money money Money MONEY

I believe that capitalism is a large part of what's wrong with this land of ours. I believe that if, as a people, we can move beyond lust for the almighty dollar we can become the country that our founding fathers envisioned. A democracy with a social conscience and a goal to improve the lives of ALL of it's citizens could truly be a land of milk and honey.
There is a great deal of talk and political dealing concerning the economy lately. It's almost certain that a recession is on the horizon. News from Washington today about tax rebates and temporary tax relief for business may give some small amount of comfort for a time, but will not be a cure for the financial woes this country faces.
We need to redirect our efforts on the home front on economic matters, how we do business, and WHY we do business. The "why" should be, as I said before, to improve the lives of ALL our citizens. The "how" seems to me to be a lot simpler than most people think, IF we remember the "why".
The United States is said to be the wealthiest in the world, and yet we have approximately 10% of our people living below the poverty level. Current unemployment is about 7% nationwide. With a population of around 300 million, this translates into 30 million poor people and 21 million without a job. With those kinds of numbers is it any wonder why we have a drug problem? A crime problem? A depression problem? How can we tolerate the poverty, crime, etc.? And why should we?
I feel in my heart that many of the country's problems would be cured if we ran it for the benefit of it's citizens instead of for businesses, although the businesses would benefit from it also. Drug use stem from a feeling of hopelessness and/or a desire to escape. This would be greatly reduced if a person has a job, has hope, has the belief that their life is and will continue to get better. Poverty is nothing more than the absence of a job with a comfortable wage.
During the Great Depression of the thirties many public works projects were created as a way to get people working again... and it made for a better country in the process... with happier citizens. We should do this again, on a continuing basis, with a MUCH broader scope and with a goal of eliminating poverty and unemployment in this country. This could and should be paid for with taxes. I'm not talking about the taxes we pay now, that are spread out and pay for little more than the bureaucracy that runs them (kind of like highway toll collections, which pretty much just pay for the salaries of those who collect and maintain the toll systems). Right now we pay a variety of taxes, Federal, State, Local, excise tax, luxury tax, sales tax, use tax, gas tax, energy tax.... the list seems endless.. and this doesn't includes licenses... for your car, business, dog... another endless list. The government should A) calculate how much it would cost to take care of it's citizens basic needs (food, water, clothes, housing, transportation, etc) and then B) design a tax that would cover those costs using a sliding scale. The tax would be high, no doubt about it, but the people would be getting their needs taken care of in a way that NEEDS to be guaranteed to be complete, fair, honest and inclusive of all. (Remember my comment in an earlier blog about an 80% tax?)
The creation of an economical, efficient, ecologically safe automobile... paid for by the government... built by the big three (or more) automakers.... free to each qualified citizen, would create thousands of jobs, reducing unemployment and poverty. A complete redesign and rebuilding of the nations highway system, using the latest technology to blend personal and public transportation to all corners of the country.... with free usage, would create thousands of jobs, reducing unemployment and poverty. Building comfortable, efficient and effective housing for citizens to own.... for free, would create thousands (oh, you get the idea). These are just a few of the hundreds of civil projects that would eventually eliminate poverty, unemployment, possibly drug and gang problems, and have a positive effect on the standard of living in this country.
Think just maybe it's worth a try?