Presidential candidates Obama and McCain have a little trouble defining who is rich in this country. I’m going to do a little arithmetic here to help them out. (OK, so I admit they don't need my help; they have more than sufficient resources available to do this. I'm doing it to get a handle on this for myself, and am sharing the results).
I think this can be defined a few different ways. For example, in terms of annual salary, or in terms of net worth, or both. I am suggesting one method of determining “who is rich”. Using the simplified method which I detail below, a median male worker who saves a significant portion of his earnings (wages) over his entire working life and prudently invests these savings, can achieve a “nest egg” of about $1.6 million dollars at a retirement age of 66. Any one who achieves more, could be construed to be “richer” and someone who achieves less could be called “poorer”. However, this simplification does not take into account numerous choices that the "median male" might make along the way, and which could impact the result. Other factors, including health, work ethic, education, spending and saving habits, etc. could all play a part. The assumption uses a savings rate, and it is certainly possible not to save at all during one’s lifetime. In fact, with the widespread availability of credit over the past few decades, many individuals have spent more than they can earn and have effectively mortgaged their future. Such is the American Way. However, while this may be true for some Americans, it does not justify what they have done, nor would it be appropriate to penalize those who made other choices such as saving. However, our government does levy a penalty upon savers.
Be that as it may, I am making a political assumption that the issue of who is rich and who is not, is being promoted by the presidential candidates as a question about who to punish with additional taxes and who to spare.
In terms of net worth, who is “rich”? That’s an interesting question. Rich would imply better off in a financial sense than most of us. So is it possible to determine who is “better off”? I think it is possible to make some generalities.
We do know what the median income is for men in this country. Women make less. But let’s use the figure for full time working men as the basis for this inquiry. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2007 this was $45,113. If someone were able to work a lifetime and save a significant portion of each year’s earnings, invest it and achieve a modest return, they would accumulate a certain amount of wealth. My question is, how much could a “median man” accumulate? In a lifetime, I would expect that would determine the wealth of this “median man”. That would be his net worth, and anyone who achieved greater wealth than that could be defined to be “richer”.
In this example, we would have to make some assumptions. These include long term inflation and annual return on the amount saved. We would also have to make an assumption about how much this working “median man” could save each year.
So here are my assumptions.
Initial annual earnings (wages) = $45,113
Annual wage increase = 1.8%
Long term rate of inflation = 4.5%
Long term rate of return on investments = 7%
Number of years in the work force = 45
Value of Company Pension Plan = $0
Value of Social Security = $0
Value of Civil Retirement = Value of Social Security
How did I arrive at the above percentages? According to the census bureau, annual wages over long periods of time increase only slightly over inflation. I used per capita income for white males from the US census bureau as the basis, for the period 1967 to 2007. Income increased at a rate of 1.8% per year over this 40 year period. I used this value to represent that annual increase in income. Now in real life, people often start at a lower wage and as their skill and value to their employer increases, so do their wages. But not at a smooth or low annual rate. So in real life, wages sometimes increase in steps from time to time. So using the median wage value over someone’s entire life is a simplification.
Long term inflation in the past is a well known number. However, long term inflation over one’s entire working life is more difficult. I used 4.5% which is based on the CPI since 1963.
Long term rate of return has been linked to several factors. I will base it on the stock market returns that can be expected. These returns have been shown to includes real GDP growth, inflation and dividend yield. The result is a return in the range of 7 to 8%.
How much can someone save over their lifetime? That is more difficult to predict. Many financial planners and advisers recommend 10% of one’s earnings. That would be difficult for many of us to achieve, and this is certainly far more than the average or median American saves. However, if we assume these savings include one’s home and certain retirement savings, then it is more readily achievable.
How many years will one save? Let’s assume one enters the workforce at the age of 20. That allows time for high school plus trade school, apprenticeship or college. Let’s also assume that one works until their 66th birthday. In fact, many people had been retiring earlier but due to longevity and other factors, current data indicates that this trend is changing and that more people are choosing to work beyond their 65th birthday.
The value of a pension plan should also be considered. According to financial data, businesses are abandoning traditional pension plans for 401K and similar plans. Some of these plans permit employee contributions and some do not. Some plans (such as for teachers and other civil servants) in certain states, replace social security for the wage earner. For those workers, it would be proper to compare their pensions to the social security benefits of the private sector. Both of these additional plans have problems. Some states are not adequately funding pension plans, and so there is no guarantee these funds will be available at retirement. For it’s part, the federal government has spent the social security surpluses, and so the private worker also cannot assume the funds will be there in retirement. This is especially true for younger workers. So to simplify this, I have ignored social security and I have also ignored similar pension plans in the civil service sector. However, 401K or 403B and other plans over and above such government pensions or social security should be included when determining the net worth of an individual. So that money that your employer is socking away in your name plus matching funds you are putting into your 401K should be included when making any analysis. On that basis, the 10% savings rate is not as ridiculous as it might at first seem to be.
Putting all that together into a spreadsheet yields a view of the net worth of someone who begins working at the age of 20, and saves 10% of those wages each and every year until the age of 66. That same individual achieves a wage increase of 1.8% each and every year, so the amount saved also increases every year, but remains at 10% of the wages. Each year the saved “nest egg” increases in value by 7%. So what does that give us?
In year 1 (age 20 to 21st birthday) $45,113 in wages are achieved. 10% of that is put into an account. So $4,511.30 is saved. At the end of one year, this has appreciated at 7% so the amount saved is now $4,827.09. 10% of the wages earned in that year are then added to the amount saved. However, wages increased by 2% and so did the amount saved. This goes on year after year, and each year the amount invested increases in value at 7% and 10% of the wages earned in that year are added to the savings amount.
Using this approach, after 10 years of working and saving, this person would have accumulated $66,962.35 in savings. After 20 years, this amount would be $211,765.34. After 30 years, the amount saved would have reached $512,246.79. After 40 years it would be 1,122,024.31. Finally, at retirement, this “saver” would have accumulated $1,628,464.68.
Now this amount could include the saver’s house, if part of the annual savings was put toward a home. However, that decision poses some problems, the simplest of which is the appreciation rate of housing. Homes generally do not appreciate at a compounded rate of 7%.
However, that said, I think the numbers imply it would be difficult for a median worker to achieve a net worth of more than $1.6 million dollars over one’s working lifetime. I have simplified the math and I have also assumed no pension plan, no social security or similar retirement plan. So the results do not really provide a true net worth value for the “median” income man, who could and probably will have some social security income or civil pension. A more thorough comparison would take these into account. If one had an "old style" company pension, then that should be compared to the value of an annuity and added to the net worth. This simplification also does not take into account the possible income and resulting savings of a couple who both work and therefore earn higher sums.
I apologize to the ladies. I used the figures for a median male. This was deliberate only because I wanted to use the higher number. The median wage for a woman is less, according to the census bureau.
Another thing to consider is the impact of inflation on the accumulated nest egg. As time goes by, the purchasing power of the dollar has declined. I have not included an analysis of that erosion. In simplest terms, by the time the "median man" retires, that nest egg will have lost significant purchasing power and will be worth far less than is implied.
In closing, this also puts some perspective on the earnings of very high wage earners. Entertainers, sports celebrities, the privileged few which includes some of the CEOs and officers of corporations, politicians, professionals such as lawyers and medical practitioners. They are “rich” if they have accumulated a net worth many times greater than that achieved by the median income worker in this example. However, many of these people also choose to flush inordinate sums of money each year, and in so doing, achieve a lower net worth at retirement than that possible for the median wage earner used in this example.
Let me also state that I am not a lawyer, an accountant or a politician. So this example is not about presenting a case or brief. It is not about who is to be taxed and who is not to be taxed. It is about presenting a simplified method of framing what is meant by and who is indeed “rich” from the perspective of accumulated wealth. There are those who would argue that it isn’t possible to live in retirement on a nest egg of the magnitude I presented here. However, I pose that says more about them than about me. According to data from the US Census Bureau, net worth for married households age 65 or greater is $201,667 and for those the ages 55 to 64 it is $195,196. So from that perspective, our saving “median man” is very rich indeed. Or perhaps we should look at it the other way. It is possible the average married household the age 55 and above is poor and ill prepared for retirement.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Change!
Well, the Democrats are partying in Denver and the Republican bash is just around the corner. It’s far to early to see what changes will be wrought, but I am cynical and really expect it will be “business as usual” with all the change trappings. Been there, done that and heard all of that before! We need solutions and leadership. The “change” mantra is simply a smokescreen. What was the expression? Something like “while Rome burns…”?
As I see it, there are a number of critical issues which none of the politicians will address. There is collusion between both political parties, I fear. I expect this will continue indefinitely unless external forces come to bear or a third political party puts the entrenched politicians against the wall. As it is now, Party R gets elected, screws things up, and then passes the baton to Party D. This cycle goes on forever. Bash the other party and tick off the electorate, and the baton gets passed to the other guy (or gal) and so on.
Here are a few issues which I suggest be addressed as “critical”:
- Social Security and Dept. of Health and Human Services. I put these first, as they are absorbing ever increasing funds. It is only a matter of time until all US taxes go into servicing these and the national debt. So if we want anything else to occur in the country, we need congress to close the loophole which permits them to “borrow” from the SS trust fund while simultaneously increasing the revenues to that fund or reducing entitlement payments, or both. But first we have to keep our congressmen and Senators from stealing from the trust fund. Note that this "stealing" is required under law - aren't our politicians crafty? Under US law, all surpluses in the trust fund; that is, any money that is collected as social security "taxes" and not paid out as benefits are required under law to be spent. Then a special form of IOU is put in a drawer. This system allows the money collected to be used for other purposes. Those purposes are selected by Congress, and include pork barrel projects such as bridges to nowhere, etc. Yes, Virginia, your Senators and Congressmen are on a daily basis spending your social security benefits. So where will your retirement benefits come from when, in the future, you retire? Why, from the social security "taxes" collected from future workers, such as your children and grandchildren! What you say, that sounds like a Ponzi scheme? Well, you are absolutely correct. That is exactly what it is! But isn't a Ponzi scheme illegal? Yes, it is, but be clear, Congress makes the laws. So this Ponzi scheme is legal.
- Energy. We have been propping up non-democratic governments all over the world for decades because the American citizen is addicted to oil. What regimes, you say? Those friendly regimes in Iran, the “old” Iraq, Russia, Venezuela, African Despots…. The list goes on and on. Presently, the entire US auto industry is in the tank and with it a sizeable chunk of American manufacturing, because it is based on selling us what we want, which are gas guzzlers large and small. OK, so you say you have a Honda Civic or a Toyota Prius. I’m sure you feel good about that. However, they are still guzzling gas. So where to go from here? How about a crash program to get automobiles off of gasoline and diesel within 10 years. That’s right, no more gasoline! And sorry, Ethanol from food or feed stocks is not the answer. The answer lies in true alternatives and that includes the electric car. However, the numbers I have seen indicate that an electric car requires 200 watts of power to go a mile. Americans drove 250 billion miles in June 2008 per the fwha.dot.gov website. That would require a lot of electrical energy. So it would seem we are going to need a lot of power plants, and so that also has to be part of the solution. Oh, and by the way, there is a question that the current electrical transmission system is incapable of supporting the wind generators planned for this country! So how is it going to support any of the other energy initiatives out there? (Note: Using DOE data for 2006, the U.S. consumed 20.7 million barrels of oil per day, about half of which reputedly goes into gasoline. The U.S. was the largest consumer of oil of the top 18 consumers. The U.S. consumed 33% of the oil in that group.)
- Health Care. What a joke! The politicians (that’s our Senators, Congressmen; the Democrats and the Republicans) have successfully turned this into a debate about insurance. As in, somebody else should pay. I don’t see insurance as the major problem here. True, if you don’t have insurance, then you can only get health care if you can afford to pay for it. However, the problem is, no matter if you can pay or not, quality health care is not available universally in the US. It starts with the AMA which is responsible for policing itself. Sorry, that is like letting the wolf into the hen house. If taxpayer money is to be used to fund doctors, hospitals and so on, then there must be federal mandates and licenses. Look, we have OSHA, MSHA, and the EPA to keep businesses in line and keep workers and the environment safe. So why not protect our citizens from incompetent medical practitioners? Why not have some standards with TEETH!
- A shift in foreign policy. We are no longer the 800 pound gorilla. We need to adjust to the new world order. Governments in Europe will continue to operate like the small duchies each is descended from. As Europe is energy starved and dependent upon Russia for much of their energy needs, all Moscow needs to do is jiggle the handle on the spigot and the Europeans will fall into line. The Chinese will eclipse everyone else on the planet, as they have sheer numbers. The Chinese government is godless, capitalistic and communist. It does not respect western law. Actually, after viewing the Olympics, I am of the opinion that it is somewhat schizophrenic. A global reaching “superpower” in the making which operates like a third world country. The Middle East is locked in a stranglehold or some sort of Russian roulette and will not be resolved in our lifetime. South America is owned by despots or the wealthy elite and that struggle will continue. Africa is the source of much human suffering on the planet and really needs help.
- Tax Law. The current tax system is stupid. We need a flat tax. Consider a tax on consumption. At present, work hard and we will tax you! Make more and we will tax you more! At present, savings are taxed. Think about it. Spend money and the US government gives you the nod. Save it or invest it, and any earnings are taxed. Seems like Congress has this one pegged. Tell us to save, but punish us if we do. Tell us to consume less, but provide incentives, such as allowances for home mortgages. Lest you misunderstand my view, I have no love for the rich, although neither presidential candidate is willing to definitively state what “rich” is (I exclude the recent comments of Obama and McCain as off the wall and not definitive).
- Overhaul the system which provides our military with soldiers. As I see it, the current system is why we are in Iraq. Make military service mandatory for each and every citizen. No draft, simply mandatory service.
- Education. According to census data, about 9.8% of children age 16 to 19 are high school dropouts. Parents, government and the taxpayer have abrogated their responsibility. Of those that do complete high school, how many have any critical thinking skills? How many can have a serious financial conversation? How many are ready for their roles as citizens who will do their part for society? How many can successfully raise the children they are more than willing to have? I am of the opinion that the entire education system and that includes parenting, is a disaster. We need trade school programs as not everyone will or should go to college. But it begins with parenting. Schools cannot replace parents, no matter what anyone says.
- Immigration. The current system is a disgrace. Politicians march for immigrants, blurring the distinction between illegals and legal immigration. Too many businesses and individuals thrive in the current system. Need workers? Go to the local shopping mall parking lot, pick up one, two or a dozen for the day and pay them wages which are a joke. No worker’s compensation, no insurance, no income with-holding and no social security or FUTA taxes to pay. In the process, displace legitimate businesses that legally use legal citizens or immigrants, pay all the taxes and insurance. For years I had restaurant owners telling me about the illegals they were using in their businesses, my accountant told me he could spot them on the payrolls (work for 8 weeks and on the W-4 claim 8 dependents, then move on to another business under another name). As usual, in the present system, legitimate immigrants and businesses are penalized. Look, somebody is hiring those illegals, otherwise they would not be here. Yes, there are reasons we hire them. Many are hard working, and attempting to get people off of the dole is becoming impossible, so we hire hard working illegals. That does not make the system proper or right or ethical or moral.
- Education requirements for adults. Want to get married, purchase a home, etc.? Perhaps we need something akin to a drivers license. As it is, when the proverbial feces hits the fan, everybody stands up and claims ignorance. "I didn't understand what I was signing". "I didn't understand that having kids would be like this." In the end, the argument is to the effect that "I simply didn't know what I was doing". A sort of economic insanity plea. Well, that one needs to be stopped. If it is expected that the taxpayer is to bail out homeowners, unwed teenagers, raise parentless children, etc. then perhaps mandatory, specialized education is required to assure that people can't use the "I was ignorant" argument to avoid their responsibilities.
- National ID. I know, this one is a hot button. However, we need some sort of system to protect honest citizens from the sharks out there. At present, it is far to easy for someone to steal my identity. At present, it is far, far too easy for criminals to impersonate me, steal my identity and after creating havoc with my life, move on to perpetrate the same on the next victim. I then get to clean up the mess. Our Congressmen and Senators solutions to date have been feeble at best; I'm supposed to purchase insurance from credit agencies and bankers and the like. This does not prevent my bank accounts from being cleaned out, it simply provides me with something like health insurance for my identity. Well, we all know the benefits of health insurance. How about a little prevention here, with TEETH instead of the after the fact approach?
A few links:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/assets.html
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/51264.pdf
http://voxbaby.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-is-social-security-trust-fund.html
http://www.kidscount.org/cgi-bin/aeccensus.cgi?action=profileresults&area=00N
http://www.divorceinfo.com/letthesunwork/challenge/reserves.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jun/consume.htm
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Economic Woes?
Apparently, this will be another sideways day on wall street. Yesterday the market paused on its wayward trip to the gutter. If we keep purchasing stock on the way down, I have been told that is a method of “dollar loss averaging”, with the purpose of spreading the pain out over months and months and providing our stock brokers with much needed revenue..
Thinking of the economy reminds me that it is four years since the last presidential campaign. That’s difficult to believe; seems like it was just yesterday that the Hon. Senator Kerry was stumping his position that it “was the worst economy since the great depression”. I wasn’t around for that depression, so I don’t know. However, I do remember my parents telling me a few stories, such as the one about people walking along the rails in winter, picking up pieces of coal discarded from the trains. This was apparently used to heat homes and for cooking. Sounded plausible to me! When I was a kid growing up in Chicago in the 1950s, we had a coal stove and oven in the kitchen. An explosion in that stove blew the round inserts off of the stove top and into the ceiling. This was attributed to a blasting cap or caps left in the coal. That event stimulated the family’s quest for a more modern fuel. We switched to kerosene and natural gas. The advantage was less ash, but it was still necessary to carry a large can of fuel oil up three flights of stairs twice each day.
But I digress. So the present economy is much worse than it was four years ago. I guess the big question is, how bad will it get? The second questions is “How long will it last?” Well, this is not the first or even the second recession I have experienced. I once experienced very high prime rates that resulted in the interest rate on my second mortgage reaching something like 21%! That was like purchasing a house on a credit card. Ouch! We have a way to go before we get to that point.
I remember watching President Jimmy Carter, sitting in front of a fire place dressed in a neat sweater, telling us all how we were going to have to pay the price for our past sins, or something like that. Well, I don’t know about “we” but I do know I paid a price. Recently, while watching former President Carter on a TV interview, I concluded that he has made out pretty well. Somehow the politicians always seem to make out very well, unless they get caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
As to how difficult it will be for the rest of us, using history as a guide, it will be unpleasant or worse. We are not yet at the particular day of reckoning for this fiasco (which in Wall Street parlance is the “market bottom”). I expect we’ll be getting close when the mantra “How could this happen?” becomes a din!
As the economy winds down, sales tax revenues will drop. This will impact communities large and small. Of course, our political and civic leaders have spent every last dime and so they are no more prepared for this than the rest of us, who also assumed that the good times would roll on, forever. Apparently we believed that recessions never happen, housing values always go up, inflation is always moderate, energy will forever be cheap, etc., etc., etc. Unfortunately for us, history and reality do not support that rosy lensed view.
Statistics quoted in the media imply that millions of my fellow citizens have spent the past 10 years using their home as an ATM machine so they can support their lifestyle. Feeling strapped by the current housing implosion, they are now turning toward robbing their 401Ks. Of course, home owners and apartment dwellers alike have maxed out their credit cards. My personal solution has been to upgrade my shredder to a near industrial model to keep up with the credit card offers I receive daily. I assume I am average in this.
Waiting for the unraveling and the inevitable bottom is boring, with an edge. It’s like watching the movie Jaws for the 100th time. I hear the music, I know the shark is in the water and I know somebody is going to die. Eventually after the carnage is over, the shark will be slaughtered and the water will again turn blue.
I view our economy to be similar and when the clouds part, the cycle of excess will begin anew.
Until we get to that point, home-livers who are faced with upside down mortgages will be bailing. This will put pressure on many banks and credit unions who provided the mortgages and now are stuck with foreclosures. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced on August 26 that its list of "problem" banks, or those at risk of failure had grown from 90 three months ago to 117 as of June 30.
I expect the home-livers to bail out for the same reason they jumped into the housing market. Greed! The thought that one could have a house for little or no cost which would turn into a cash machine, was more than many could resist. That same philosophy will get them out of the housing market. Why own something that requires maintenance and cash injections? Having a house was simply an expedient, an opportunistic moment! So how bad it gets for the rest of us, will I think, be determined by how many bail. If everyone who “purchased” a home since 2005 decides to jump ship, leaving the rest of us to clean up the mess, it could get nasty, indeed!
My personal opinion is that it will take a few years for this particular “game” to go around the entire board and return to “home”. So those who are looking forward to quick resolution will be disappointed.
Thinking of the economy reminds me that it is four years since the last presidential campaign. That’s difficult to believe; seems like it was just yesterday that the Hon. Senator Kerry was stumping his position that it “was the worst economy since the great depression”. I wasn’t around for that depression, so I don’t know. However, I do remember my parents telling me a few stories, such as the one about people walking along the rails in winter, picking up pieces of coal discarded from the trains. This was apparently used to heat homes and for cooking. Sounded plausible to me! When I was a kid growing up in Chicago in the 1950s, we had a coal stove and oven in the kitchen. An explosion in that stove blew the round inserts off of the stove top and into the ceiling. This was attributed to a blasting cap or caps left in the coal. That event stimulated the family’s quest for a more modern fuel. We switched to kerosene and natural gas. The advantage was less ash, but it was still necessary to carry a large can of fuel oil up three flights of stairs twice each day.
But I digress. So the present economy is much worse than it was four years ago. I guess the big question is, how bad will it get? The second questions is “How long will it last?” Well, this is not the first or even the second recession I have experienced. I once experienced very high prime rates that resulted in the interest rate on my second mortgage reaching something like 21%! That was like purchasing a house on a credit card. Ouch! We have a way to go before we get to that point.
I remember watching President Jimmy Carter, sitting in front of a fire place dressed in a neat sweater, telling us all how we were going to have to pay the price for our past sins, or something like that. Well, I don’t know about “we” but I do know I paid a price. Recently, while watching former President Carter on a TV interview, I concluded that he has made out pretty well. Somehow the politicians always seem to make out very well, unless they get caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
As to how difficult it will be for the rest of us, using history as a guide, it will be unpleasant or worse. We are not yet at the particular day of reckoning for this fiasco (which in Wall Street parlance is the “market bottom”). I expect we’ll be getting close when the mantra “How could this happen?” becomes a din!
As the economy winds down, sales tax revenues will drop. This will impact communities large and small. Of course, our political and civic leaders have spent every last dime and so they are no more prepared for this than the rest of us, who also assumed that the good times would roll on, forever. Apparently we believed that recessions never happen, housing values always go up, inflation is always moderate, energy will forever be cheap, etc., etc., etc. Unfortunately for us, history and reality do not support that rosy lensed view.
Statistics quoted in the media imply that millions of my fellow citizens have spent the past 10 years using their home as an ATM machine so they can support their lifestyle. Feeling strapped by the current housing implosion, they are now turning toward robbing their 401Ks. Of course, home owners and apartment dwellers alike have maxed out their credit cards. My personal solution has been to upgrade my shredder to a near industrial model to keep up with the credit card offers I receive daily. I assume I am average in this.
Waiting for the unraveling and the inevitable bottom is boring, with an edge. It’s like watching the movie Jaws for the 100th time. I hear the music, I know the shark is in the water and I know somebody is going to die. Eventually after the carnage is over, the shark will be slaughtered and the water will again turn blue.
I view our economy to be similar and when the clouds part, the cycle of excess will begin anew.
Until we get to that point, home-livers who are faced with upside down mortgages will be bailing. This will put pressure on many banks and credit unions who provided the mortgages and now are stuck with foreclosures. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced on August 26 that its list of "problem" banks, or those at risk of failure had grown from 90 three months ago to 117 as of June 30.
I expect the home-livers to bail out for the same reason they jumped into the housing market. Greed! The thought that one could have a house for little or no cost which would turn into a cash machine, was more than many could resist. That same philosophy will get them out of the housing market. Why own something that requires maintenance and cash injections? Having a house was simply an expedient, an opportunistic moment! So how bad it gets for the rest of us, will I think, be determined by how many bail. If everyone who “purchased” a home since 2005 decides to jump ship, leaving the rest of us to clean up the mess, it could get nasty, indeed!
My personal opinion is that it will take a few years for this particular “game” to go around the entire board and return to “home”. So those who are looking forward to quick resolution will be disappointed.
Let Me Think About This!
OK, so I finally got off my stumps and created this blog. What spurred me to do it? I like writing and I love this country; in my experience it is the best in the world, but could be much, much better. Au contraire, mon cher! It is not getting better.
Of course I have concerns. But I won't let them drive me. I also have my dreams and aspirations, but I am not entitled to them. Yes, I can have my dreams, but the universe is uncaring. I'm just another bug on a big rock hurtling through space. If a comet were to obliterate the earth tomorrow, do you think anyone in the next solar system would care? Would it make a difference anywhere but here?
So how to balance the very short view such as dealing with the jerk in the next office, with the long view? How to make a difference and honor and respect my fellow human beings, even if they want to dwell on getting the latest Iphone and watch America's Got Talent, or BET?
Life is living in the question. There is no answer.
So, getting back to the here and now, as I was driving home tonight, from work of course, I was listening to NPR. The topic was the Democratic Convention. The correspondent was discussing the booze that was available at the bar, and the bar keep was describing Johnny Walker Blue Scotch.
Now, I first was made aware of this very fine scotch whiskey during a trip to Saudi Arabia, a "dry" country (my experiences there could be the subject of another blog). So here I am driving home and I am listening to this tongue in cheek lecture about what is essentially another political excess. (Hey, I spent a good part of my life thinking that Johnny Walker Black was an excess).
Arriving home, I tune into C-Span because my spouse was still at work. There is the Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich from Ohio, lambasting the opposition because of they have supposedly destroyed the Social Security trust fund.
OK, so I have heard enough for one day. I assume Kucinich saw or heard about the movie IOUSA and was using his best spin to pin it on “somebody else”. About the movie: Mr. Walker, former Comptroller General of this USA was stumping for years about the “immoral” situation with the SS trust fund.
Surprise! The trust fund is broke. (If you don’t know this, you are probably under 20 or in denial, asleep or brain dead). Despite the implications of Rep. Kucinich, this did not happen because of the Iraq war. It happened because American citizens believe their politicians when they speak. Think about it; the politicians in this country have been raiding the SS trust fund for years. The last time, as I recollect was during the Clinton Administration. Good ‘ol Vice President Al Gore cast the tie breaking vote to raid the trust in the name of “balancing the budget”, as in, spending more than we could currently afford.
So why would this be considered immoral by the Comptroller General? Well, because the IOUs in the trust fund will be paid by our descendents. So we are basically strapping our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars of debt, so we can party today. (How much debt? Well, something like $53 Trillion or about 50 Iraq wars worth of debt!)
Now, I pointed this out to associates when Mr. Walker was stumping around the country, and you know what? It fell on deaf ears. I've always wondered why they would they be deaf? I can only guess. Some possibilities: General apathy is first. Possibly those under 30 see it as a problem in the distant future. Those in the age group 30 to 60 are simply "too busy" dealing with today’s issues. And those over 60? They are possibly unwilling to admit they are robbing their children of their inheritance.
So I decided to “put it out there” in the universe (or at least the blogosphere). So here goes!
As for this blog, I probably won't be telling you about the pets, or describing the lint in my navel. I'll save that for posting somewhere else!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_o_u_s_a/?nopop=1#synopsis
Of course I have concerns. But I won't let them drive me. I also have my dreams and aspirations, but I am not entitled to them. Yes, I can have my dreams, but the universe is uncaring. I'm just another bug on a big rock hurtling through space. If a comet were to obliterate the earth tomorrow, do you think anyone in the next solar system would care? Would it make a difference anywhere but here?
So how to balance the very short view such as dealing with the jerk in the next office, with the long view? How to make a difference and honor and respect my fellow human beings, even if they want to dwell on getting the latest Iphone and watch America's Got Talent, or BET?
Life is living in the question. There is no answer.
So, getting back to the here and now, as I was driving home tonight, from work of course, I was listening to NPR. The topic was the Democratic Convention. The correspondent was discussing the booze that was available at the bar, and the bar keep was describing Johnny Walker Blue Scotch.
Now, I first was made aware of this very fine scotch whiskey during a trip to Saudi Arabia, a "dry" country (my experiences there could be the subject of another blog). So here I am driving home and I am listening to this tongue in cheek lecture about what is essentially another political excess. (Hey, I spent a good part of my life thinking that Johnny Walker Black was an excess).
Arriving home, I tune into C-Span because my spouse was still at work. There is the Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich from Ohio, lambasting the opposition because of they have supposedly destroyed the Social Security trust fund.
OK, so I have heard enough for one day. I assume Kucinich saw or heard about the movie IOUSA and was using his best spin to pin it on “somebody else”. About the movie: Mr. Walker, former Comptroller General of this USA was stumping for years about the “immoral” situation with the SS trust fund.
Surprise! The trust fund is broke. (If you don’t know this, you are probably under 20 or in denial, asleep or brain dead). Despite the implications of Rep. Kucinich, this did not happen because of the Iraq war. It happened because American citizens believe their politicians when they speak. Think about it; the politicians in this country have been raiding the SS trust fund for years. The last time, as I recollect was during the Clinton Administration. Good ‘ol Vice President Al Gore cast the tie breaking vote to raid the trust in the name of “balancing the budget”, as in, spending more than we could currently afford.
So why would this be considered immoral by the Comptroller General? Well, because the IOUs in the trust fund will be paid by our descendents. So we are basically strapping our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars of debt, so we can party today. (How much debt? Well, something like $53 Trillion or about 50 Iraq wars worth of debt!)
Now, I pointed this out to associates when Mr. Walker was stumping around the country, and you know what? It fell on deaf ears. I've always wondered why they would they be deaf? I can only guess. Some possibilities: General apathy is first. Possibly those under 30 see it as a problem in the distant future. Those in the age group 30 to 60 are simply "too busy" dealing with today’s issues. And those over 60? They are possibly unwilling to admit they are robbing their children of their inheritance.
So I decided to “put it out there” in the universe (or at least the blogosphere). So here goes!
As for this blog, I probably won't be telling you about the pets, or describing the lint in my navel. I'll save that for posting somewhere else!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_o_u_s_a/?nopop=1#synopsis
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