rising tide floats all boats … that are sea-worthy”. This version, which I think is a better reflection of reality, means that the rising tide will float the boats of those who had the where-with-all to maintain their vessels in proper sailing condition. Tyrrell then noted that “Unfortunately, not all boats are floated by growth”. He suggested that a better development strategy would be to focus on the individual boats rather than on the tide! In any event, the poorer members of a society are most likely less able to maintain their proverbial boats (e.g., a way to improve their well being).
So, to what extent is the adage about tides and boats really not folk wisdom developed at the grass roots level but is a notion fostered by the elite to maintain control of a society or an economy by providing hope to others whose likelihood for faring better in good times remains as slim as during bad times. In other words this adage is a “feel good” statement perpetuated by those who have resources to provide false hope to those who lack the necessary resources to improve their situation.
Adages are useful as thought-provoking generalizations but in any given situation they can prove to be encouraging but ambiguous at best and misleading at worst. How for example, does one reconcile the messages of “Look before you leap” and “He who hesitates is lost”.
“A rising tide floats all boats” sounds promising at first blush but does not hold up for all circumstances under closer scrutiny. This and other adages, generalizations or aphorisms are not unlike horoscopes in that they suggest to the reader that the message applies to his/her life. The general public must be taught to better understand as well as challenge such generalizations that emanate from political leaders around the globe. Societies need to hear more do-good statements rather than feel-good ones.
The image above was for a conference hosted by the California College of the Arts and Stanford University. It was designed to bring “together creative professionals, scholars and students to engage in conversations and debates about the intersections of ethics, aesthetics, and environmentalism”. Perhaps, it is time for a similar type of conference about the notion of “tides and rising boats” applied to the impacts of scores of concepts that have been bandied about for the past several decades for economic development of developing countries .
Comments
10 responses to “Does a rising tide really float all boats? Mickey Glantz”
Rising rhetoric convinces all fools. Especially when it comes to expecting the trickle-down theory, or rising tide theory, of economics to work.
Ilan: You are so right! Did you ever notice that a trickle usually either evaporates before it gets to the bottom, or it hardens and just leaves a big drip behind?
It’s the same way with trickle-down economics. Most of the wealthy just add it to their investment portfolios. And corporations just pay more in the way of dividends to their investors (who already own 80% of the stocks, bonds, and mutual funds) and in big bonuses to their top management (who are usually quite wealthy and who are also heavily invested in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds). Very little ever finds its way into the pocketbooks of the working class. The real drips in this trickle-down theory are the ones who dreamed it up in the first place. I particularly liked Mickey’s comment, “Societies need to hear more do-good statements rather than feel-good ones.”
stimulus packages are very helpful for kickstarting the economy,’”
Lola:
Yes,stimulus packages can indeed provide a kick-start for the economy. Unfortunately, out stimulus money went largely to the top end of our economy — companies that were deemed to be “too big to fail.”
A kick-start isn’t of a whole lot of value to the economy as a whole when it is the limousines and the yachts that are getting the kick-start. Some of that stimulus money was used to pay exorbitant salaries and bonuses to Wall Street and banking executive, and did very little to stimulate the economy.
A kick start is of little value for the bulk of our population whose gas tanks are empty (presuming that they even have a vehicle with a gas tank in the first place).
Way too little, if any, of that stimulus money was used to create new jobs. At best, they might have saved some jobs — as in the auto industry — but far too little. And I have heard that the banks are sitting on $2 trillion in cash reserves, while declining home loans and doing nothing to alleviate the foreclosure debacle.
For many people in this country, the American Dream has become an American Nightmare.
Politicians who pass bills giving financial advantages, incentives, and privileges to the rich like to cite that oft-use catchphrase, “A rising tide floats all boats.” But, what they fail to take into consideration is that not everybody in this economy is wealthy enough to own a boat in the first place. That rising tide just increases the risk of the less fortunate to drown in the economy due to unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, huge losses of their retirement funds, and other economic maladies.
dear jim b. you said it better and in fewer words. i get the feeling that even if we had a boat there would be someone drilling a hole in it just to gain an advantage, usually financial! mickey
Mickey;
I just ran across a quotation from Jesse Jackson’s speech at the 1984 Democratic National convention that I thought you might like:
“Rising tides don’t lift all boats, particularly those stuck at the bottom.”
Advice to the little guys: Beware of rising tides. Either the undertow or the wake from those big yachts will do you in.
News world: Beware of rising tides. Either the undertow or the wake from those big yachts will do you in. i get the feeling that even if we had a boat there would be someone drilling a hole in it just to gain an advantage, usually financial! mickey
Do not go to far from the bank and Beware of rising tides. Either the undertow or the wake from those big yachts will do you in.