Thursday, January 8, 2009

Tax, Borrow, Spend

I am a rich man.  I'll admit it.  I enjoy my life to it's fullest with nearly a care in the world.   I've worked hard to become rich.  Comforts, entertainment, relaxation and independence - my richness.  Now plug this money thing into the equation - I haven't quite figured this one out yet.  Money to me is a status symbol - tags that they apply to us foster freedom.  

Tax

I work to help - if I think of taxes in this definition - then tax the scite outta me.  When tax programs do nothing but spend on ancillary programs that don't make sense, I then lose it.  Certain programs should  not be uni-lateral, or even bi-partisan to an extent.  Certain programs should be a choice.  "Do i hear miltry spendin here, ov' there?  How bout here - up to the front wit ya, get your miltry here" said the auctioneer.   Others should not.  Education, Health Care, Social Service, Environment and Energy I'm sure i've missed a few.  Tax should keep these programs propped.  But taxes to feed an agenda - you can take that and shove it right up your ass, hat!  Tax to a percentage the programs that work, and leave a choice for the remaining income of the individual.  Let's call it a minimum "charitable donation" requirement (in % of income) that voters get to chose each year what programs to prop.  More money for education?  Sure bump it up, meet my quota!  Stem cell research?  Domestic or international herding?  Intelligence?  Let us decide.  

Borrow

When I borrow, it's usually something I need that I don't have to get me by.  Like, I borrowed a hacky-sack once.  Just to amuse myself one day on the beach - but at that time it was in my possession, it wasn't my friend's hacky-sack, it was mine.   I was self-empowered for that time to have a hacky-sack.  Borrowing has to serve the right purpose - to self empower.  Borrowing to buy a home - absolutely.  But we need rules.  Rules that are in the interest of the borrower to pay it back.  Once it's returned, the self-empowerment is finished, and it's owned.  My piece of the world.   I borrowed to get my peace, but I also saw what the prospect of self-empowerment has done.  Pay it back in 50 years?  WOW.   I can't even predict what I'll be doing tomorrow nonetheless 50 YEARS!  If I borrow I've gotta understand it - it has to be TRANSPARENT to me.  I have to understand why I owe and must pay back.   Those are the regulations on borrowing we need, transparent ones.  

Spend

I have trouble shopping.  I search, I look for deals and treasure in the depths of the ocean deep.  Stuff that keeps me happy and amused.   I have trouble shopping.   Too much useless crap sometimes.   I spend for good causes, I donate, yes indeed.  I don't reproduce my spending mistakes though.   I don't reproduce, I don't reprint, I don't plagiarize.  This is what I feel the banking systems are doing today - plagiarizing a mistake.   The next mistake could shift some ground.  

I'm suddenly Joe Six-Pack.  I get $500 on a tax credit.  Multiply that by all my cousins, brothers and friends across a nation, dang, that's a lot of money.  Is it to me?  What do I do with it?  Save it right now - I don't know when my next paycheque is coming, how the hell can they tax me again?  Ok nevermind, 500 big ones.  Ok just the necessities then.  So if you give me money, where did you get the money?  We currently owe money overseas?  Are you serious?   That clock radio actually costs how much now-adays?  Where was it built?  Walmart?  

I'm back.  Someone explained something to me once, and again here:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

That the amount of individual material and labour that made up my stuff was worth more than what was bought it for - and it ends up being thrown away.  A trade deficit was created so I could afford it.  It was borrowed.  So to spend, we can't really borrow anymore to plagiarize.  But how about we borrow from Joe Six-Pack again, make him use that $500 to buy his own health care, education and energy.  Sure that'll work.  Like I said, it could shift some ground.  Then again, there is that machine that got built, no not the Space Shuttle - the machina, the military.  If we cut there, all could be well.  

O.k. so now we print, and print and print, more and more money - give everybody more money.  When we owe, our money really isn't worth much anymore is it?  Do we have resources to give away?  Ohh... we're consumers.  We don't give we take.  So how do we get resources?  Dang, we need an ace up our sleeve, or some type of machine that could generate the ace up our sleeve.  

I'm still stuck on shopping.  If I borrow, I owe, and an inflated interest too.   The money I own is so diluted with corruption I can't see the dollar sign anymore.  Wait...  is there even a $ sign on money anymore?  Keep looking for those treasures and you'll find richness. 



2 comments:

  1. I like your ideas about taxes, and I think it's okay to be rich, especially if you worked hard for it.

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  2. I've had to be careful to dissociate 'working selflessly' with 'working selfishly'. They may sound similar but I realized they are worlds apart.

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