State of the Earth

Earth Day 2005

Looks bad, sorry. doin' what I can...You?

Ted Turner made one of his famous quotes when asked what he thought the Enivironmental future looked like and why he worked so hard on environmental causes. He said,

"Well I think we're fucked!...But I could be wrong."

As for me? Well sure, I could do more. But actually what I have resolved to do is be more effective at what I can do.

So there...But I think the most important thing we have to do, actually, is to keep the FunXtians from killing themselves and taking us with them. I swear , It looks like Conservatives think it's OK to kill the planet as long as they die rich!

To be honest, I actually do believe with all my heart that a certain minimum bank balance is important to world peace and tranquility...mine anyway. But I also belive that people go about it in entirely the wrong way. They seem to want to make more so they can spend more. Folks, this is not the way to do this.

Richness cannot be based on gold alone, and frankly, too much of it in the hands of one person is a bad thing in most cases...there are exceptions. For example, I, of course, would make a fabulously decent rich person...I'm not so sure about you. But once a certain level is reached, more money doesn't seem to be synonomous with more "Happy". That is the theory behing being a Progressive, which is what I claim to be, as opposed to a Liberal or a Conservative.

"Progressive" is a term for scheduled contributions to the common good.

As you earn more money, your basic needs cannot require all that much more and so you are expected to do things for others. Historically that required the paying of taxes on an increasing scale. America has gone overboard on this concept in the past as have other countries but it is a very good idea, though the execution has been imperfect at times. But there are two main reasons I believe the Progressive movement is the key to saving the world.

First: Taken as a group, the government works mostly for rich people. They should pay for it.

There should always be an incentive for them to make more money, but there should also always be an incentive for them to support the common good. Ask yourself if the common good is being enhanced by virtue of the war in Iraq? Some very rich people are making a ton of money off this war, so it better be good for America, don't you think? How do you feel about it so far? WE spent $200,000,000,000.00 so far with no end in sight...Are WE better off?

By the way, I wish there could be a caption under every report of an American casualty:

NO Actual RICH people or their children were hurt in the making of this War!

One last thing. Ask yourself if the Middle class wanted to attack Iraq? Ask yourself if we would have had this war if Donald Rumsfeld has not gotten snookered on his pipeline deals in Afghanistan and Iraq? Remember that the very first thing Rummy did was to order the American Military to guard and protect the Iraqi oil fields and pipelines, even while they stood by and let the country be looted.


Second: Everyone else in America besides the Very Rich, want things for the common good and is willing to pay for this. Parks, public schools, natural areas, libraries, community centers, public pools, all these things are for the common good and we must pay for them together. We complain about taxes, everyone does, but the great American Middle Class pays the bills. They should get the benefit. It's the Progressive way.

I realize that I am making an incomplete argument here and I promise to fill in the blanks in coming days, but the Progressive movement is on the rise in a big way. This is a fearful prospect to Neo Conservatives such as Dick Cheney who just finished paying less than 15% of his income in taxes. How does that square with what you just paid, America? Your children are fighting in foreign countries to protect his stock portfolio, after all. Your children are fighting for Exxon and Haliburton and Carlyle and we are spending a lower percentage of our gross domestic product on schools, parks, natural areas, environmental protection, core health care, and what are we getting?

American life expectancy has dropped since 2001. American infant mortality has increased since 2001. The United States National debt has skyrocketed since 2001. Gas prices have...Hell, you folks know what has happened to gas prices!

...And the Bush Administration will keep the tax deduction for gas guzzling suv's and end the deduction for high mileage vehicles.

Progressives will change all of this...It's the only way to save our planet.

Happy Earth Day!

Peace,

Steve



I wish this could be bigger but you can follow the link below and see where your tax dollars go...That big pile on the left...guess what it is?

where the money goes


The Progress REport

Here's a good Proggressive web site:

workingforchange

Go here and wander around, at least at some point today:

grist.org/