Before there is an "agreement" that gets through Congress (somewhat dubious at the moment), I thought that it would be good for me to think about what I would be satisfied with. Note, I have no hope that I will be happy with any approved bill. Given the ideologies dividing Congress, it would be impossible to imagine a bill satisfying my expectations.
First, what are the options that are reasonable, even if they will not be adopted:
a. reduce Pentagon budget big time
b. change tax code to eliminate all deductions, loop holes, and special deals and end up with three reasonable and progressive levels of taxation
c. consider a general reduction in government services by $1 trillion over 10 years
Given the state of affairs, I think that I will accept any deal that reduces $3 of government spending for $1 of new revenue.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
An Interlude!
As the Assistant to the Guru of grandparents, my wife, it would be totally egregious for me to exaggerate how taxed I have been! Admittedly, I am better than nothing, but probably not by much. I usually wait for requests, except for the grunt tasks associated with cleaning after meals, washing the kitchen floor, some folding of laundry, and then, the moments when I need to "keep my eye" on these little ones. However, I am enjoying a few hours of complete silence, except for my talking to Patrick and my music.
I never get tired of watching Joan's casting a spell of wizardry that weaves through the chaos and discordant noises at times surfacing from the voices of children trying desperately to get their way. All the confusion does make it difficult for me to concentrate on "my thing", i.e., reading and writing, but I cannot complain since I do enjoy the output, viz., what a great experience to have lived long enough to witness these grandchildren develop.
There are times when I am entertained by these children. They do come up with most interesting observations. Last evening at supper on the porch, I was trying to explain the implications of older people being helpful to young children. I shared the eons of wisdom about the learned experiences of elders that can result in their avoiding these avenues. With a huge smile, the three year older says, "Grandpa, stop that baloney!" I admit that she already knew at three years what most people know about me. I am filled with baloney! At other moments, Grandma Guru takes a hit. In an attempt to examine in more detail a proverbial meltdown earlier in the day, we encouraged the same three-year-older to "review the behavior". We sort of hoped that she could learn how self-defeating the behavior was. However, the child retorted to Grandma, "if I were you, I would review your behavior!" Whoa! That quickly set us back a notch, but the humor was not missed.
It has been three weeks today since Patrick joined our family. We were well aware of his timidity and love of females. However, during the first week, we wondered whether we could transition him to behavior that fed into my ego (dogs have been such great friends of mine). To our amazement, slowly but consistently, we may have been doing things as encouraged by our puppy trainer and the book she provides. We walk on a leash, albeit not without some problems, but what a difference from total resistance to now several walks a day. To my surprise, he has barked a couple of times when he needed to pee/poop (that need to somewhat obviated by my taking him out regularly). He is coming and sitting when called (granted he loves the chicken treats). He is even somewhat at ease with our son's bull dog and walked on the same street with a neighbor's dog who previously freaked Patrick out! Based on three weeks of advancement, we are very encouraged.
All of this earthy existence of children and animals has unfortunately not distracted us from the moronic behavior of our elected government officials. Our very young grandchildren seem to be more attuned to reality than they (surely, they seem to be more advanced than their grandparents!). What an embarrassment to have our "leaders" act so foolishly! Somehow or other, the words in the Declaration of Independence that "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it ..." starts to ring out loudly! We need another revolution and change our government so that they people will be represented. It is clear to me that money has destroyed the nature of our government. We no longer have representatives of the people, but rather representatives of wealth!
I have been so grateful to live long enough to enjoy the marvels of our creativeness. To think back when I started working with a Wang computer in the early 80's to now enjoy all sorts of avenues to communicate and learn. I treasured the unexpected moments (now years) of living on the ocean where I swim daily from May until Thanksgiving. To witness my adult children doing their thing while giving us such wonderful grandchildren is such a gift. That the planet is still here, given our reluctance to give up nuclear armaments and unwillingness to change behavior to avoid destroying the unique climate that supports our lives, is such a treasure.
I never get tired of watching Joan's casting a spell of wizardry that weaves through the chaos and discordant noises at times surfacing from the voices of children trying desperately to get their way. All the confusion does make it difficult for me to concentrate on "my thing", i.e., reading and writing, but I cannot complain since I do enjoy the output, viz., what a great experience to have lived long enough to witness these grandchildren develop.
There are times when I am entertained by these children. They do come up with most interesting observations. Last evening at supper on the porch, I was trying to explain the implications of older people being helpful to young children. I shared the eons of wisdom about the learned experiences of elders that can result in their avoiding these avenues. With a huge smile, the three year older says, "Grandpa, stop that baloney!" I admit that she already knew at three years what most people know about me. I am filled with baloney! At other moments, Grandma Guru takes a hit. In an attempt to examine in more detail a proverbial meltdown earlier in the day, we encouraged the same three-year-older to "review the behavior". We sort of hoped that she could learn how self-defeating the behavior was. However, the child retorted to Grandma, "if I were you, I would review your behavior!" Whoa! That quickly set us back a notch, but the humor was not missed.
It has been three weeks today since Patrick joined our family. We were well aware of his timidity and love of females. However, during the first week, we wondered whether we could transition him to behavior that fed into my ego (dogs have been such great friends of mine). To our amazement, slowly but consistently, we may have been doing things as encouraged by our puppy trainer and the book she provides. We walk on a leash, albeit not without some problems, but what a difference from total resistance to now several walks a day. To my surprise, he has barked a couple of times when he needed to pee/poop (that need to somewhat obviated by my taking him out regularly). He is coming and sitting when called (granted he loves the chicken treats). He is even somewhat at ease with our son's bull dog and walked on the same street with a neighbor's dog who previously freaked Patrick out! Based on three weeks of advancement, we are very encouraged.
All of this earthy existence of children and animals has unfortunately not distracted us from the moronic behavior of our elected government officials. Our very young grandchildren seem to be more attuned to reality than they (surely, they seem to be more advanced than their grandparents!). What an embarrassment to have our "leaders" act so foolishly! Somehow or other, the words in the Declaration of Independence that "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it ..." starts to ring out loudly! We need another revolution and change our government so that they people will be represented. It is clear to me that money has destroyed the nature of our government. We no longer have representatives of the people, but rather representatives of wealth!
I have been so grateful to live long enough to enjoy the marvels of our creativeness. To think back when I started working with a Wang computer in the early 80's to now enjoy all sorts of avenues to communicate and learn. I treasured the unexpected moments (now years) of living on the ocean where I swim daily from May until Thanksgiving. To witness my adult children doing their thing while giving us such wonderful grandchildren is such a gift. That the planet is still here, given our reluctance to give up nuclear armaments and unwillingness to change behavior to avoid destroying the unique climate that supports our lives, is such a treasure.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Jobs, or, Better, the Lack of Them!
I have yet to read any theoretical model that will generate the number of jobs that our international economy requires to keep the "system" functioning successfully. When I think of this nation's problems, I am still looking for an approach that will generate jobs, commensurate with the period prior to the recession, and the current/projected population. The service industry has been our chief job producer, but even that it has taken a downturn (health care will require less people since there is a focus on cost reduction and, even the financial service industry is taking a reduction due to implications of the new rules to reduce risk). Even when we think of jobs returning from China (due to their inflation and the cost of transportation), it means less jobs in China. In general, my point is that there has to be general good rates of employment to support a viable economy with peace etc.
Z. Karabel has written an excellent column supporting my perspective, but he, also, has little to offer, except the possibility of returning to the government being the employer of last resort (which is a pretty poor answer).
In general, we have a serious problem. Technology has resulted in production of even legal services and, surely, manufacturing, where most products require relatively few people. There is no end in sight! And, secondly, even if we can envision of "world without work", I cannot envision how such a society could function in this day and age. To support a population that is principally focused on leisure activities requires a population with a high degree of ego-strength and education that can be used productively for non-munerative activities.
We need our thinkers to focus on the global problem. Solving the job issue for any nation at the expense of another will not work in the long run.
Z. Karabel has written an excellent column supporting my perspective, but he, also, has little to offer, except the possibility of returning to the government being the employer of last resort (which is a pretty poor answer).
In general, we have a serious problem. Technology has resulted in production of even legal services and, surely, manufacturing, where most products require relatively few people. There is no end in sight! And, secondly, even if we can envision of "world without work", I cannot envision how such a society could function in this day and age. To support a population that is principally focused on leisure activities requires a population with a high degree of ego-strength and education that can be used productively for non-munerative activities.
We need our thinkers to focus on the global problem. Solving the job issue for any nation at the expense of another will not work in the long run.
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