I have been getting exhausted by news and politics recently.
That’s a new development for me. Those have been some of my major forms of entertainment.
But my Gulf Coast Oil Disaster experience really effected me. It made me completely distrust how current events are presented to the public. We, as viewers, have absolutely no way of knowing how the stories we see in the news are being manipulated to get some point across.
The anger and divisiveness of the current political situation has exhausted me as well. Honestly, I sometimes think we really could use another World War or alien invasion so that we would just stop all the in-fighting within our own country. I’m sick of it.
But just like an alcoholic who swears they are going to stop drinking tomorrow, I can’t stop my addiction to news and politics (no matter how angry and disgusted I am with it all).
So, since I can’t get enough of it all, I (like everyone else) have an opinion on this stuff.
First, you should know that I consider myself a left-leaning centrist. My views on things like war, corporate farming, the worth of free enterprise, globalization, and large corporations put me at odds with many liberals. But I strongly support things like abortion, universal health care, giving a voice to the poor of the U.S.
But I feel that the current overarching conservative strategies simply don’t make any sense (i.e. lower taxes but don’t take away any services I like (although, feel free to take away any services that don’t effect me or my family)). So, currently I pretty much just vote down the Democratic party line.
Here’s my stance on the most current and pressing issues:
Stimulus –
Honest to God, I don’t know. I think about this a lot. From what I can tell, stimulus is just a stop gap solution until free enterprise starts to invest some of the billions and billions of dollars they have sitting on the sidelines.
The Pros: There are people (probably in Detroit for example) that have no jobs anywhere. There aren’t enough fast food jobs (as conservatives always suggest) to employ all these people. Extending unemployment and having all these federal Recovery projects gives people something to fill the hole until something better comes along.
The Cons: Clearly, there are people who are abusing this 99 week unemployment benefit thing. If they were cut off I’m reasonably sure they’d figure something out. (The problem is, how do you decide who is abusing things and who really needs it. I would never want that job.) And maybe if we were all cut off from government money and spending we’d all work a little harder to get jobs and make jobs. I don’t know. And then there’s the deficit. But I think I’ll just make that it’s own bullet point.
Deficit Spending –
Also something I can’t decide on. Paul Krugman thinks we absolutely have to do it. He endlessly believes we need more spending. But then really smart guys like Tyler Cowen are against stimulus. I read all different points of view on this and have been doing so for years now. My conclusion is: global economics is too complicated to know the answer. It’s the butterfly wing theory. There are too many moving parts. Every economist I’ve read and followed has been right sometimes and wrong sometimes. None, not even Roubini who got the initial collapse right, have been right about all things all the time.
I”ll say this: I hate this whole catch phrase of indepting future generations. We can’t figure out what to do today. We have no way of knowing what things will look like 20-30 years from now. For all we know, there could be a period of extreme inflation and all debts would shrink simply because the money isn’t worth as much any more. We were out of debt for some strange reason at the beginning of this century. Things ebb and flow.Ultimately, however, we need to start working paying on our debt. It will come due eventually.
Taxes –
This is an area I feel strongly about. We need to raise taxes. This is inevitable. Timing is a question for me. I’m not sure if we should raise taxes now or in a year. But if we enter into a long period of slow to no growth, we’re going to have to raise taxes at some point. I’m in favor of letting these current tax cuts expire for income over $250,000. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the tax will go from something like 34% to 39%. 5% of $250,000 is mice nuts. Trust me. I’ve made that kind of money and you’re paying so much in taxes at that point that an extra $12.500 is a blur to you. You are just hating writing a check to anybody for $84,000! You have the money but you’re pissed you have to let it go. How it works is much more complicated than that. But you get the idea. These people aren’t going to notice the increase at all. And we need the money.
Spending –
We need to be a country that lives within our means. We need to decrease spending. Again, timing is a big question mark for me. I think maybe we should put a line in the sand… we’re going to work on stimulus until X date. If things aren’t getting better we’re going to have to start cutting back.
What if things don’t get better for a decade or more? Are we going to just keep stimulus spending with money we don’t have for that entire time? That’s not realistic. Eventually we are going to have to pay back our debts which means we have to stop spending on programs and start paying back debts.
If you have ever tried paying off debt, you know how hard it is. You not only have to stop living beyond your means, you actually have to live below your means so that you can pay for all the partying you did in the past.
Paying off debt is painful. You either have to make more money (raise taxes) or live like a pauper. We’re going to have to do both.
So, I’ll go first. Mess with my social security. Make me retire when I’m much older… 70 is fine. (Although, again things are complicated. I’m a thinker. I do all my work sitting in front of a computer. Of course I can do that until I’m 70. What about the guy who works at a steel plant? Is he going to be able to lift that steal when he’s 70?)
I’m cool with whatever you want to do to me. I’ll pay more taxes. I’ll work longer. I’ll get less services. I’m cool with it all. If it means getting to a place where we pay as we go then do what you will with me.
Maybe we could take away services for people who don’t need them but build in better safety nets for when people get into trouble.
Look, rich people (rich people who made their own money, that is, and didn’t get it handed down from their daddy) are industrious. They’ll be fine. It’s a global economy.
We’ll export when our dollar is low. We’ll import when our dollar is high. We’ll get vacation property in impoverished, yet beautiful islands.
If it means we can balance the budget then have your way with me. Making money is just a game. Set the rules and I’ll play the game you give me. What? Am I going to move to Canada? Yeah, right. I’m not going anywhere.
Yup… increase taxes and decrease spending –
I have not heard a single politician ever say we need to do that. This is the infuriating part. They can’t level with us because we won’t vote for them. I agree that’s true, that this is an unelectable platform. But it’s the truth.
This is the point at which I start to get really angry at my fellow U.S. citizen. We are getting incredibly selfish. We aren’t willing to sacrifice anything. No one ever asks anything of us. The last thing a politician asked of me was when George Bush asked me to go shopping.And politicians are right not to ask.
Hell hath no fury like a 21st century spoiled American.I have to stop writing this point because it just pisses me off too much.
Tea Party –
I am a fan of revolutions. I like their energy.
Also, I am extremely curious about the libertarian movement. This Rand Paul seems to be an extreme Ayn Rand Objectivist. I’d love to see a pure example of libertarian governing play out. The concept that, if left to our own, we would take care of people in society appeals to me.
The thing I know for a fact, however, is that the free market is exactly like the jungle. It’s natural selection. There is a real possibility that the weak in a libertarian society would just die off. Maybe that’s what they secretly want. Ayn Rand had no time for altruism and people that didn’t pull their weight.
But I’m curious. If you know of a place where libertarian values are prevalent let me know. I’d like to see it.
But ultimately I can’t support this movement. I can’t support it because they haven’t flushed out which services they are going to let go in their “small government” realm.
Getting rid of pork is not a big enough answer. If we’re going to be a significantly smaller government we are going to have to attack things like: Medicare, social security and military. That’s where all our money is going.
They just aren’t being honest… pretty much like all politicians right now. It goes back to my point of politicians not able to be honest because Americans are entitled, spoiled children.
The American People –
If you’ve gotten this far, you might imagine where this is headed. Ultimately I blame the vast majority of domestic problems we have on the people of this country.
BP ignored regulations because Americans demand cheap gas.
The housing bubble happened because the “American dream” was to own a house regardless of whether or not you could actually afford it.
We have a huge deficit because we want all our perks and we don’t want to pay for them.
We abuse chickens because people want 50 chicken McNuggets for $10.
You get the idea. But I have a theory that any significant problems we have here in this country can usually be traced back to the self-centered, egocentric, myopic, short sighted, selfish American. The good news is that I think this is just a phase. I don’t think this is who we are at our core. We just need to grow up a little.
American Leadership –
I don’t actually blame politicians for most of our problems. I truly believe they are usually enacting the “will of the people.” Which, as you can tell, I’m not particularly pleased with at the moment.
But I will squarely blame the American leadership for one thing… they are terrible leaders. We have all become so spoiled and selfish because our leaders have allowed us to become that way. Just like an indulgent parent, we have been given no boundaries. They give us anything we ask for at any cost.
The American people will become better citizens of our country and our world when our leaders guide us down that path. But it won’t happen a moment before someone takes that leadership role. The ironic part is, in a democracy you can just vote out your mom and dad. Isn’t that exactly what you would have done when you were 13?
Because of this, there is a real possibility that we might never see real leadership until a massive catastrophe effects the entire population of the country (a world war or alien invasion). We’ll just stick our tongue out at our politicians and get a new mom and dad… which seems to be exactly what we’re doing this election cycle.