As I read over Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan’s proposed government spending plan, “The Path to Prosperity,” it seemed, at least at first glance, to be feasible and well-reasoned. His plan includes health and retirement security, reduced spending, welfare reform, budget enforcement and tax reform.

Because of my lack of basic macroeconomic understanding, I was unable to find a single problem with his plan. When I read various commentaries on his plan, however, I ran into a plethora of sound objections.

The same is true with Obama’s budget plan. Though it seemed reasonable and efficient at first glance, it too was slaughtered by crippling objections that highlighted areas of weakness.

These realizations frightened me as I began to notice obvious trends. Our future economic plans, both liberal and conservative, have striking flaws and the economic policies of the present, both liberal and conservative, are only landing us deeper and deeper in toxic debt. What I’m starting to realize, however, is that our economic woes are much more a product of a failed culture than they are of failed policy.

Americans are simply unwilling to sacrifice and politicians are aware of this. Both liberal and conservative economic policies of late have been quick to offer quick-fix solutions that are free of sacrifice. Which quick-fix gift would we like more: lower taxes on everybody so we can keep more of our “deserved” money or higher taxes on the rich so we can fund expensive government programs to bail us out of many of our irresponsible decisions?

Sure, “sacrifice” is certainly called for during any political campaign or state-of-the-union address, but such calls will remain nothing more than pure rhetoric until the policies we enact actually realize the idea of sacrifice.

Look at both the liberal and conservative sides of almost any economic issue and notice how each side characterizes both their circumstances and the other side’s actions in a way that avoids the possibility of sacrifice.

Take the welfare debate, for example. Many rich conservatives will be quick to label those on government welfare as “lazy” and will cite extreme cases of people who refuse to look for productive jobs, because their welfare checks get them by. They recognize, of course, that not every single person on welfare is lazy, but it’s much easier to excuse yourself from the necessity of financial sacrifice when those whom you’d be potentially sacrificing for are wholly undeserving.

The same is true on the other end of the spectrum. Many members of the lower class will be quick to label the rich as merely gifted since birth. After all, it’s much easier to rationalize taking money from a greedy old-money trust fund than it is to rationalize taking money from an immigrant with new citizenship status and a rags-to-riches-via-hard-work story. As long as each side can characterize each other as the one in the wrong, both will continually shirk the responsibility of financial sacrifice.

This idea applies to the Wisconsin teachers’ union debate as well, or almost any union debate for that matter. It’s a recurring story. The union will undoubtedly argue that they deserve the extra money and benefits and will thus refuse to give them up.

Their opponents will undoubtedly argue that they don’t inherently deserve the extra money and benefits, point to the fact that the extra money and benefits are a blessing rather than a right, and highlight the fact that if the unions were to take the extra money and benefits their contracts stipulate, they would cost many of their younger co-workers their jobs.

Perhaps, however, there is a third option in all of these situations. Perhaps the unions can be deserving, yet still make sacrifices. Perhaps conservatives and liberals alike will realize that their characterizations of their opponents shouldn’t relieve them of financial sacrifice, regardless of the truth of their characterizations.

To be honest, I am not totally sure how this cultural issue of using every justification possible to avoid sacrifice can best be attacked. It is certainly political suicide to ask for real sacrifice, but can there be political martyrs?

The one thing I can say for certain is that no budget plan will succeed if our cultural issues are not addressed beforehand.

Ben Friedman is a sophomore majoring in social entrepreneurship. His column runs on Thursdays.