[Vision2020] Alaska vote count [Responding to Ms Lund]

Sun Nov 14 07:42:15 PST 2010

Most of us believe that the national debt is much too high; it should be greatly reduced or eliminated all together (and then only incurred again in the event of sudden emergency).

But hardly anybody really is willing to make the life style changes to accomplish this.

While this is a very complex issue, here are two things to think about:

Unlike some of the healthy economies in western Europe, ours is a growth driven economy as opposed to a quasi-sustainable economy.  Without growth, our economy falters resulting in unemployment, spending stagnation, and a host of undesirable effects.  Theodore Dreiser noted this a very long time ago when he discussed conspicuous consumption and related topics in his Theory of the Leisure Class.  The majority of Americans would now be classified as being part of the leisure class based on their consumption habits and their laissez faire, nonchalant attitude about personal and governmental debt.

One of the problems of growth driven economies is their eventual effect on limited natural resources.  More growth means more use of natural resources.  Natural resources are limited.  

For just one example, we all already see this on the Palouse where increased population is straining the water supply, particularly in outlying rural areas.  More people using more water has decreased the supply available.  Long time residents are seeing a decreased production from their wells after new development takes place near them, and in some cases, having their wells go (very expensively) dry.  In large, sooner or later there will be a point were certain necessary resources will reach the point where they are only available at huge costs.

Population growth at and home and globally present this somewhat simplified statement of the problem:  There are less and less resources available and more and more people in competition for them.  Think of what things would be like if all countries had the same standard of living as we enjoy.

Gradually moving our country from a growth driven to a sustainable economy would be difficult even if the majority of the population and responsive politicians favored it;  the biggest practical difficulty:  how to reduce the national debt (and its burdens of debt service) in a transition to a sustainable economy.  

Part of this transition can only happen with drastic changes to tax laws.  Though I have not personally counted them, tax authorities estimate that nearly 40,000 of 44,000 pages of the federal tax code are for exceptions to general tax laws that are favorable to special interests, mainly businesses (most large corporations) and the wealthy.  What this "special" organizations and people don't pay, the rest of us make up for by paying much more.  Depressing:  the chances of fundamental, far reaching changes in tax laws are dim for the immediate future even after a small number of recommendations came from the current bi-partisan group looking for ways to reduce the national debt.

The other issue is gross religious hypocrisy.  I do not want to tar all conservatives with the same brush.  But there is s growing element of conservatives, some of them quasi-evangelistic, using their so-called Christian beliefs to justify and to sell their political abilities and to justify their political beliefs and actions.  "This is a Christian Country"  -- whatever that means.

However, apparently many of these religious bigots have never read, have forgotten, or choose to ignore one of the fundamental teachings of their Christ* (who through some unfathomable mental legerdemain is also their god): take care of the poor and unfortunate.  We see this locally where the infamous leader of our local cult writes absolute garbage about how Jesus was all for the free market.  Lip action is given to god; all other actions is given to self-satisfaction and to the satisfaction of far-beyond-reasonable-necessity greed.

The cuts or proposed spending this pseudo-Christian group of politicians propose generally affects the poor and unfortunate more than any other group.  The hypocrisy is blatantly this:  thumping their Bibles and shouting their devotion to their wonderful alleged god, they stomp on the necks of those their alleged god urges them to take care of, first and foremost.

Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975
_____________________________________

*The message of Christ relevant to the above remarks is stated quite clearly in the following passage from Matthew in which Christ's orders his followers to take care of the poor or go to hell for eternity:

Matthew 25:31 et seq  Young's Literal Translation of the Bible

[The Words of Christ:]

31   'And whenever the Son of Man may come in his glory, and all the holy messengers with him, then he shall sit upon a throne of his glory;

32   and gathered together before him shall be all the nations, and he shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd doth separate the sheep from the goats,

33   and he shall set the sheep indeed on his right hand, and the goats on the left.

34   'Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

35   for I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me;

36   naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me.

37   'Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, and we nourished? or thirsting, and we gave to drink?

38   and when did we see thee a stranger, and we received? or naked, and we put around?

39   and when did we see thee infirm, or in prison, and we came unto thee?

40   'And the king answering, shall say to them, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did it to one of these my brethren-the least-to me ye did it.

41   Then shall he say also to those on the left hand, Go ye from me, the cursed, to the fire, the age-during, that hath been prepared for the Devil and his messengers;

42   for I did hunger, and ye gave me not to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me not to drink;

43   a stranger I was, and ye did not receive me; naked, and ye put not around me; infirm, and in prison, and ye did not look after me.

44   'Then shall they answer, they also, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or infirm, or in prison, and we did not minister to thee?

45   'Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of these, the least, ye did it not to me.

46   And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during.'

______________________________

Another well known passage among others:

'All these did I keep from my youth; what yet do I lack?'  21Jesus said to him, 'If thou dost will to be perfect, go away, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.' 

----- Original Message ----- 

  From: Saundra Lund 
  To: 'Andreas Schou' ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 5:43 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Alaska vote count

  In part, Gary Crabtree wrote:

  "A worry for small government conservatives?"

  Sorry - you can't call that group "small government conservatives" because they are only for "small government" when it comes to caring for our citizens and protecting our resources & environment from the inherent greed that's ruined capitalism & the free market in this country where the Almighty Dollar is more important than such things as clean water & air, safe food, affordable health care, fair lending, ethical behavior, fair employment practices, equal protection, civil rights, etc.

  With respect to military spending, the more, the better, in their view.

  Which, of course, reveals the lunacy of their shrill "deficit!" whining, and it also unmasks them as anything but fiscal conservatives.  Perhaps the most apt description would be contemptible hypocrisy.

  Saundra Lund

  Moscow, ID

  The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.

  ~ Edmund Burke

  ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2010 through life plus 70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the author.*****

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