In what can only be considered ironic, news from around the world about the uprisings in Middle Eastern and African nations, normally relegated to obscurity, are front page news. Normally, the American attraction to news from overseas is tepid; if it is not happening in our back yard, we scarcely think it matters what happens to people thousands of miles away. Of course, the easiest explanation for the wealth of coverage is that these uprisings affect the one thing that Americans cannot live without: oil. So the health and stability and democratic leanings of oil-rich nations are, for once, in our best interests.
The shame is that these events are overshadowing far more momentous events right here in our own nation, for a different kind of revolution is under way, a revolution that once more finds Americans throwing off the long arms of tyranny, and rebelling against forces that would take what matters most from them, without giving them anything in return. The current epicenter of this revolution is Madison, Wisconsin, and the people there have banded together to parry the thrusts of big money, and to wrest their lives from its selfish and self-serving grip. They have fired the first volley, and like their compatriots from two hundred thirty-six years ago, their defiance of ruling power stands to change the course of our history for a long time to come.
Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wealth. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Entitlement Problem
Some amongst us, in this time of economic crisis, refuse to play fair. They stand firm in their refusal to do what is best for the rest of us. They whine about the inequity and unfairness of being asked to make sacrifices, and ask why they should be asked to part with even more of their money. They flex their muscles, wielding the only power they have, trying to stave off the rising tide of ill sentiment toward them from some corners of the nation. The conspire to bring government to a halt, rather than be placed in the position of having to give more than their fair share.
I speak, of course, of the ultra-wealthy conservatives in America.
I speak, of course, of the ultra-wealthy conservatives in America.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
If I Were A Rich Man
If I were a rich man I would...
...become an unpaid teacher, to shape and mold future minds and help them become the best they can be.
...not allow any person in my town go to bed hungry.
...invest in companies with pro-social and pro-environment products/services.
...encourage people to become involved in local and state politics, to take back control from the machines and monied interests.
...start an organization dedicated to teaching girls that math, science, and engineering can be interesting and fun.
...contribute money directly to research organizations looking at means for curing cancer, AIDS, and autism, as well as other human maladies.
...provide funding to allow the continued exploration of the Solar System.
...give every African family a mosquito net.
...fund a legal service that would serve the interests of those who could not afford legal counsel but have need of it
...build several houses a month for needy families, mortgage-free, solar-paneled, and super-insulated.
...create jobs wherever and however I could.
...donate money to the United Nations to help fund its social programs.
...pay my taxes plus a little extra.
...not keep a penny more than I actually needed to.
If I were a rich man.
...become an unpaid teacher, to shape and mold future minds and help them become the best they can be.
...not allow any person in my town go to bed hungry.
...invest in companies with pro-social and pro-environment products/services.
...encourage people to become involved in local and state politics, to take back control from the machines and monied interests.
...start an organization dedicated to teaching girls that math, science, and engineering can be interesting and fun.
...contribute money directly to research organizations looking at means for curing cancer, AIDS, and autism, as well as other human maladies.
...provide funding to allow the continued exploration of the Solar System.
...give every African family a mosquito net.
...fund a legal service that would serve the interests of those who could not afford legal counsel but have need of it
...build several houses a month for needy families, mortgage-free, solar-paneled, and super-insulated.
...create jobs wherever and however I could.
...donate money to the United Nations to help fund its social programs.
...pay my taxes plus a little extra.
...not keep a penny more than I actually needed to.
If I were a rich man.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wages Of Sin
The negotiation that took place earlier this week, which President Obama attended in good faith, and agreed to in principle, a sign of the possible rebirth of bipartisanship, has turned out to be ruse, a ploy designed to force the issue of reinstating the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Good as their word, despite the President's assurances, with sand running through the hourglass, the Republicans will not relent, stifling and snuffing out any bill that is not the tax cut provision.
The Republicans have collected their 30 pieces of silver. The high priests command that none shall have their bread until the priests have collected their due, and have sent their faithful servants out to ensure it.
The Republicans have collected their 30 pieces of silver. The high priests command that none shall have their bread until the priests have collected their due, and have sent their faithful servants out to ensure it.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
There's A Party Going On And On And On...
During the most recent election, you know the one that was a "mandate" from the people, the Republicans rolled out their "Pledge to America," which read suspiciously like every talking point they've used since 1994, and was short on actual details and long on partisan bluster. They promised to go to Washington, D.C. and turn things around, fighting for deficit reduction, smaller government, and the repeal of the Health Care Law, among other things. They were going to work for the people, because the people had spoken, and they didn't like the direction the country is going in. Strangely, they neglected to mention that it was a Republican administration that had put the country on this course in the first place, and that captain had rowed away, leaving the current one with a ship with a mighty gash in the side, taking on water. In the end, some Americans, spoke, and because of the apathy of other Americans, the Republicans got half a loaf and turned it into a feast... sort of.
You see, the party of fiscal conservatism, that stood on the rock and howled at stimulus spending, big bailouts, and health care reform, has been selling America a rotten bill of goods. You see, they are determined not to spend another penny of Federal money -- unless it happens to be going to their friends in Corporate America or those who feed off it for their riches. Rather than ensuring that everyone making two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year or less gets to keep their tax cut handed them by President Bush, they are insisting that their rich friends get their fair share, too. Of course, there's the several hundred billion dollar hole in the budget that will create, but hey, that's just a trivial annoyance.
You see, the party of fiscal conservatism, that stood on the rock and howled at stimulus spending, big bailouts, and health care reform, has been selling America a rotten bill of goods. You see, they are determined not to spend another penny of Federal money -- unless it happens to be going to their friends in Corporate America or those who feed off it for their riches. Rather than ensuring that everyone making two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year or less gets to keep their tax cut handed them by President Bush, they are insisting that their rich friends get their fair share, too. Of course, there's the several hundred billion dollar hole in the budget that will create, but hey, that's just a trivial annoyance.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
43.6 Million Reasons
According to a United States Census Bureau report, in 2009, 43.6 million Americans were at or below the poverty line, defined as making less than 21,954 USD per year. That translates to 1 in 7 Americans being in poverty.
Let that sink in.
That means that the next time you are in a crowded room, or at Wal-Mart, or at a doctor's office, you can count the people in the room, and every seventh one of them is poor. Of course, being poor, they might not be in that room or that store or that office; a great many of those in poverty will not be found roaming the halls of commerce or medicine. They will, instead, be struggling to survive, eking out a living in menial, low-wage jobs, relying on public assistance to fill in the gaps in their income, and hoping desperately that their job is not the next one cut. Or perhaps, they aren't even that fortunate, forced to live in shelters, or on the street, or in a tent in a park or under a bridge, bereft of even the simple comforts of a home and food.
For all the chatter about how this is a "Christian nation," it becomes more evident as the years pass that it is far from the truth, for anyone living by the principles of Jesus Christ would not be able to stomach the thought of one in seven of their neighbors struggling with poverty. He proclaimed that it was our duty to love everyone, and that we were to do everything we could to lift up those who are often ignored or shunned by society. He proclaimed that there was no wealth where there was want. He wanted humanity to do its duty to itself. And while many of us strive, in some measure, to follow his example and do what we can for our brethren, we, too, are stretched to the limit, burdened by bills it is increasingly hard to pay. We give what we can, but it is never enough.
Is it too much to ask of those of greater means to help provide sustenance and succor for those of lesser means? It is couched as an imposition by those who make more money, to be forced to support social programs that do not substantially affect them, to be forced to pay more in taxes for which they receive no greater benefit. But isn't it the truth that their wealth is a result of those who work for them, directly or indirectly? That without the individuals who build and manufacture and program and toil at all the other menial and manual trades, there would be no wealth for them to covet? Or do they see other Americans are merely more disposable commodities, to be used until they are no longer capable, then replaced by the next desperate soul?
There are 46.3 million reasons to change how we, as a nation, should deal with our economic problems and social issues. Poverty is the driver for so many of the ills we see around us: drug abuse, domestic violence, rape, robbery, and murder. 46.3 million reasons, but it should take only one. The idea that one child will go to bed tonight hungry. The idea that one family will spend the night in a shelter, rather than in a home. The idea that one man will turn to crime to support his family because he can't find a job. The idea that someone will turn to drugs to salve their guilt over being unable to provide for their family. The idea that a baby will suffer because it cannot receive proper health care. The idea that a veteran would be forced to live on the streets, after making so many sacrifices for his/her country. These are the reasons that everyone should be working toward a more equitable society.
If greed is good, then charity and compassion are better, and better still is accepting that your fellow human beings are suffering, and you have the means to do something about it. Tax cuts, economic stimulus, bailouts, unemployment insurance -- this is not about the economy, but about society, about ensuring that people who want to work can work, can earn a decent wage, and support themselves and their families. If those who would rail against "socialized government" were to stop shouting long enough to hear the voices of the needy, they would realize that people want to work, want to have jobs, want to pursue the American dream, but they cannot do it until the captains of industry decide to put industry over profit, and begin hiring again.
War on poverty is not the answer -- the elimination of poverty is. We must do whatever is necessary to erase this scourge from our country, and then the world. Where poverty reigns, the ills of society will continue to follow. If we consider ourselves a moral people, then it is criminal to allow so many to suffer deprivation and want. It is in the hands of those with the most resources to do their human duty; until they do, the rest of us will do what we can. We cannot rest easy while one belly is empty, or one family homeless, or one American suffers.
Let that sink in.
That means that the next time you are in a crowded room, or at Wal-Mart, or at a doctor's office, you can count the people in the room, and every seventh one of them is poor. Of course, being poor, they might not be in that room or that store or that office; a great many of those in poverty will not be found roaming the halls of commerce or medicine. They will, instead, be struggling to survive, eking out a living in menial, low-wage jobs, relying on public assistance to fill in the gaps in their income, and hoping desperately that their job is not the next one cut. Or perhaps, they aren't even that fortunate, forced to live in shelters, or on the street, or in a tent in a park or under a bridge, bereft of even the simple comforts of a home and food.
For all the chatter about how this is a "Christian nation," it becomes more evident as the years pass that it is far from the truth, for anyone living by the principles of Jesus Christ would not be able to stomach the thought of one in seven of their neighbors struggling with poverty. He proclaimed that it was our duty to love everyone, and that we were to do everything we could to lift up those who are often ignored or shunned by society. He proclaimed that there was no wealth where there was want. He wanted humanity to do its duty to itself. And while many of us strive, in some measure, to follow his example and do what we can for our brethren, we, too, are stretched to the limit, burdened by bills it is increasingly hard to pay. We give what we can, but it is never enough.
Is it too much to ask of those of greater means to help provide sustenance and succor for those of lesser means? It is couched as an imposition by those who make more money, to be forced to support social programs that do not substantially affect them, to be forced to pay more in taxes for which they receive no greater benefit. But isn't it the truth that their wealth is a result of those who work for them, directly or indirectly? That without the individuals who build and manufacture and program and toil at all the other menial and manual trades, there would be no wealth for them to covet? Or do they see other Americans are merely more disposable commodities, to be used until they are no longer capable, then replaced by the next desperate soul?
There are 46.3 million reasons to change how we, as a nation, should deal with our economic problems and social issues. Poverty is the driver for so many of the ills we see around us: drug abuse, domestic violence, rape, robbery, and murder. 46.3 million reasons, but it should take only one. The idea that one child will go to bed tonight hungry. The idea that one family will spend the night in a shelter, rather than in a home. The idea that one man will turn to crime to support his family because he can't find a job. The idea that someone will turn to drugs to salve their guilt over being unable to provide for their family. The idea that a baby will suffer because it cannot receive proper health care. The idea that a veteran would be forced to live on the streets, after making so many sacrifices for his/her country. These are the reasons that everyone should be working toward a more equitable society.
If greed is good, then charity and compassion are better, and better still is accepting that your fellow human beings are suffering, and you have the means to do something about it. Tax cuts, economic stimulus, bailouts, unemployment insurance -- this is not about the economy, but about society, about ensuring that people who want to work can work, can earn a decent wage, and support themselves and their families. If those who would rail against "socialized government" were to stop shouting long enough to hear the voices of the needy, they would realize that people want to work, want to have jobs, want to pursue the American dream, but they cannot do it until the captains of industry decide to put industry over profit, and begin hiring again.
War on poverty is not the answer -- the elimination of poverty is. We must do whatever is necessary to erase this scourge from our country, and then the world. Where poverty reigns, the ills of society will continue to follow. If we consider ourselves a moral people, then it is criminal to allow so many to suffer deprivation and want. It is in the hands of those with the most resources to do their human duty; until they do, the rest of us will do what we can. We cannot rest easy while one belly is empty, or one family homeless, or one American suffers.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Richness Found In Enriching The Rich Richly Enriches Us
I am delusional. I was told so by someone who does not like the idea of being taxed, and is aghast at the idea of the rich paying a greater percentage in taxes. After all, they take greater risks, create jobs, and run the economy -- why shouldn't they, like anyone, get to keep what they make? The idea of the "redistribution" of wealth makes their stomach turn.
It is such hyperbole in the name of wealth preservation that is enough to give one an ulcer.
It is safe to say that, given proper financial planning, those with millions and billions of dollars at their disposal are beyond the ordinary vagaries of normal existence. Short of blowing it all on gambling, drugs, alcohol, or risky investments, they are insulated from the vagaries of the world to a great extent. They will continue to wheel and deal and pile up their monies, secure in the knowledge that they need not travel in the normal circles of human society, but fly in the rarefied air of the ultra-wealthy. In their exclusive club, they vie for the position of top dog, for he (or she) who has the most toys and the biggest Swiss bank accounts, wins.
True, they invest, and move money around, placing it here and there, but rarely does that money have much more impact than buoying the profits of the companies they invest in, companies headed by wealthy compatriots, who are busy trying to pad their portfolios and offshore accounts with the profits of their companies, even as their workers are suffering. A recent report shows that CEOs at the fifty companies that have fired the most workers since the economic downturn began, are making forty-two percent more in compensation than the rest of their S&P 500 brethren.
While big business continues to ride a wave of profits, small business cannot catch a break. In Washington, D.C., Congress continues to fight over restoring the Bush-era tax cuts, which would benefit the wealthiest Americans, while unable to pass comprehensive reform to help small businesses create jobs. Given small business is often the greatest creator of jobs, this explains the lagging job numbers, and the slow pace of recovery. Still, profits continue to soar on Wall Street, and no one at a Fortune 500 company seems too eager to hire back any of the workers they so recently divested themselves of.
Couple that with reports that most companies that do business in the United States pay little or no taxes, and we are left to wonder whose side Congress is on. Looming budget deficits and proper funding of the government could be solved, in part, with the revenue that large corporations and their subsidiaries would pay in taxes, to support the country that allows them to operate and the citizens who provide them the skilled labor that runs their business here. Rich corporations make the rich richer, and in the process, do it by bankrupting the very people whose blood and sweat make those riches possible.
No one can begrudge those who have made vast fortunes their due, for it takes shrewd investment and some level of acumen to accumulate wealth. But if the only end to the accumulation of wealth is the final number you end up with at the end of the day, then what of it? What makes all the extra dollars and cents worth it, if to make them requires the reduction of the very people who performed the work to a life of abject poverty and suffering? No human, outside of a professional athlete, makes millions by their own toil and sweat; it is more often the result of the toil and sweat of others. Is life so cheap, people so disposable, that they can simply be used as chattel, chained to jobs they would rather not do, simply so they and their families can survive?
The rich should be taxed at a greater rate, for the simple reason that their riches flow not from a secret spring, but from the work of others. They should be willing to do right by those who make them rich, to encourage them to continue to do so, to ensure they are capable of doing so, and to provide the nation in which they operate to provide them with the educated and trained workforce needed. Philanthropy is good, but it is a narrow window; it is important for the Federal government to fulfill its mandate of seeing to the general welfare, and for that it needs tax revenue. All must pay their share, and those who make more, must pay a little more.
It is not so much about redistribution of wealth, as redistribution of misery. Our human duty is to help our fellow humans up, to provide them safety, and to be sure they can work as productive members of society. If fairness is the issue, then is it fair for those who can barely make due to pay a larger proportion of their income, though it add up to less money to support their country? Proportion is the key, because those with more, are using more resources and people to gain their wealth. In essence, they must pay the proper price, not the price they choose to set. Until a day comes when humanity can look at each other, realize our connectedness, and provide for others simply out of the goodness of being human, we must continue to ensure an equitable balance is struck.
It is such hyperbole in the name of wealth preservation that is enough to give one an ulcer.
It is safe to say that, given proper financial planning, those with millions and billions of dollars at their disposal are beyond the ordinary vagaries of normal existence. Short of blowing it all on gambling, drugs, alcohol, or risky investments, they are insulated from the vagaries of the world to a great extent. They will continue to wheel and deal and pile up their monies, secure in the knowledge that they need not travel in the normal circles of human society, but fly in the rarefied air of the ultra-wealthy. In their exclusive club, they vie for the position of top dog, for he (or she) who has the most toys and the biggest Swiss bank accounts, wins.
True, they invest, and move money around, placing it here and there, but rarely does that money have much more impact than buoying the profits of the companies they invest in, companies headed by wealthy compatriots, who are busy trying to pad their portfolios and offshore accounts with the profits of their companies, even as their workers are suffering. A recent report shows that CEOs at the fifty companies that have fired the most workers since the economic downturn began, are making forty-two percent more in compensation than the rest of their S&P 500 brethren.
While big business continues to ride a wave of profits, small business cannot catch a break. In Washington, D.C., Congress continues to fight over restoring the Bush-era tax cuts, which would benefit the wealthiest Americans, while unable to pass comprehensive reform to help small businesses create jobs. Given small business is often the greatest creator of jobs, this explains the lagging job numbers, and the slow pace of recovery. Still, profits continue to soar on Wall Street, and no one at a Fortune 500 company seems too eager to hire back any of the workers they so recently divested themselves of.
Couple that with reports that most companies that do business in the United States pay little or no taxes, and we are left to wonder whose side Congress is on. Looming budget deficits and proper funding of the government could be solved, in part, with the revenue that large corporations and their subsidiaries would pay in taxes, to support the country that allows them to operate and the citizens who provide them the skilled labor that runs their business here. Rich corporations make the rich richer, and in the process, do it by bankrupting the very people whose blood and sweat make those riches possible.
No one can begrudge those who have made vast fortunes their due, for it takes shrewd investment and some level of acumen to accumulate wealth. But if the only end to the accumulation of wealth is the final number you end up with at the end of the day, then what of it? What makes all the extra dollars and cents worth it, if to make them requires the reduction of the very people who performed the work to a life of abject poverty and suffering? No human, outside of a professional athlete, makes millions by their own toil and sweat; it is more often the result of the toil and sweat of others. Is life so cheap, people so disposable, that they can simply be used as chattel, chained to jobs they would rather not do, simply so they and their families can survive?
The rich should be taxed at a greater rate, for the simple reason that their riches flow not from a secret spring, but from the work of others. They should be willing to do right by those who make them rich, to encourage them to continue to do so, to ensure they are capable of doing so, and to provide the nation in which they operate to provide them with the educated and trained workforce needed. Philanthropy is good, but it is a narrow window; it is important for the Federal government to fulfill its mandate of seeing to the general welfare, and for that it needs tax revenue. All must pay their share, and those who make more, must pay a little more.
It is not so much about redistribution of wealth, as redistribution of misery. Our human duty is to help our fellow humans up, to provide them safety, and to be sure they can work as productive members of society. If fairness is the issue, then is it fair for those who can barely make due to pay a larger proportion of their income, though it add up to less money to support their country? Proportion is the key, because those with more, are using more resources and people to gain their wealth. In essence, they must pay the proper price, not the price they choose to set. Until a day comes when humanity can look at each other, realize our connectedness, and provide for others simply out of the goodness of being human, we must continue to ensure an equitable balance is struck.
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