My kids occasionally like to watch “Wife Swap” or “Trading Spouses” just to see how illogical and bizarre (they would say crazy) people are. Obviously since these shows are attempting to be entertaining they choose women from families with lifestyles that are in stark contrast to one another. Often they will trade/swap a creative or quirky wife with a very traditional, conservative wife; or trade a wealthy, materialistic, spoiled wife with one who is poorer, physically hard-working, and lacking luxuries. What fun. My children and I usually think that both women are quite on the fringe of going round the bend. However, the show does illustrate that people seem to make decisions based upon tradition and emotion and then fail to revisit those decisions unless forced to do so. That’s all fine and dandy unless you have children.
During almost every show at least one mom (guess which) goes on a tangent about how school must always come first before any other interest. Women also love to lay down the law as far as chores and housework go. During their rant they never actually back up their opinion with reasoning. Maybe an hour is just not enough time to make sense.
What should come first in a child’s life?
When my mom was growing up (in the 50’s) her parents insisted that chores come first. She had to do chores before school in the morning and before homework in the afternoon. (They didn’t have a TV.) She also had an enforced bedtime. Often, this meant she didn’t have enough time to do homework which in turn means she didn’t do too well in school. I’ve never understood how my grandparents, who were both intelligent and literary types, could put chores before education. It’s almost as though learning were a luxury and they sent their children to school because it was a requirement. It seems they had a Little-House-on-the-Prairie point of view.
What this translated into was a woman who’s greatest talent, her most marketable skill, was cleaning a house. Appearance became her priority. Not exactly a lofty goal. Sure, it made for an exemplary housewife and that’s all fine and dandy until her husband left her unwell at mid-life. Can we define “destitute?”
Then you have women who tell children that school always comes first before any other interest or skill. Some children have strong talents and passions for subjects such as art, music, theater, dance, a sport, cooking, gardening, astronomy etc., etc. Yet they will be told “school first” before allowing the child time to pursue their gifts. Why? Without being emotional or just regurgitating the SOS you’ve heard all your life, ask yourself “What is the purpose of school?” Is it to make good grades? Is it to keep a child occupied while mom and dad are working? Is it a place where kids are indoctrinated day after day for 12+ years to be “good” citizens? Is it a place to learn; and, if so, learn what? How to survive the social labyrinth? Algebra? The works of Shakespeare? These are extremely important questions. It seems the only people asking these questions are the people who have a financial interest in the answers. Parents seem too pre-occupied with the mortgage and far too trusting of the entrenched education system which they themselves were subject to.
Parents’ definitive responsibility is to raise their children with love and care to be independent adults. That’s it. That’s the job. School is a tool. Parents can use it to their children’s benefit and/or the system will use it to its benefit. What does your child need to know to be an independent adult? We could probably all agree that every person needs to be able to read and write. (We’re in trouble already.) Every person needs to be able to do basic business math. (Easy stuff with calculators and computers.) Every person should know basic world geography and have at least overview knowledge of world history. Every American should know what the Constitution says so that we all know how the government is SUPPOSED to work. Every person should have a general understanding of biology, health, and ecology. Every person should be able to do self-directed research. These are all basics. These things don’t take eight hours a day, nine months per year for 12+ years to learn. The basics, if done right, are a part-time, temporary gig. It's a foundation not a house.
To be independent adults children must discover and hone their talents in their fields of interests. This is the crescendo and climax of childhood. It is the purpose for which they were born. It is more important for a musician to practice their instrument than to learn algebra. It is more important for an aspiring chef to cook than to study Shakespeare. It is more important for a future chemist to study chemistry and experiment than to play basketball in gym class.
This life passes in a flash. School is not first. Chores are not first. The children themselves and the gifts they carry are first. Otherwise, all is lost.
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Income Taxes, waste, and a call for common sense
It’s obvious that taxing something dissuades that action. Soooo… only a country run by idiots would have an income tax. Really, ‘let’s tax people for working.’ What would be the logical outcome of that brilliant decision?
As the story goes, when income tax in the U.S. began it was to only apply to the rich. (Congress has its right to tax from Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. However, what we consider income tax didn't really arrive until the 16th Ammendment in 1913. At that time less than 1% of people paid federal income tax. Using today’s dollars a couple would have to earn over $348,000 to be taxed just 1%. That's more like it.) That’s why people agreed to it – it was the “other” guy. The rich guy. It was a slippery slope. Golden Rule trampled underfoot. That will come back and bite you in the ass every time. Oh look. What do we have here in 2009? A big collective screwing.
The mega wealthy can get around income tax problems because they basically set their own tax on us: Everyone needs gas. They sell gas. Almost everyone thinks they need drugs. (Legal or illegal are just two sides of the same coin.) They sell drugs. Everyone needs a place to live. They rent out their buildings or profit from mortgages or other over-the-top real estate transactions. Every computer needs an operating system. They sell operating systems. They make far more income from “Joe Lunchbox” just living his life than they pay in taxes.
Those who live in poverty are trapped by their own poverty. The gap between getting help and being self-sufficient is too large. They have to fit in the “charts” to get help. Grow slightly outside of that bracket and you lose – possibly more than you can afford to lose. I know someone who struggles financially and his income sets him about $300 per year outside the bracket for a Habitat for Humanity house. $300 vs. a house.
Then, there’s everyone else – a dwindling pond if ever there was one. These are the people carrying the tax burden. Many pay enough in taxes that it drains their quality of life. Some can’t afford a house, a much-needed and deserved vacation or better food or clothes from somewhere other than Goodwill and Wal-Mart but they’ll pay hundreds of dollars per month in taxes. You know how it is. Have you ever gotten a raise and didn’t even feel it because of taxes? It’s a drain on businesses too. Often, the tax burden dissuades companies from hiring. Been there, done that. Sometimes small businesses really need help but they simply can’t afford the expenses above a decent salary.
And WTF are they doing with all that money? (Besides selling our souls to China. Did you agree to that? Did you sign the papers?) I’ll bet your average housewife could take a red marker to the Federal Budget and take care of business. One week of work and she’ll have that budget balanced, baby. Because that’s what she does everyday: work miracles with too little money. Of course that means only the priorities will be left. What do we really need the Federal government to do? We need defense, we need interstate highways/railways/air traffic, we need immigration control, we need environmental laws, we need a common legal tender (backed by precious metals) … that’s about it. We should disband the IRS, the FDA, the Dept. of Education (there’s a misnomer), and on and on and on. We don’t need them. They can’t even give a person a straight answer to a simple question. We can’t afford them especially with their addiction to waste. Anyone who’s every worked around a government-run operation has seen the waste.
Just one microscopic example of waste: I email a Senator about a concern. He sends me two emails in response. One that takes 300 words to say thank you for emailing and another that takes 600 words to give me a canned response that doesn’t address what I frickin’ wrote about in the first place. THEN I receive a letter in the mail that says basically, again, thank you. Did that benefit anyone or anything? No. OK. Let’s say a senator receives 1000 contacts per day. That’s $440 in stamps per day to respond via mail. That’s over $100,000 per year in wasted postage for one senator. One. I would love to have that income. I deserve it just for stating the obvious. I’d even share it with the next person who called a spade a spade (and the guy down the road that’s $300 too “rich” to get a Habitat for Humanity house.) And, of course, many Senators receive more contacts that that. I was being conservative. Then there’s the congressmen and every other Tom, Dick and Harry in a government office that thinks they need to mail a letter in response to an email because it’s protocol or whatever. Get with the 21st Century program.
State governments are just as guilty of waste. Have you ever filed for unemployment benefits? I don’t know about your state but in mine while the process is being set up you may get, literally, seven envelopes from THE SAME OFFICE in one day and more the next day. Sometimes they’ll send out 15 envelopes from the same office usually containing one piece of paper each. I’d fire them on sight because that level of stupidity doesn’t even deserve a conversation. Protocol. Reminds me of proctologist. Get your head out of your ass.
Anyway, you can magnify that “small” amount of postage waste to get a picture that makes you want to vomit. They don’t care because you and I are paying for it. And when we can’t afford it they sell us to China. I think every year that the budget is not balanced every single politician should be “fired” in the elections. Change them like underwear until they get it right. It’s simple math, people. And why do they get $170,000 per year income to sell us out? Mr. Senator: no balanced budget = no six-figure income for you. Maybe they should be paid a salary that's $300 more than the upper limit for a Habitat for Humanity House which is actually somewhere just below the average income in the U.S. If they (financially) live where we live maybe they’ll get it.
Taxes should come from sales (but not food). The government wants money? Earn it. Encourage business. When people have more money they spend more money. They are often more generous, too. When they spend more money a government that makes its money from encouraging business will receive more money. It’s like planting a garden. The more you sow and care for your garden the more you reap. Taxing income is like eating your seeds.
A government of the people, for the people and by the people must be, by its very definition, common sense. We need a party of common sense. I guess we’re too distracted with our noses to the grindstone building the great Wal-Mart of China.
As the story goes, when income tax in the U.S. began it was to only apply to the rich. (Congress has its right to tax from Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. However, what we consider income tax didn't really arrive until the 16th Ammendment in 1913. At that time less than 1% of people paid federal income tax. Using today’s dollars a couple would have to earn over $348,000 to be taxed just 1%. That's more like it.) That’s why people agreed to it – it was the “other” guy. The rich guy. It was a slippery slope. Golden Rule trampled underfoot. That will come back and bite you in the ass every time. Oh look. What do we have here in 2009? A big collective screwing.
The mega wealthy can get around income tax problems because they basically set their own tax on us: Everyone needs gas. They sell gas. Almost everyone thinks they need drugs. (Legal or illegal are just two sides of the same coin.) They sell drugs. Everyone needs a place to live. They rent out their buildings or profit from mortgages or other over-the-top real estate transactions. Every computer needs an operating system. They sell operating systems. They make far more income from “Joe Lunchbox” just living his life than they pay in taxes.
Those who live in poverty are trapped by their own poverty. The gap between getting help and being self-sufficient is too large. They have to fit in the “charts” to get help. Grow slightly outside of that bracket and you lose – possibly more than you can afford to lose. I know someone who struggles financially and his income sets him about $300 per year outside the bracket for a Habitat for Humanity house. $300 vs. a house.
Then, there’s everyone else – a dwindling pond if ever there was one. These are the people carrying the tax burden. Many pay enough in taxes that it drains their quality of life. Some can’t afford a house, a much-needed and deserved vacation or better food or clothes from somewhere other than Goodwill and Wal-Mart but they’ll pay hundreds of dollars per month in taxes. You know how it is. Have you ever gotten a raise and didn’t even feel it because of taxes? It’s a drain on businesses too. Often, the tax burden dissuades companies from hiring. Been there, done that. Sometimes small businesses really need help but they simply can’t afford the expenses above a decent salary.
And WTF are they doing with all that money? (Besides selling our souls to China. Did you agree to that? Did you sign the papers?) I’ll bet your average housewife could take a red marker to the Federal Budget and take care of business. One week of work and she’ll have that budget balanced, baby. Because that’s what she does everyday: work miracles with too little money. Of course that means only the priorities will be left. What do we really need the Federal government to do? We need defense, we need interstate highways/railways/air traffic, we need immigration control, we need environmental laws, we need a common legal tender (backed by precious metals) … that’s about it. We should disband the IRS, the FDA, the Dept. of Education (there’s a misnomer), and on and on and on. We don’t need them. They can’t even give a person a straight answer to a simple question. We can’t afford them especially with their addiction to waste. Anyone who’s every worked around a government-run operation has seen the waste.
Just one microscopic example of waste: I email a Senator about a concern. He sends me two emails in response. One that takes 300 words to say thank you for emailing and another that takes 600 words to give me a canned response that doesn’t address what I frickin’ wrote about in the first place. THEN I receive a letter in the mail that says basically, again, thank you. Did that benefit anyone or anything? No. OK. Let’s say a senator receives 1000 contacts per day. That’s $440 in stamps per day to respond via mail. That’s over $100,000 per year in wasted postage for one senator. One. I would love to have that income. I deserve it just for stating the obvious. I’d even share it with the next person who called a spade a spade (and the guy down the road that’s $300 too “rich” to get a Habitat for Humanity house.) And, of course, many Senators receive more contacts that that. I was being conservative. Then there’s the congressmen and every other Tom, Dick and Harry in a government office that thinks they need to mail a letter in response to an email because it’s protocol or whatever. Get with the 21st Century program.
State governments are just as guilty of waste. Have you ever filed for unemployment benefits? I don’t know about your state but in mine while the process is being set up you may get, literally, seven envelopes from THE SAME OFFICE in one day and more the next day. Sometimes they’ll send out 15 envelopes from the same office usually containing one piece of paper each. I’d fire them on sight because that level of stupidity doesn’t even deserve a conversation. Protocol. Reminds me of proctologist. Get your head out of your ass.
Anyway, you can magnify that “small” amount of postage waste to get a picture that makes you want to vomit. They don’t care because you and I are paying for it. And when we can’t afford it they sell us to China. I think every year that the budget is not balanced every single politician should be “fired” in the elections. Change them like underwear until they get it right. It’s simple math, people. And why do they get $170,000 per year income to sell us out? Mr. Senator: no balanced budget = no six-figure income for you. Maybe they should be paid a salary that's $300 more than the upper limit for a Habitat for Humanity House which is actually somewhere just below the average income in the U.S. If they (financially) live where we live maybe they’ll get it.
Taxes should come from sales (but not food). The government wants money? Earn it. Encourage business. When people have more money they spend more money. They are often more generous, too. When they spend more money a government that makes its money from encouraging business will receive more money. It’s like planting a garden. The more you sow and care for your garden the more you reap. Taxing income is like eating your seeds.
A government of the people, for the people and by the people must be, by its very definition, common sense. We need a party of common sense. I guess we’re too distracted with our noses to the grindstone building the great Wal-Mart of China.
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