Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Lucubration

\loo-kyoo-BRAY-shun; loo-kuh-\, noun:
1. The act of studying by candlelight; nocturnal study; meditation.
2. That which is composed by night; that which is produced by meditation in retirement; hence (loosely) any literary composition.

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Liberal policies have the stigma of higher taxes—but, if properly managed, this can be a good thing. I certainly feel distaste every time I receive my income check and notice a portion of it missing, but this is only a gut reaction, one deserving of more investigation. That money goes to ensuring my house will be put out if caught on fire, I’ll be protected and aided if there is a break-in, I will be able to attend my current state school because of lower prices. These things do not strike me as immediately when I see I am missing 60 dollars, but the thought incumbent makes it feel a lot more reasonable.

The problem here is government hate, where each person, fearful of our assuredly corrupt government, seeks to lessen the amount of government intervention, and of accompanying government budget, in every aspect of their lives. Less taxes=less abuse of personal funds for needless social services.

And yet if these social programs were handled correctly, in a manner that agrees with the community, no one would complain. The problem here is partly a corruption of government, and partly of social lethargy. It is our own lethargy that keeps government out of our hands: our action would establish a communication between government and the people that would make paying our taxes less of a burden and more of a payment toward things that we both want and need.

But of course this is not the entire problem, as the vast diversity of opinion lends to this frustration—we’ve all felt the familiar sigh accompanying being unable to please everybody. But at least on the most important issues, a little more thought could produce some great social services--especially in education and health. Our inaction is fueled by frustration, but ultimately our frustration will fuel change. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to stay ahead of the game and start instituting beneficial changes in social services before the angry populous need rise up and demand it.

2 comments:

David K. Braden-Johnson said...

Here's a tax-reducing, service- life-, and democracy-improving thought: let's cut the defense budget in half.

Specific Relativity said...

Why, then we could all of us buy things we need and are struggling to pay for, like education and health care and fixing the economy! What a ridiculous proposition.