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Economic Nonsense
NMB, Florida December 28, 2001 A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.
ECONOMIC NONSENSE
(Caveat: I know absolutely nothing about this topic.)
If you were to look for a list of the nonsense that passes for economic
wisdom you could do worse than consult the list below. Then, in fairness,
look at the list of economic sense that follows.
1. Privatizing Social Security. What nonsense! The recent hit taken by Wall
Street shows the fallacy of this. Better to invest in lottery tickets - you
might win. Again it would be some who benefit but at the cost of all the
rest who lose.
2. Corporate Welfare. This is the "trickle down" concept. It is fine for
those who deserve welfare like Enron or the Insurance Companies. But the
trickle never got down to my level.
3. Tax Cuts. Those that favor the top 5% of owners of 95% of the wealth of
the nation do not need tax cuts. This is again the trickle down myth. Where
is the vaunted beneficence of our kind of society?
4. War Is a Good Spur to the Economy. I never understood this. You destroy
billions of dollars, real estate and lives (this should be reversed) and yet
this is good for the economy? In the short run there are jobs but the rich
get richer, the hoarders hoard and the sharp trader makes the deals and he
rises to the top. The "mud" people at the bottom get shoved under the mud.
5. Development of Oil and Natural Resources in Public Lands. Where is the
universally acknowledged American KNOW HOW? Why destroy the pristine and
beautiful in the search for the ugly and wasteful destruction of land and
forest? This is not economic wisdom; it is fouling the places where we live.
Even animals drop their waste away from their nests and burrows.
6. The Example of the Biggest and the Best. Humans copy the behavior of the
successful. The Bush Administration that has the responsibility for showing
the best of democratic behavior is instead demonstrating economic
selfishness. The other nations of the world ask, if they do it, why not us?
Leadership is a tricky thing.
ECONOMIC SENSE
1. I think that the welfare state is a good state. Germany thought this up
in the 19th Century. Other countries followed. You pay into the pot and
take it out as you need. The welfare state is a good state for ALL the
people not just the rich.
2. In the midst of Depression of the 1930's the idea of the Ever Normal
Granary was resurrected from the story of Joseph in Egypt. As the chief
economic minister under Pharaoh, Joseph put aside overages from the good
years and saved them for the bad times. The idea is still good. We forget
it in the heat of disaster and war.
3. Rewards for the Best Public Servant [(Corporate Managers) a la the
Swedish example in their "mixed economy"]. This says put an incentive for
public recognition with badges or medals and ceremonies for the wisest
economic leaders who bring us ALL wealth.
4. OVER POPULATION. We pay farmers not to grow crops. Pay women
not to have babies. Over population is pushing out rare species into
extinction.
5. Bulwark the Public Schools as the place of choice to educate ALL
children. Democracy and Education and democracy in education means our
nation was built in the Public School classrooms. They should not be pushed
aside for the elite who test their leadership and ownership of our country
on the playing fields of private academies.
6. The U.S is the democratic icon known throughout the world. Why do we
tarnish its escutcheon 's shine with greasy oil from undemocratic nations
that sit on seas of oil? We forget the Sun God of Ikhnaton. Solar power is
there for the taking. We are idiots not to use it.
Carol's Evaluation: 9.5 out of 10.
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