Where Do We Go From Here?
In short, when
we get down to it, we are said to have two different and opposing political
points of view in our nation. On the one hand, we have those who believe in
life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and very limited government, within an
economic system of lais-sez-faire capitalism,
pursuing a philosophy of survival of the fittest, letting the devil take the
hindmost. On the other hand, we have those who, also, believe in life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness, but they differ from the former in that they
believe in a strong central government with an emphasis on the social rights of
equal opportunity and justice for all,
The former wants little or no
government over and above that necessary for national security and protection of
the civil and political aspects of citizenship of the people; and, the latter,
in addition to providing for national security and protection of the civil and
political aspects of citizenship wants a government large enough for the
fulfillment of the social needs of citizenship, i.e. a right to employment,
economic security, education, healthcare, and security for the elderly.
What both, it seems, have in common is
the unwillingness to pay for what they want, i.e. taxes. I believe the last
assertion was evidenced by The Declaration of Independence, a war, in effect,
against taxation and The Articles of Confederation, written and approved without
providing for payment of the war just won, leading to the adoption of The
Constitution of the United States of America under which we are allegedly
governed today.
We have been
fighting this tax war among ourselves since we begun, two hundred thirty-seven
years ago, and it is past time to stop. There are many reasons for taxes; but,
the most important is to pay for the government we need. Oliver Wendell Holmes,
Jr. is said to have said, “Taxes buy civilization”. The price of government
must be paid; and, in order to be fair, it needs to be based upon the principle
of “ability to pay”.
Where do we
go from here? I’ll tell you this. If our great nation is to remain great and/or
survive at all (believe me, that is in question in light of our present status)
as a democratic republic of the people, by the people, and for the people, we
must set politics aside and get down to the business of managing our country’s
affairs. We need leaders who can manage–not self serving politicians. We must
take back our government from the Shadow Government that now controls us. We
must stimulate our economy, bring back jobs, and get our house in order. We absolutely
must close this immense gap between the income and wealth of the haves and
have-nots. What does that mean? We must change our mindset about money and
living standards, i.e. we the people and our government must start living
within our means. We must get out of debt, build savings, and live within our
income, a feat we will not accomplish until we do change our mindset.
That having
been said, we must, also, change our thinking toward each other and society as
a whole. Our view toward others is that everyone has equal abilities and
opportunities in life. Therefore, unless they are disabled or something like
that, if they fail, it’s their fault. This is not true, absolutely not true. Of
course, there are always those who, in one way or another, are misfits; but, as
a whole, it is not true that everyone has equal opportunity and abilities. As a
whole, our twenty million unemployed are not dead beats with their hands out,
seeking something for nothing. They really do want to work. Those who are
greedy and want more than their fair share of the income and wealth in our
nation would have you think that; but, you must understand, they are those who
make up the robber barons among us. Our nation is in serious trouble–now, and
for the foreseeable future; and our people did not cause this problem. They did
not bring this upon themselves. Then who did? I have already answered that
question in other postings; and, if you will look with an open mind, you too,
will see the answer, our Shadow Government, the power elite, and our elected representatives who are on their
payroll and have sold themselves to them.
If all this
shakes out and our nation does survive, we will continue to be a capitalist
society–but without the lais-sez-faire.
We will have taxpayer financed elections. Corporations will in no way have a
vote. We will have fair taxation. Our national budget will be in balance and
our national debt will be paid in full. We will have Education Reform with
upgraded standards. We will have safety nets for our people–Social Security,
Single Payer National Health Insurance, Unemployment Compensation, and Welfare.
And yes, unless we are stupid, we will manage them efficiently as stand-alone,
self funding funds on a pay as you go basis paid from taxes, specifically
ear-marked and paid in full each year outside of our regular national budget,
creating zero deficit spending for each. Our productivity in this country is
quite sufficient for all of us as the Lord provided, if some of us weren’t so
greedy. The experts among us can decide whether to fund these programs with an
income tax, national sales taxes, or whatever; but, for Social Security and
National Health Care, I suggest we enact two specific national sales taxes, a
separate one for each fund so that the people know what they are paying for. This
will take us a long way toward achieving our goals.
These
programs are an absolute “must”, folks. There should be no compromise on this.
Come hell or high water, stand your ground; and to hell with the Shadow
Government. We neither need nor want a Shadow Government, a World Government,
or any of that crap. We want and need a government of the people, by the
people, and for the people; and, if those we elect don’t want to serve under
those terms, let’s get rid of them–vote them out of office. Also, we need and
want corporations that are loyal and patriotic to this country and people,
rather than to the power elite.
Ronald Miller
mtss86@comcast.net
No comments:
Post a Comment